“She knew at the time it was important to capture what was happening,” Cynthia says. “After Topaz closed, the WRA (War Relocation Authority) came and took pictures of all of her sketches for their records. She was told not to publish them.”3
Thanks to Ella and Walter Honderich, we have two important records of daily life in Topaz.
In 1988, Daisy Satoda, organizer of the first all-Topaz reunion, wrote to Ella, inviting her to attend. “We are indeed grateful to people like Mr. Honderich and yourself who cared enough to do something to ease the injustice of impounding a whole group of innocent people which was in violation of the U.S. Constitution.”4 Several of Ella’s sketches that she had entrusted to Dave Tatsuno would be displayed at the reunion. These sketches were subsequently donated to the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) in Los Angeles with Ella’s blessing.
Ella died in 1999, Walter in 1985.