"William R Thompson" wrote in message
ink.net...

1: There is a considerable difference between "Japanese citizens living
in US territory" and "American citrizens of Japanese ancestry." Interning
foreign nationals during time of war is legal, and obviously a good idea.
Detaining American citizens on the basis of their ancestry is neither
legal nor a good idea. (And I don't recall that any of my Prussian
ancestors were locked up during either of the World Wars.)


While it was not as wide spread and is not nearly as well known as the
incarceration of Japanese-Americans, there were Americans of Italian and
German descent that received similar treatment. I'm working from memory
now, but I believe approximately 5000 Italian-Americans, 10,000
German-Americans, and 120,000 Japanese-Americans were interned during the
war. As I recall, Italian-American internment ended shortly after Italy
surrendered in 1943. German-American internment lasted until well after the
war ended, 1947 I believe. Some internees were even transferred to Germany
after the war! I don't remember when Japanese-American internment ended.