Lost story of German Latin Americans interned during second world war
Lost story of German Latin Americans interned during second world war
After Pearl Harbor, the US state department strong-armed Latin American allies like Costa Rica into dispossessing, and often deporting, German immigrants
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A primary school boy assists local policemen in directing traffic in San José, Costa Rica.
Photograph: Authenticated News/Getty Images
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With the Statue of Liberty looming overhead, an 11-year-old boy named Jurgen sat huddled in his coat, alongside his family and few pieces of luggage, as a cold wind blew off the Hudson River.
Ellis Island is best known as the former gateway for millions of immigrants entering the US, but in the winter of 1944, the boy – Jurgen – and his family were about to be deported to Germany.
“We were processed on Ellis Island as illegal immigrants,” said Jurgen, now 82. “In reality, we were kidnapped by the US government.”
Jurgen and his family were among thousands of Latin Americans of German origin who were rounded up by their respective governments on orders from the US following the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/05/germany-latin-american-internment-deportation-costa-rica
