"Finally getting out of the camps was a great day. It felt so good to get out of the gates, and just know that you were going home…finally. Home wasn't where I left it though. Getting back, I was just shocked to see what had happened, our home being bought by a different family, different decorations in the windows; it was our house, but it wasn't anymore. It hurt not being able to return home, but moving into a new home helped me I believe. I think it helped me to bury the past a little, to, you know, move on from what had happened." ~ Aya Nakamura [November 18, 2000.]
The effects of the internment was both physical and mental. Physical effects of the internment include loss of weight, more risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular mortality, premature death, and physiological loss of English. Mental effects of the internment include low self-esteem, accelerated loss of Japanese culture and language, the unexpressed pain of their parents, and the silence that would keep the concentration camps locked away in the mind.
Physical Effects |
"Long-term health consequences included psychological anguish as well as increased cardiovascular disease. Survey information found former internees had a 2.1 greater risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular mortality, and premature death than did a non-interned counterpart." |
Mental Effects |
"Recognizing the great injustice that took place, they carry with them the legacy of their parents' internment. Time has not severed the psychological ties to events that preceded them, nor has the fact that their parents will not openly discuss the internment. On the contrary, the vast majority of Sansei (third generation) feel that the incarceration has affected their lives in significant ways..." |