[inaudible conversations] at evening. There we go. Good evening paired what a pleasure it always has to be a people youre in austin, texas, the greatest bookstore in the country. My name is brian sweany. Im so pleased to be here. One secret ive learned is when you really like and admire the author you are introducing can you keep it nice and short and get her up on stage. I would say how special it is to be here about people and what a nice pleasure it is to be here with jan tonight to celebrate her book, the train to crystal city. Order bouma, raised in a tiny but its got the book for writing and reading in our household when she was growing up it does there always books around because of her mom and dad and at the age of 16 took a parttime job at the weekly newspaper in our hometown of cleveland. The cleburne advocates. From then shes never stopped writing. Went to the university of texas, became a journalist covering politics in san antonio and off to bigger lands, became a name and fellow at harvard and then to our Great Fortune became a writer in Texas Monthly magazine where shes been a terrific friend and a terrific colleague. We were fortunate in a recent issue to take an excerpt of gms book, which was great to be a look to work with her again since im relatively new to the job, i look forward to doing that again here in the future. I just have to say how wonderful it has been to see the terrific review for the book, just sort of great notices all around. We are looking forward to hearing from you tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome jan jarboe russell. [applause] well it is great to be here. I also want to recognize craig curtis who is my first editor at Texas Monthly is here and other friends. I think jan reid is here and if there are others i recognize you because of course Texas Monthly as an anchor. Sarah bird is here. An anchor in the lives of all of us that are texans. Also, just want to say thank you for coming. I have these photographs that irish is going to kind of give you pretend its like a Family Vacation and that we are visiting crystal city and you can see. I am going to start with this before. Abend, doing to stand up . This in iguchi. [applause] the great glory of nonfiction. It is true. They are real people and its exciting. I then played a big role in this book and i wanted to acknowledge him. This is al intan iguchi on the left at christmas before his father was arrested and his mother and his father and his brother. I love this picture of allen. I can imagine never looking not jan. But there it is. I first learned about this story. Some of your party asked in 1971, from allen. He was the dean of the school of architecture at u. T. And i was 20 years old, like bright side from the small town in texas and never before in my life had seen an asian person. [laughter] i approached allen added Faculty Senate meeting for a brief interview for the daily texan and i asked him about his ancestry. He explained to me that he was japanese, but born in america. For output, california. How did you get to texas i asked . But the question i ask of everybody as texans always want to know, how did you get here. And he said my family was in camp here. Being that this girl at the time, i said church camp . [laughter] he said not exactly. So this one told me about his father but wanted and had been interned in texas during world war ii. He explains that his family was part of the arrest and incarceration of 120000 japanese. Over the years, alan and i were in touch frequently but from time to time we saw each other and inevitably this subject would turn to the camp. In 2010 when i was in austin, i decided to stop by allens architecture office. The truth is i just finished reading unbroken and i thought to myself, i wonder what allen thinks about this book. And no since he was interned as a japaneseamerican i just wonder what he thinks about this book. So i stopped in and i was on fire about this book been broken in such a fabulous book. Evan, who is also an architect and explained they had died several years before. Ive been to the of names of some of allens friends who were incarcerated in the cab and a few other things about the camp. The children on that list were now old men and women who lived all over the world. The next day i started telephoning them. Slowly the secrets of the camp and at powerful and habitants began to unfold. During the war, crystal city the only camp specifically designed for families of multiple nationalities was also the center of a government Prisoner Exchange program. Thousands of internees, including their children were treated for more important americans diplomats businesses, soldiers commissioners behind enemy lines in japan and germany. This is how i became with the round out. I wish you could see this better. This is a family from San Francisco and mrs. Babcock by the fabulous Dorothea Lange as they were being rounded up. I love this photo. This is the smallest girl in the family and this is the wife of reverend fukuda. This is a picture taken right before they got on the bus. Typical all their baggage. I love this picture. It shows the humanity, that mothers face, as she is holding her baby and is about to be taken. But the book tells the story my book of a lot of carrot errors that had to come up with main characters. And so i tell the story from the primary point of view of who americanborn teenage girls who were interned in crystal city. These are her parents on their wedding day messias angelina. They are in the process of applying for naturalization. This is a red at 11 years old. 11yearold ingrids world changed forever a junior at 81942111 day after pearl harbor. During the course of the war the u. S. Government intern or the 1275 enemy aliens. 16849 japanese, 10,905 germans 3278 battalions and some miscellaneous others. One of those enemy aliens was the father messias to admit the sms by joanna had immigrated from germany 17 years he floored and settled to raise and her 1yearold sister. Two fbi agents pulled up and large black cars. They were dressed in dark suits and both carried guns. Over the next few hours the agents moved from room to room looking for short wave radios, dynamite cameras any suspicious items. They found nothing. An angry return from school, she found her father was gone simply gone. And uncle explained that the effect interested. Ingrid ran outside and collapsed on the cold ground and let out a scream. The particulars of her life at home all seemed blurred no longer certain. My god she thought to herself. What will happen to us . That was the arrest in this photo is taken at the house right after her father was arrested. They lost the house 30 days later. This is the second person. Sue me on the morning of december 7, 1941 a 13yearold American Girl in 1941 rested her elbows on the windowsill of the as cartman of little tokyo. The cultural enclaves for japanese in los angeles. On the streets below was a traffic jam. And they filled the streets. Horns honked. Posters with enraged messages, hunting license, good for duration of hunting season. Open season now. No limit. Within two hours of the bombing of pearl harbor, fbis swarmed to the streets of little tokyo in place for japanese leaders in handcuffs. While her parents were immigrants from japan born on august the 14th time in 1882 in los angeles. She considered she told me herself to be 100 american. But not premature for tom kim on march 13 1942, friday the 13th an unlucky day in america and perhaps an omen. Soon he was not a home but she too was at school. Little did she know it would be her last day at central junior high. At the end of the day she struggled at the iron steps of the apartment building. On the second floor she noticed a front or with soap and. She posits. Her mother was seated at the dining room table with her head in her hands. When she let out, she had a frozen smile on her face. Her mother was almost always cheerful. She lost easily and never complained. Even at 13 she could see that her mother was frozen in terror. She walked through the ponder department. Tours have been dumped on the living room floor. Shares were toppled. Contents of the kitchen cupboards were spilled on the counters. Mama, was papa arrested . Yes, five fbi men came. They took papa away. As was the case of the cs and the other enemy aliens including his father there were never any charges filed against these people. The reason given for his arrest. No opportunity to defend himself. The camp. These are the two important leaders of the camp. On this site is for ohara said who was the commissioner of immigration and Naturalization Service you this is the officer in charge. Its hard to see him. Joseph orourke, Border Patrol agent. Earlier in roosevelts new commissioner of the immigration and Naturalization Service visited the small town of crystal city texas on november 5th 1942, arriving by train from his home in philadelphia. He walked around the 240acre side previously used as a microcamp for mexican laborers. We have a couple of people here from crystal city including lola and one more that i heard. Anyway, born in crystal city and their fathers worked at the camp. From harrisons point of view the isolated location of the camp, far from areas considered vital to the war effort was a positive. He was out scouting for where he could put this camp. Crystal city, he decided was as close to siberia as we have in america. Orchestrated incredibly the removal of 4058 germans, 2660 for japanese and to hundred 88 battalions from 13 different latin american countries. Locked them up around the United States, thousands of them in crystal city. Daily life in crystal city this is a map of the camp that was withdrawn this is a map and a german child in the camp has noted where all the houses and bungalows are so that if you were a child in the camp you can find your bungalow here on this beautiful map. This is an aerial view of the camp that you guys will remember that and daily life in crystal city was highly regimented. Every morning the American Flag was raised in ceremony. Since they were fluent in german and japanese and spanish come read the incoming mail of attorneys and cut out portions that were related anyway to the war effort. They were allowed to write to letters and one postcard per week. These two was sisters Border Patrol agents patrolled the can. They were guard towers at six different locations around the 10foot barbed wire fence, and those are also manned by armed Border Patrol agents. Roll call seemed endless. Three times a day a whistle blew in the camp and everyone had to run back to the cottage is an huds to form lines so the faces come and stand still for the count. Despite the harsh conditions the children in the camp like that most of them were born in america. They were humanely treated. No one ever went hungry in crystal city. They cant have three schools the American School where sumi went. A yell and song leader. This is our school. The American School, a Japanese School in the German School and those are taught by internees. The American Schools were taught by or terrified texas teachers. One anecdote sort of tells a story about the children. Shortly after the camp was opened, the head of the ins came back to visit the camp. During a tour given by joseph orourke, the officer in charge, harrison and orourke encountered a group of japanese children. Orourke asked what they were doing. Playing war, the young men come a young boy said. Okay, said orourke but hope nobody gets killed. He and harrison continued on their tour. On the way back to two men stopped at the same spot and found the children seated on the ground. Looking glum. What happened to the war orourke said . It ended they said. Nobody wanted to be in in the. We all wanted to be the americans. This is a closeup of sumi, who was a good scout. This is the german beauticians and barbers in camp. This is a scout troop of japanese. This is a sewing circle. The internees had to make all the mattresses and whatever clothes they had in the sewing circle. This is a beer garden. Orourke was a big drinker, and when the germans came and said they want to beer once a week he let them build a still. Of course, that was, it didnt go once a week. It was kind of a nonstop situation. These are the germans. And the japanese wanted tofu. Its a fun story in the book about how they converted a victory hud for the first texas tofu factory. It was so hot and then sumi was from los angeles and ingrid were not used to snakes and scorpions and 125 degrees weather. So they have an irrigation reservoir, and orourke also let the children use it as a Swimming Pool. Most of the kids have been credible, and probably you all, have incredible memories of this Swimming Pool. There were some fat said things that happen in the pool are not going to ruin the surprise of the book and let you know. So this family, the family kept thing is here. Each family had a small bungalow and some of the more all squished together, but they could eat in their own kitchens which is not allowed in others. This was a japanese family bringing home a christmas tree. By far the most job dropping aspect of life job dropping in crystal city was the center of fdrs secret Prisoner Exchange program. One of the lessons i learned through going through all these documents and anything all these people is that by whatever name it is called internment preventive detainment, or just flat imprisonment, the practice of incarcerating immigrants with blood ties to country in which the United States is at war always exists in part for the purpose of exchange. It works like a human chess game. Each side tries to get back their own citizens without giving up their highest value prisoners. Some of the people in crystal city were probably, they probably should have been at crystal city. Ahead of the American Nazi Party was a high value prisoners for us, for the United States. In germany, and germany desperately want him back. He was on one of the early trades. So thats the way it works. We didnt want to give him up because roosevelt knew he knew a lot that mike could harm us. So every trade in the book describes what was considered behind the trades. But the great tragedy of crystal city is that many of those who traded should have been of the highest value to americans, because many of them were americanborn children. As this fact unfolded during years of research at the National Archives in washington, d. C. , and within it is with many former children now elderly men and women in their 80s and sometimes 90s, i just found myself shaking my head in disbelief. It was in crystal city that the machinery of modern internment and triggered Prison Exchange was crapped on an industrial level. The first of four large Prison Exchanges took place in the year 1942 and the second in september 2 1943. During these two exchanges more than 2000 japanese and japaneseamericans were literally traded for other americans imprisoned in japan. In february 1944, 634 german residents and their americanborn children were sent from crystal city into germany in exchange for americans. On january 2, 1945, 428 more in crystal city were traded in the war, including ingrids family. I focus on exchange ordeals of the families of sumi and ingrid cohen also on the family who were arguing about whether or not to be traded and the complex that that occurred all over the camp. Both of these young girls this is sumi, after she was traded into japan and this is her father, by this time, tommy taken a distinctly more japanese look. Both young girls say they faced war ravaged japan and, they did so with unbelievable, unbelievable human endurance resilience and determination. Just to give you an example of the kinds of things that they faced, if i could just read a short passage from this is sumi after she is come back from the war. So they were in the last exchange from crystal city and so it was her father, joanna, ingrid her brother and so it happened is they left crystal city. They went by train to the port of new jersey in new york. They took a voyage 22 days across an angry sea landing in versailles. Until they came to a place in switzerland where their train of, went into germany, and another train coming from germany met on tracks and they literally switched. And at this point and then this passage i am about to read and then they went on with their processed by the germans and, of course, they were immediately considered american spies, right . And badly treated. So i just wanted to read about they went on walking is and then on trains. This is an incident that happened almost just a few days before they arrived at their destination. So there in germany. The train chug out of the station at an even pace. About eight kilometers east the train slowed to a total. As it snaked its way through the talk to the other side of the conductor blew the whistle once. And a second blast filled the air and suddenly the train lurched forward and picked up speed. The passengers straighten in their seats. Outside the windows Snowy Mountains and forests whizzed by. Something was wrong and everyone on board knew it. Ingrid heard the sound of airplanes above the train followed by blasts of machine gun fire. They moved to the end of the train and looked outside with ingrid following and rapid strides close behind. Eight american peter yates flew above them each mounted with machine guns. Attack, attack zelda the conductor in german. They watched the scene from the window seat. Her mother cradling her newborn baby, had the i see. Get down ordered joanna. Get down. Eyes wide open she strained to see the action of machine gun bullets hit the side of the train. Jolanda slapped her face and pushed underneath the seat, then joanna reached up to an overhead rack, grabbed his suitcase and place it on top of the seat to further protect her. Keep your face down scream to joanna. Dont look up. They hurried back to their seats. He showed both ingrid and her sister under their seat. I will smack you both if you move, he said. The train slowed and came to a stop the as the passengers cautiously emerged from beneath the seat, the conductor ordered everyone off the train. And abatement lead into a grove of trees. He grabbed the children. Lets go, he ordered. All six of them hurried up the hill. When ingrid looked over her shoulder she saw her mother flat on the ground. Joanne had fallen and ingrid watched as they dragged her to her feet, together they pushed up the hill. At the top of the hill, they positioned themselves underneath the branches of a small pine tree. Ingrid carried a gun third to join them. Most of the trees in the forest had been cut for fuel but the black limbs of the pine trees were visible against the gray sky. The children watched as they inched up the hill. From this Vantage Point they fixed their eyes on the train stopped on the tracks as the american planes encircled it. They speculated that the purpose of the American Mission must have been to seal the tunnel that led a. The conductor blew the whistle that the train was leaving. They hurried down the hill and we boarded the train. Once the passengers were back on board, the battle continued. The american planes swooped down over the rails and flew low to the ground. Their machine guns getting to the right of the train into the left. German soldiers returned the fire from two antiaircraft guns attached to the train, one gun on the left the last car just behind the locomotive. As they watched from their seats, each saw a p. 38 hit by german fire. The american pilot ejected from his plane with a parachute and landed in a tree. His body riddled with bullets. Than a second plane was hit and went down on the other side of the train. They watched as the plane plunged to the ground leaving a spiraling trail of black smoke in the sky. None of the german soldiers were hit, and the six remaining p. 38 retreated, but the battle was over. The atmosphere inside the train was pandemonium. He looked at his mother who appeared to be in the days. When she spoke she described her mixed emotions. She was relieved that her family was all alive but remorsefuremorsefu l and grieving for the two american pilots who were killed. The irony of american fly boys shooting and my an americanborn children, she told him, i will never understand it. Both were shaken from traveling between two distinct worlds, america in germany. One part of them was still in strongsville ohio, and crystal city texas. On the other, faced the reality that their lives had been saved by german soldiers firing on american pilots. Sumi and ingrid and many other of the children from crystal city, survived their journeys toward devastated japan and germany, and return to the United States. To me, they are heroes of world war ii. They came back on a liberty ship to the United States after the war was over. You saw the ones of sumi comebacker i just want to show you this beautiful family. Sumi married a man that was in the famed for 42nd district 442nd union that saved italy. He had they didnt cause ptsd but he had ptsd at the time and he died very early of a heart attack. And sumi was left with all these pitiful children which she raised. Each one has a College Degree in they are doing fantastic, and that sumi as she said tell them i am one tough cookie. Theres guenther. This is ingrid when she did get back. Isnt she beautiful . From the war, and that was her first husband. This is joanna and she only wanted to be an american in her life did, in fact, come back to the United States. She settled in california near ingrid. Got herself naturalized and then she became a proud reagan volunteer. [laughter] and heres ingrid and her family in honolulu. This is ingrid the last time i interviewed her. Thats me and ingrid. In the course of my career as a journalist a single subject has always fascinated me. It is the subject articulated in the biblical story of job that confronts the universal question why do good people suffer . In my own life that question has often been praised in a less dramatic way than in the lives of ingrid and sumi, suffering after all is universal, part of the human condition. We lose people that we love. We go on. It happens to all of us, but the question is what then do we do when we dont know what to do . Over the course of my research the characters in my book provided me with many new answers to that dilemma. Often i was extremely inspired by the japanese idea which means to persevere in the face of unendurable suffering. But they dont mean like in some kind of flaky way. They mean that they find some kind of practice or practice whether its buddhist meditation calligraphy, judo architecture tea ceremony they do some daily practice that helps them persevere in the face of suffering. The practicality of it is so beautiful. So in a way writing this book was mine. I was also inspired by the children and ingrid and sumi who at every turn obeyed the first commandment. They honored their mysterious father and mother. At the same time they never lost faith in the country of the birth that had, in fact betrayed them. The officials at crystal city, harrison, orourke, the many schoolteachers gardeners, many Border Patrol agents and other Staff Members helped save our National Honor by treating the internees humanely in a treacherous treacherous time. Finally, it was irene a jewish girl from amsterdam who was freed from the bergenbelsen concentration camp in 1945 the trade, the same trade that ingrid was on that provided a similar lesson for me about how we might deal these people in times of war. Always remember irene taulbee during an interview at her home in ann arbor, remember this, enemies are people whose stories you havent yet heard. And whose faces you have never seen. My gratitude goes to the characters in my book that after 72 years had the courage to tell their stories and show their faces. Thank you very much. [applause] okay. Im sure we have some questions and comments. Just make sure i get to you with a mic night before you start asking and hold your head up in front of you. Does anyone have a question . Great. It sounds like the people that were returned to germany and japan were were they did they volunteer to do that anyway or where they ordered to do that . How did that come about . Its not a simple question but they were technically all volunteering in repatriates. But the fact is that the enemy alien fathers felt they had no choice but to go back to germany and build a life because there was, the course of their internment in crystal city was, you know they had no idea how long it would be. And, of course they had nothing to go back to the. One other thing is that when they left crystal city to be exchanged, they all signed one of the reasons the story has come out is that all signed oath of silence to never speak of their experience in crystal city or their role in the exchanges. So while they were from the bureaucratic point of view voluntary exchange hes certainly the children were there by consequence of the parents situation and had to go. That was a real problem for sumi. She did not want to go back but she had no where else where was she going to go . Did i answer your question . Yes, thank you. I dont know for a much about this issue and i havent read your book yet but i was surprised that you said that this was the only family camp and i thought all those had families speak yes, they did. The whole terminology in world war ii internment is quite, you know custodial detention arrest. To be clear crystal city was the only family camp specifically designed for families. In other words they werent just fathers of there. All families. Like in the others they didnt have family sound eating. They went to mess halls and things like that. And then, of course, it would be only multiple nationality family camp. The internees in crystal city got interviewed including those who were previously been in other places, that thats what they call. This was the only true family camp. The language is kind of, you know. I understand crystal city was not close until 1940, is that correct . And what was the reason for the approximately three year delay in closing the camp . You can just sort of think about guantanamo bay. Once you have them what do you do with them, you know . After and it sort of the same problem obama has right now. And so the people that were left of their that were not didnt have anyplace to go and hadnt yet repatriated, and or lawsuits going on to try to keep some of the internees by then had lawyers and were trying to stay in the United States so they werent buying the voluntary thing anymore. And so it just took them that long to get rid of everybody. What kind of interaction, if there was any went on between the different nationalities in the camp . Well, you know, the answer is there were occasions, they all went to the same Swimming Pool but pretty much they lived separately in the camp, and they were distrustful of each other. The japanese were distrustful of i think its fair to say that germans and vice versa. One of the reasons that the Geneva Convention does not allow people countries in wartime to put multiple people together is because of those kind of complex, and they certainly happened and that makes up a lot of the narrative of the book. How many people were there in the camp with sumi and the other people . Thats a really good question. Over the course of 19421948 our best estimate is about 6000, but that was a low estimate because they stopped counting at a certain point. And so its about 6000. Thank you for the question. Why were these families exchanged and not just troops captured in war . I dont think can you why were they why would they exchange and not in any troops who were captured . Werent they the ones who are mainly exchanged . Some of the people who came back were american prisoners of war, and there were some of the camps that held only german and japanese pows that were exchanged, too, and the parts of these exchanges. People in crystal city, they just needed more people to exchange because roosevelt had a very vigorous policy. So the families in crystal city had to be added. We didnt have enough german and japanese trws to exchange. Also, the president was concerned, he would have rather exchanged civilians that didnt have a whole lot of knowledge than pows. They had a hold vision the state department called a special war problems the patient to to love the government, right . This was a very special war problems and so that there really was a game of chess