Introduction
The history of humanity has numerous instances that are exceptionally brutal in comparison to the world of today, especially in consideration of World War II, which included the persecution of numerous Jewish people. However, they were not the only nationality that suffered from the negative consequences of war. In the USA, the government enacted the strategic implementation of the concentration of Japanese in response to the event of Pearl Harbor. Despite varying degrees of mortality, both camps represent the dark history of humanity.
The establishment of these camps started due to different reasons and periods. During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 to construct internment camps for Japanese citizens (A&E, Japanese). From 1942 through 1945, it was U.S. government policy for persons of Japanese origin, including American citizens, to be detained in isolated camps (A&E, Japanese).
The internment of Japanese Americans, enacted in response to the assault on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent war, is regarded as one of the most heinous breaches of American civil rights in the 20th century. Almost 1900 people died in these camps under improper medical care and persecution from the guards (A&E, Japanese). Although, in contrast to the genocide of Jews, these events were less horrific, the number of deaths does not dictate their value.
In contrast, Auschwitz was the biggest of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps. It is located in southern Poland and was originally a jail for political prisoners. However, it grew into a network of concentration camps where Jews and other perceived opponents of the Nazi Reich were murdered in gas chambers or forced to do slave labor.
Some detainees were also exposed to Josef Mengele’s brutal medical experiments. According to some reports, during World War II (1939-1945), the lives of over one million people perished in Auschwitz (A&E, Auschwitz). Nazi genocide exceeded the mortality of American concentration camps.
Prisoners or Detainees
The progression of these camps and the treatment of prisoners varied drastically. According to various estimates, the total number of Japanese internees was 120,000, of whom about 75,000 were U.S. citizens (A&E, Japanese). About 10,000 could move to other parts of the country, and the remaining 110,000 were confined to camps officially called “military relocation centers” (Muller 108). Nevertheless, they are commonly referred to as concentration camps. The camps were military barracks without sewers or kitchens. All camps were located in remote, deserted areas far from populated areas and were controlled by armed guards. Internees were usually allowed to stay with their families and were treated well as long as they did not break the rules.
Some Japanese Americans were able to escape internment camps to find employment or attend educational institutions. Some of these individuals found sanctuary and education at Whitworth College and Washington State College (Foley Library). During their time in college, Japanese Americans enjoyed many of the liberties that had been stripped from them during imprisonment (Foley Library). Therefore, their treatment cannot be one-sidedly regarded as prisoners of war in contrast to Nazi vamps.
Simultaneously, in Germany, the government seized property, from children’s toys to jewelry and real estate, which was immediately distributed within the country. Hitler was improving the lives of German Aryan citizens at the expense of the Jews. One of the most famous examples was when over two hundred and twenty thousand men’s suits, about one hundred and ninety thousand women’s dresses, one hundred and sixty thousand children’s clothes, underwear, and other things were distributed in a month and a half (Dennihy 220). It would be misleading to think that only these six out of more than one thousand six hundred concentration camps were engaged in killing people, as their mortality statistics are horrific.
The intensity of the extermination was constantly increasing, and with the approach of the Soviet troops, the infernal conveyor belt was greatly accelerated. There is no exact data on the exterminated Jews in these camps. The Nazis burned many documents. The victims of the Holocaust might have been considerably fewer if the United States and Great Britain had not taken a passive stance (Dennihy 226). Consequently, it is evident that treatment from Nazi Germany was in large crueler in comparison.
Details of Imprisonment
The trouble was that since most people were interned from sunny California without prior notice of their final destination, many were not prepared to live in Wyoming, where winter temperatures dropped to -20 degrees Celsius. The military treated internees loyally as long as they obeyed the camp administration without question. Some records report shooting at the prisoners when they tried to leave the camp’s territory (history). Internment was famous among white farmers who conflicted with farmers of Japanese descent. Therefore, White American farmers accepted the benefits of Japanese detention and imprisonment in light of their private interests (Muller 112). These people saw internment as a convenient way to root out their competitors of Japanese descent.
After the war, numerous laws that considered Japanese imprisonment were abolished. The internees gradually returned to their homes, although the camps remained open to those not yet ready to leave. Those released received $25 and a train ticket (Foley Library). The last camp was not closed until 1946. Of course, the American internment camps could not be compared to the German concentration camps. It is not fair to imprison people solely based on their ethnic origin.
From the end of 1942 until the end of World War II in Europe, the intensity of the extermination of the Jews only increased. It was mainly due to the failures of Nazi Germany at the front and the general retreat of the Wehrmacht troops. The “death factories” steadily increased their “productivity,” if the killing of Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, gays, the mentally ill, the disabled, and others can be called that word at all Diaz (Diaz and Gallegos 4). At certain intervals, the number of those murdered, for example, in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, reached twenty thousand per day.
The intensity increased with the approach of Soviet and Allied troops. It was possible to stop the mass extermination of people who did not fit into the fabric of National Socialism only by the liberation of the territories occupied by the Nazis and the complete defeat of the Wehrmacht, which was done. The German surrender was when the Holocaust officially ended in Europe.
The official statistics that people worldwide interpret might not represent factual reality. From the time the Nazis came to power in 1933 until the regime’s collapse in May 1945, according to various estimates, about six million Jews were exterminated (Lackey 141). However, no one dares to say precisely how many died. During this time, over a thousand six hundred concentration camps and about a hundred labor camps were built in Germany, the occupied parts of Europe and the Soviet Union, and the satellite countries (Diaz and Gallegos 5). They were all part of a single system of extermination, which worked without interruption, delay, delay, or stoppage.
Additional Aspects of Difference
Several prominent features distinguished the concentration camps. First, although prisoners were never killed en masse in America, shooting was still necessary. Secondly, children were allowed to stay with their families, unlike in concentration camps, where families were separated forever. Thirdly, the camp had medical facilities to maintain the health of prisoners and not for experiments, not to mention a crematorium. Finally, it did not take a significant city invasion and bombardment to destroy the camp and free the prisoners.
The concentration camps were murder factories where millions of people died at the whim and order of the Nazi government and camp commanders. They separated families by gender, stripped them of all property, and treated prisoners like parasites. The United States was wrong to plead guilty under President Clinton. Still, the concentration camps of World War II are no match for the horrendous and disgusting conditions of Nazi Germany’s camps. Every oppression of one community by another has consequences, and no one should escape responsibility to prevent similar camps in the future.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the difference is clear that Nazi Germany was exceptionally cruel towards its prisoners, while American camps pale in comparison. Nevertheless, they remain immoral representations of human history that relinquish fundamental human rights and propagate anger and violence. Both camps differ in their reasons for establishment, treatment, and development. Their history serves as a lesson for future generations to irradicate the mistakes of the past.
Works Cited
“Auschwitz.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, Web.
Dennihy, Melissa. “Where History Meets Literature: Teaching the Holocaust, Genocide, and Mass Atrocity Through a Creative Approach in the Community College English Classroom.” Humanistic Pedagogy Across the Disciplines. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018. pp. 209-228.
Diaz, Austin, and Anthony Gallegos. “Japanese and Jewish Concentration Camps (Episode 1).” (2021). pp. 1-6.
“Internment and Service: Japanese Americans from the Inland Empire: Relocation & Internment.” LibGuides, Foley Library Gonzaga University, Web.
“Japanese Internment Camps.” History, A&E Television Networks, Web.
Lackey, Douglas P. “Extraordinary Evil or Common Malevolence? Evaluating the Jewish Holocaustt.” Applied Philosophy. Routledge, 2020. 141-155.
Muller, Eric L. “The Nazi Analogy in Japanese American Civil Rights Discourse.” NCCRL Rev. vol. 1 no. 1, 2021, pp. 94-119.