Along the lonely US395, in California but on the other side of the mountains, and flagged by a highway sign and some rock pillars is a monument that the US tried to forget
Thousands of Japanese were interred here during WWII stripped of their freedom, their property, their belongings, much of which was never recovered
Most of the site was bulldozed after the war, trying to give it back to the chaparral
Foundations like the hospital here and the cemetery are all that is left
This was Manzanar
@olavf My father brought me here in 1965. Most of the people imprisoned here were U.S. citizens. Many were Natural Born Citizens, just like me, legally qualified to become President of the United States. And yet here they were. It's something to think about.
Four years later, I was standing on the grounds of the Dachau concentration camp. I was nearly the only person there. Many of them were citizens too.
@olavf Yes. In 1969, concentration camps were not yet of interest to tourists. Everything was there at Dachau too, the plumbing, the showers, the ovens, the electric fences in working order, one step from going back into operation. I spent nearly the whole day there exploring, including the gravel bed of the stream behind the prison where I discovered things I'd rather not discuss here.
@shuttersparks my ex was not prepared to cope so unfortunately there was a lot of the compound we didn't get to :/
@shuttersparks this doesn't excuse the US, but
I've been to Matthausen. it was never "sanitized". You go into the 'shower' and the plumbing is still there. You go into the crematorium and the ovens are still there. 70 years later people are still leaving flowers.
If I had a proper camera I might have taken photos, but the tools I had would never do justice, so I didn't