In the starkly beautiful Eastern Sierra of California, along US Highway 395 you will find a simple sign for a turnoff to Manzanar....
Manzanar was one of the infamous internment camps for Japanese Americans during WWII. Only a few foundations left, as most of these camps were torn down in an attempt to erase the past. There are plans to build a museum here.
I call this 'Faith Beyond Belief' because these people tried to maintain a sense of normalcy here behind the barbed wire, working, setting up organizations and activities, going to school, births, deaths, like any other community; and returned to their American lives after the war. I had never met survivors or their descendants until I lived in California, where most of them were originally from.
P.S. These are Donal'd Pix; Mine of course, are B&W. We'll see those later.
I know that you have that faith on film that is untouchable. It is a good thing. Here amazing photos form a place that I never had an opportunity to visit. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOf course I knew about these Internment camps as a point of history. But until I lived in California (where many of the Japanese Americans were), I had never met anyone directly affected by it. To be imprisoned is such a beautiful place........
ReplyDeleteAnd the Eastern Sierra Nevadas is truly one of the spectacular areas of California, that few people visit. If you are ever in Yosemite, Drive up and over the mountain pass, and drop down to Mono Lake, and places that are worlds away from what most people think of as California.