Relocation of Japanese-Canadians to camps in the interior of British Columbia 1942-46

In this photo, we see a family tending to their luggage. Where they are – a train station, a street side – is unclear, as the photographer has taken a close-up of this family engrossed in sorting their goods. Without the title, we may not realize this family is on its way to an internment camp in northern British Columbia. The family packed their possessions, not knowing how long they would live in internment camps. They also did not know whether they could stay together or where they would be. Little emotion showed on the faces of the family or the people in the background. A long queue of people, neatly ordered and packed tightly together, await their turn for processing. Many more people were also waiting to go to an internment camp. Many more piles of suitcases can be seen in the background, too. Two small children stand back-to-back, holding each other’s hands. 

This intimate yet stoic photo shows us people facing a grim reality: their country no longer saw them as the good people they knew themselves to be. 

Bibliography:

[1] Aihoshi, Susan. Torn Apart: The Internment Diary of Mary Kobayashi. Toronto: Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2012. https://archive.org/details/tornapartinternm0000susa.