Manzanar Internment Camp Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps at which Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens were interned during World War II. Located at the foot of the imposing Sierra Nevada in eastern California's Owens Valley, Manzanar has been identified as the best preserved of these camps.

The purpose of Executive Order 9066 was to provide security against sabotage and espionage.   The Executive Order authorized the U.S. Army to remove persons of Japanese descent and relocate them to camps throughout the United States.  

Many times when a family arrived at a camp they were missing family members.   In most cases it was the father who had been separated, usually because the FBI had taken him into custody.

Manzanar held a total of 11,070 people.

The living area of the evacuees consisted of nearly one square mile with 36 blocks of tar-paper barracks.  

Prison Camp

Everyday Life in the Camp

Manzanar High School

The Barracks

Mess hall Each barrack had a communal mess hall, laundry facilities, and a latrine.   The camp also had a hospital, school, church, recreational, and cultural facilities, a cooperative store, and other necessary amenities.

Store and Catholic Church within the camp

Manzanar Today

Monument to Console the Souls of the Dead A shrine was built in the cemetery by a group of internees in 1943. The inscription on the back reads "August 1943" and "erected by the Manzanar Japanese."

Today, Manzanar is a National Historic Landmark.