Kenedy Enemy Alien Detention Site, World War II

Inside the camp the plaque describes, the men organized and pushed back. Internees formed about seven factions, the German Guatemalans the largest, and elected spokesmen. They complained of censored mail and of prefabricated victory huts that trapped the heat. When a storm wrecked part of the camp in late August 1942, several refused to clear the debris, arguing the Geneva Convention did not require it, and were disciplined. In June 1943 two Germans were caught hiding in brush with a map of South Texas and northern Mexico. That August, 388 Japanese internees left on the exchange ship Gripsholm.

What the plaque says

Kenedy Enemy Alien Detention Site, World War II Shocked by the December 7, 1941, Empire of Japan attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii that propelled the U.S. into World War II, one U.S. Government response was the incarceration of more than 120,000 Issei (first generation, Japanese immigrants) and Nisei (second generation, U.S. citizens) in war relocation authority camps across the country. Through separate confinement programs, thousands of Japanese, German, and Italian citizens in the U.S. (and in many cases, their U.S. citizen relatives), classified as enemy aliens, were detained by the Department of Justice (DOJ) through its enemy alien control unit, and, in Latin America, by the Department of State's special war problems division. Enemy aliens were held until paroled or exchanged for U.S.. and allied citizens seized overseas by axis nations. Texas hosted three DOJ confinement sites, administered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) at Crystal City, Seagoville, and here, as well as two U.S. army temporary detention stations at Fort Sam Houston and Fort Bliss. Previously Camp Kenedy served as a World War I training camp and later as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp In March 1942, the site transferred from the CCC to the INS. On April 21, 1942, the confinement site's first detainees arrived -- primarily adult males from Latin American republics. The site had accommodations for 1,200 internees and a staff of 84; however, the population averaged closer to 600 internees per month. Detainees had access to large athletic fields and a garden outside the fence. The INS ceased operation of the facility in September 1944 and the remaining internees were transferred to other camps, paroled, or repatriated. After the enemy alien detention station closed the site became a German, and later a Japanese enemy prisoner of war camp. Texas in World War II - 2013

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Panna Maria — 11 mi
  The Silesian village on a plateau above the San Antonio River that claims the oldest permanent Polish settlement in America, with a church of 1878 and a ceiling found again in 2000.
• Goliad State Park and Historic Site — 30 mi
  Mission Espíritu Santo on the San Antonio River, a mission ranch whose herds seeded Texas cattle country, rebuilt from ruin by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

More markers nearby

• Kenedy — 1.0 mi
• First Baptist Church of Karnes City — 6.3 mi
• Karnes City — 6.3 mi
• Karnes County — 6.4 mi