不為人知的美國(guó)荒漠集中營(yíng)曾囚禁十萬(wàn)日裔

Revisiting a World War II Internment Camp, as Others Try to Keep Its Story From Fading

不為人知的美國(guó)荒漠集中營(yíng)曾囚禁十萬(wàn)日裔

GRANADA, Colo. — Most days, the only sounds in this desolate place in the southeastern part of the state are the skitter of rattlesnakes and the rustle of sagebrush in the wind.

科羅拉多州格拉納達(dá)——多數(shù)時(shí)候，在科羅拉多州東南部這片荒蕪之地，唯一能聽(tīng)到的聲音是響尾蛇的滑行聲，以及鼠尾草在風(fēng)中的沙沙聲。

But on Saturday a car stopped in the sand, and out stepped Bob Fuchigami, 85, who had come to tell the story of his imprisonment, 73 years before, at an internment camp here that came to be known as Amache.

然而上周六，一輛車(chē)停在了沙地上，從車(chē)?yán)镒叱鰜?lái)的是85歲的鮑勃·淵上(Bob Fuchigami)。他來(lái)到這里是為了講述自己73年前被囚禁在當(dāng)?shù)匕ⅠR奇集中營(yíng)(Amache)的故事。

In 1942, just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, roughly 120,000 people of Japanese descent were evicted from their homes and sent to live in camps around the country. About two-thirds of them were American citizens. At the time, the federal government called the move necessary to protect the West Coast from sabotage.

1942年，在珍珠港遇襲后不久，約12萬(wàn)日裔被逐出家園，驅(qū)趕到全美各地的集中營(yíng)。這些人中約有三分之二是美國(guó)公民。聯(lián)邦政府當(dāng)時(shí)表示，此舉對(duì)于保護(hù)西岸免受破壞十分必要。

“It was a mile square full of barracks,” Mr. Fuchigami said as he whacked through a thicket of sage in search of the remains of his hut, 7G. “They shouldn’t have been here,” he said of the people who lived inside. “It was just one colossal mistake.”

“那是一個(gè)蓋滿(mǎn)了棚屋的一英里見(jiàn)方的場(chǎng)地，”淵上一邊說(shuō)著，一邊用力撥開(kāi)鼠尾草叢，尋找他居住過(guò)的編號(hào)為7G的棚屋的遺跡。“他們本不應(yīng)該被趕到這里，”他提到住在集中營(yíng)的人時(shí)說(shuō)。“那是一個(gè)天大的錯(cuò)誤。”

For years, people who were held at Camp Amache have made a pilgrimage to the detention center on the second-to-last Saturday in May, bumping down a gravel road to share what they remember about their time behind the barbed wire. In the past, busloads of former detainees have attended. But this year only two people who had lived here could make the trek: Mr. Fuchigami and a woman named Jane Okubo.

多年來(lái)，每到5月的倒數(shù)第二個(gè)星期六，曾經(jīng)被關(guān)在阿馬奇集中營(yíng)的人都會(huì)到這里來(lái)，在沙地上顛簸行進(jìn)后，分享他們對(duì)鐵絲網(wǎng)內(nèi)生活的記憶。過(guò)去，曾被關(guān)押的人員會(huì)一車(chē)車(chē)地聚集到此。但今年，只有兩個(gè)當(dāng)年的居民能夠踏上這趟旅程：一個(gè)是淵上，另一個(gè)則是名為簡(jiǎn)·小洼(Jane Olubo)的女士。

“We’re dying off,” said Ms. Okubo, 71, who lives in Sacramento.

“我們?cè)谙嗬^離開(kāi)人世，”目前居住在薩克拉門(mén)托的71歲的小洼說(shuō)。

The two were accompanied by a group of about 70 others who had come to support them. During a luncheon, an organizer asked Ms. Okubo to speak about her detention. “I don’t have any memories,” she said apologetically. “I was born here at Amache.”

陪同他們兩個(gè)的有大約70名支持者。在午餐會(huì)上，一名組織者請(qǐng)小洼談?wù)勗诩袪I(yíng)里的經(jīng)歷。“我什么也不記得了，”她抱歉地說(shuō)。“我是在阿馬奇出生的。”

Amache was the smallest of 10 internment camps, reaching a peak population of just over 7,000. In recent years, bigger camps like Tule Lake (which grew to a population of 18,789) and Manzanar (which had a peak population 10,046) have received large numbers of visitors, and their stories continue to be recounted in classrooms and in books like the 1973 memoir “Farewell to Manzanar,” by James D. Houston and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston.

阿馬奇是10個(gè)集中營(yíng)中規(guī)模最小的，人口最多的時(shí)候剛剛超過(guò)7000。近年來(lái)，圖利湖(Tule Lake，其人數(shù)增長(zhǎng)到了18789)和曼贊納(Manzanar，巔峰時(shí)期人口為10046)等規(guī)模更大的集中營(yíng)接待了大批訪客，它們的故事得以繼續(xù)在課堂和書(shū)本中講述，比如詹姆斯·D·休斯敦(James D. Houston)和讓娜·若月·休斯敦(Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston)合著的回憶錄《永別了，曼贊納》(Farewell to Manzanar)。

But few in Colorado even know Amache existed. The lone comprehensive book on the camp is out of print. And survivors say that as they age and their peers die, their experiences are falling deeper into the footnotes of history.

但是，就連知道阿馬奇存在的科羅拉多人都屈指可數(shù)。唯一全面講述這座集中營(yíng)故事的書(shū)現(xiàn)已絕版。幸存者稱(chēng)，隨著他們的老去，以及同輩的逝世，他們的經(jīng)歷正被覆蓋上越來(lái)越厚的歷史塵埃。

Amache (pronounced ah-motch-EE) sits at the edge of Granada, a farming community of 500 people. It is a four-hour drive south from Denver, through ranch land and past gas stations.

阿馬奇位于格拉納達(dá)邊緣，是一個(gè)由500人組成的農(nóng)業(yè)社區(qū)。從丹佛開(kāi)車(chē)往南四小時(shí)方可到達(dá)，中途要穿過(guò)牧場(chǎng)，經(jīng)過(guò)幾座加油站。

The camp was named for a Cheyenne princess who had married a local cattle baron, and it was also known as the Granada War Relocation Center.

這座集中營(yíng)以嫁給了當(dāng)?shù)仞B(yǎng)牛大亨的一名夏延族原住民公主命名，又被稱(chēng)作“格拉納達(dá)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)收容中心”(Granada War Relocation Center)。

Today, the space where its residents once lived is an unruly carpet of prickly shrubs and wildflowers that is dotted with hints of its past life: shattered porcelain, exposed rebar, slabs of concrete and the occasional ribbon of barbed wire.

如今，集中營(yíng)居民曾經(jīng)住過(guò)的地方，長(zhǎng)滿(mǎn)了多刺的灌木和野花，中間僅有星星點(diǎn)點(diǎn)的過(guò)往的痕跡：破碎的瓷器、暴露在外的鋼筋、混凝土板，偶爾還能看到條狀的鐵絲網(wǎng)。

There are almost no buildings. When the final detainees left on Oct. 15, 1945, the camp’s roughly 550 structures were auctioned off and moved, dispersed just like their inhabitants.

這里已幾乎沒(méi)有建筑物。1945年10月15日，當(dāng)最后一批關(guān)在那里的人員離開(kāi)的時(shí)候，集中營(yíng)的大約550棟建筑即被拍賣(mài)和轉(zhuǎn)移，像曾經(jīng)住在這里的人一樣消失了。

Many residents, like Mr. Fuchigami, had come from California.

包括鮑勃·淵上在內(nèi)的許多居民來(lái)自加州。

Mr. Fuchigami, who now lives near Denver, was born in the United States. He was 12 when his family of 10 people left its walnut and peach tree farm outside Yuba City. The family leased — and later lost — its farm to a white man, and took up residence in two rooms in 7G.

他出生在美國(guó)，目前住在丹佛附近。當(dāng)他12歲的時(shí)候，一家10口人離開(kāi)了尤巴城外的胡桃和桃樹(shù)種植農(nóng)場(chǎng)。他的家人把農(nóng)場(chǎng)租給了一個(gè)白人，然后住進(jìn)了7G的兩個(gè)房間。后來(lái)，這座農(nóng)場(chǎng)被這個(gè)白人據(jù)為己有。

A naked bulb hung from the rafters of each tin-walled space, and during the first winter the temperature dropped to 22 degrees below zero.

每個(gè)由錫制墻面隔開(kāi)的空間里，都只有一顆光禿禿的燈泡懸掛在屋梁上。在那里度過(guò)的第一個(gè)冬天，氣溫降到了零下22華氏度(合零下30攝氏度)。

In some ways, the detention camp operated like a typical American city. There were schools, a fire department, a Boy Scout troop and a semiweekly newspaper. It had businesses for detainees and contributed to several industries at large, including pumping out thousands of war propaganda posters. The camp even had its own football team, the Amache Indians.

從某些方面來(lái)看，集中營(yíng)的運(yùn)行與一座典型的美國(guó)城市類(lèi)似。那里有學(xué)校、消防部門(mén)、童子軍，還有一份報(bào)紙，每周出兩期。它為在押人員安排了業(yè)務(wù)，還大致為幾個(gè)行業(yè)貢獻(xiàn)了力量，比如印制了成千上萬(wàn)份的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)宣傳海報(bào)。這座集中營(yíng)甚至擁有自己的橄欖球隊(duì)——阿馬奇印第安人隊(duì)(Amache Indians)。

Four hundred fifteen babies were born. And nearly 1,000 residents entered military service, the highest percentage of any internment camp, according to Robert Harvey, the author of the out-of-print book, “Amache.”

共有415名嬰兒在營(yíng)中出生。前述絕版圖書(shū)《阿馬奇》的作者羅伯特·哈維(Robert Harvey)表示，共有近1000名阿馬奇居民進(jìn)入軍隊(duì)服役，比例在所有集中營(yíng)中最高。

“But it wasn’t freedom,” Ms. Okubo said. “To be swept up and have two suitcases of stuff, and go to an area you’ve never known before, with the sandstorms coming through the cracks.”

“但這并不等于自由，”小洼說(shuō)。“被趕出家門(mén)，帶著兩箱行李，去往一個(gè)你以前從不知道的地方，沙塵暴每天都會(huì)從墻縫里吹進(jìn)來(lái)。”

Mr. Fuchigami recalled the armed guards, and the floodlights that interrupted each night’s sleep. At Amache, he said, he became intensely jealous of a kite he had fashioned from sticks and newspapers. “A kite can fly wherever it wants to go,” he said, noting the way it soared over the barbed wire as he remained inside.

鮑勃·淵上想起了武裝警衛(wèi)，以及每晚妨礙睡眠的探照燈。他表示，在阿馬奇集中營(yíng)，他越來(lái)越嫉妒自己用小棍和報(bào)紙做成的風(fēng)箏，他說(shuō)，“風(fēng)箏可以飛到任何它想去的地方。”他指的是他在集中營(yíng)時(shí)，風(fēng)箏升空飛躍鐵絲網(wǎng)的情景。

“There was always this feeling,” he said, “well, what are we in for? Why are we in here? What are they going to do to us tomorrow or the next day?”

“一直有這樣的感覺(jué)，”他說(shuō)。“我們?cè)谶@里做什么?我們?yōu)楹伪魂P(guān)在這里?他們今后會(huì)對(duì)我們做什么?”

Mr. Fuchigami has attended the pilgrimage each year since about 2006. This year, he was accompanied by his wife, daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, Sejal Gordon, 10. He was determined to show Sejal the camp.

大約從2006年開(kāi)始，鮑勃·淵上每年都會(huì)參加紀(jì)念之旅。今年，他的妻子、女兒、女婿和10歲的外孫女塞亞·戈登(Sejal Gordon)陪他一起前來(lái)。他決定讓塞亞看看這個(gè)集中營(yíng)。

It took them nearly an hour — and the assistance of an archaeologist who just happened to be passing through — to identify the spot where he had once slept.

在一名碰巧路過(guò)的考古學(xué)家的幫助下，他們花了將近一個(gè)小時(shí)找到了他從前睡覺(jué)的地方。

“This wind is very familiar to me,” he said, standing by the remains of the barracks as gusts blew through his white hair.

狂風(fēng)吹過(guò)白發(fā)時(shí)，他說(shuō)，“這里的風(fēng)對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)很熟悉。”

Amache, while not nearly as well known as camps like Manzanar and Tule Lake, in California, has not been entirely forgotten.

在加州，雖然阿馬奇集中營(yíng)不如曼贊納和圖利湖集中營(yíng)有名，但它尚未被完全遺忘。

John Hopper is a teacher, a sports coach and the principal at Granada Public Schools. In 1993, he decided to make a class project out of Camp Amache.

約翰·霍珀(John Hopper)是一名教師、運(yùn)動(dòng)教練，格拉納達(dá)公立學(xué)校(Granada Public Schools)的校長(zhǎng)。1993年，他決定開(kāi)展與阿馬奇集中營(yíng)有關(guān)的課堂任務(wù)。

Since then, his students have interviewed former internees, gathered documents, excavated portions of the camp and built a small museum, often partnering with other groups. In 2006, the site became a National Historic Landmark.

從那時(shí)起，他的學(xué)生訪問(wèn)曾被拘禁的人，收集資料，并在集中營(yíng)的部分區(qū)域進(jìn)行挖掘，建起一個(gè)小型展館，他們常常與其他組織展開(kāi)合作。2006年，這個(gè)地方成為一個(gè)國(guó)家歷史名勝。

One of the students’ most ambitious projects involves chasing down the camp’s scattered buildings and returning them to the camp. In 2014, they helped bring back a water tank and reconstruct a guard tower.

學(xué)生開(kāi)展的最具雄心的項(xiàng)目涉及找出該集中營(yíng)分散的建筑物與設(shè)施，使其恢復(fù)原狀。2014年，他們幫助找回一個(gè)水槽，并重建了一個(gè)守衛(wèi)塔。

This June, they will lay the foundation for a barracks building they plan to move from a farm in Stonington, Colo., about 60 miles south.

今年6月，他們將為一處營(yíng)房奠基，他們計(jì)劃將位于科羅拉多州斯托寧頓農(nóng)場(chǎng)的營(yíng)房搬來(lái)這里。那個(gè)農(nóng)場(chǎng)位于該集中營(yíng)以南60英里(約合100公里)的地方。

The goal, said Mr. Hopper, 52, is to create a museum where people can sleep over and experience camp life. “You need a building so they understand what it was like,” he said.

52歲的霍珀表示，這個(gè)項(xiàng)目的目的是創(chuàng)建一個(gè)展覽館，人們可以在這個(gè)展覽館過(guò)夜，感受集中營(yíng)的生活。他說(shuō)，“需要有一個(gè)營(yíng)房，這樣人們才會(huì)了解當(dāng)時(shí)的生活。”