Topaz National Historic Landmark, USA

Helen Horano Christ was nine years old when her family arrived at Topaz after being forced to leave their home in California. “When we got off the bus...a dust storm had come up. First thing we faced in Topaz was the dust. We had to make our way to our barracks, which weren't quite finished yet. In fact, we were told that the windows had just been put in that morning, and I stuck my finger in the putty, and it was still soft. I managed to leave my mark, didn't I?” The harsh landscape heavily impacted the lives of Japanese Americans confined in the camp, just as Japanese Americans’ mark on the area is visible at the site today. From 1942 to 1945, just over 11,000 people were confined at Topaz. A 4-foot high barbed wire fence surrounded their one-square-mile living area. While people experienced a constant lack of privacy in the camp, many Japanese Americans found ways to make the best of their circumstances through cultivating community organizations and transforming the dusty landscape with sports fields and Japanese style gardens. The site remains an important place of remembrance for Japanese American communities and a testament to people’s resiliency in the face of hardship.