With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

City of Vancouver played role in stripping war-era Japanese Canadians of homes, says professor

A University of Victoria history professor says he has unearthed new documents that show the City of Vancouver played a bigger role than previously thought in forcing Japanese-Canadians to sell their homes during the Second World War.

Jordan Stanger-Ross, who is also the project director of Landscapes of Injustice, a federally-funded research project that examines the treatment of Japanese-Canadians during the war years, says newly found documents show the city played a role in forcing people to sell their homes.

Vivian Rygenstad's parents were among the 22,000 Japanese-Canadians stripped of their rights and forced from their homes during the Second World War.

"Before they left, they did like many other families, they hid things like cameras and valuables. They hid them in the walls and stuff like that," Rygenstad said.

Read entire article at CBC News