On the Texas Homefront Media

According to the U.S. War Relocation Authority, the movement of thousands from their homes and jobs to internment camps was a humane act “setting the standard for the rest of the world in the treatment of people.” From the viewpoint of those interned, the camps were prisons. First-person oral histories of former Texas internment camp detainees recount the trauma of being removed from all they had known and what life was like isolated from friends and families, surrounded by barbed wire, and watched 24/7 by armed guards in towers.

Meanwhile overseas, as the war progressed and Allied troops moved across Europe in a series of assaults against Nazi Germany, they began to liberate tens of thousands of concentration camp prisoners on the brink of death from starvation and disease. Texans stationed in Europe were part of the armed forces to arrive first in the camps. They witnessed the heartbreaking result of Nazi propaganda that had permitted atrocities to occur. The long-lasting effects of what liberators witnessed are evident in their stories collected by the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission.

Heidi Donald

Born in Costa Rica to German and American citizens, Heidi Donald had triple citizenship—American, German, and Costa Rican—and was interned in Crystal City in 1943 at age three with her parents and sister.

Full interview time: 1 hr 28 min

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Audrey Moonyeen Thornton

Born in London to English and German citizens, Audrey Moonyeen Thornton was interned in Crystal City in 1943 at age 8 with her parents.

Full interview time: 57 min

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