Blanca Sadako (Maoki) Katsura
Blanca Sadako (Maoki) Katsura was born and raised in Peru, where her parents operated a general store. After World War II began, Katsura’s father and uncle were arrested and jailed, and the family traveled by boat from their home country of Peru to the United States, where they were interned at the Department of Justice internment camp at Crystal City, Texas. She describes what it was like to be a teenager in camp, and reflects on the hardship her family faced when starting over after leaving Crystal City. Despite living comfortably before the war, all the progress the family had made from their hard work was lost due to the internment. Katsura ends the interview discussing the importance of reparations payments for Latin Americans who faced these injustices during the 1940s.
