From Immigration to Exclusion&nbsp;Japanese immigration to the U.S. began in the late 19th century, with many settling on the island of Hawai’i and along the West Coast. These early immigrants, known as Issei (first generation), arrived mostly to work on sugar plantations and built tight-knit communities despite facing harsh discrimination. Their children, born in the United States, were called Nisei (second generation Japanese-Americans) and were American citizens by birth.&nbsp;Despite their contributions to American society, Japanese Americans faced exclusionary laws that prevented them from owning land, denied citizenship to the Issei, and even outlawed interracial marriages. Suspicions against Japanese Americans reached their peak after the attack on U.S. naval base Pearl Harbor, carried out by the Japanese Empire’s airforce on 7 December 1941.&nbsp;Executive Order 9066 and Incarceration&nbsp;In February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, forcibly removing around 120,000 Japanese Americans – many of them U.S. citizens – from their homes to concentration camps. Families lived in harsh conditions, surrounded by guards and barbed wire. Many lost their homes, jobs, and dignity. The government labeled the camps “relocation centers,” hiding the injustice behind euphemisms.&nbsp;Fighting for a Country That Imprisoned Them&nbsp;Despite their treatment, over 33,000 Japanese Americans served in the U.S. military. The 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team fought in Italy, France, and Germany and contributed to the Allied effort of liberating Europe. Their campaigns included breaking through the German Gothic Line in Italy and rescuing the “Lost Battalion” in France. More than 30 men were killed and many more wounded during the rescue of just over 200 of these soldiers in the Vosges Mountains in the northeast of France. At the end of the campaign, the 442nd Regiment counted more than 800 casualties.&nbsp;Meanwhile, in the Pacific and Asia, the U.S. Military Intelligence Service (MIS) had a vital but secret role. Japanese American linguists translated documents, interrogated prisoners, and played a crucial role in the U.S. war effort in the Pacific. Their post-war work during the Allied occupation of Japan (2 September 1945 to 28 April 1952) helped rebuild the country and foster U.S.-Japanese relations.&nbsp;Women’s Changing Roles&nbsp;Japanese American women also contributed to the war effort. While barred from combat, some served in the U.S. Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and the Army Nurse Corps. Others supported the war from within the camps or relocated to fill labor shortages. The war forced a shift in traditional gender roles and opened up new educational and career opportunities for women.&nbsp;&nbsp;After the war&nbsp;Upon returning home, many Nisei veterans faced continued racism, vandalism, and exclusion. Yet their service helped break racial barriers. In 1952, the Issei were finally granted the right to become U.S. citizens. Later, in 1988, the U.S. government issued an official apology and paid reparations to survivors of American concentration camps during World War II. After 9/11, Japanese Americans were among the first to speak out against discrimination toward Muslim and Arab Americans, vowing that the injustices of WWII would never be repeated.&nbsp;Together with the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history for its scope and length of service, a testament to the courage and dedication of these soldiers despite the discrimination they endured.Sources:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" class="Hyperlink SCXW131810909 BCX8" href="https://goforbroke.org/history-in-a-minute/">History in a Minute – Go For Broke</a>&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" class="Hyperlink SCXW131810909 BCX8" href="https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Japanese_Americans_in_military_during_World_War_II/">Japanese Americans in military during World War II | Densho Encyclopedia</a>&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" class="Hyperlink SCXW131810909 BCX8" href="https://nisei-legacy-tours.com/">Nisei Legacy Tours - Home - Follow the Go for Broke spirit</a>&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" class="Hyperlink SCXW131810909 BCX8" href="https://www.100thibv.org/">100th Infantry Battalion Veterans (Club 100) | Honolulu, Hawai‘i</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

Nisei: The Story of Japanese American Soldiers in WWII

We started in Sicily in July 2023 and continued in Normandy for the D-Day anniversary on 6 June 2024. From there, we went to the Netherlands for commemorations of Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Scheldt, and later to Belgium for events marking the Battle of the Bulge. Most recently, we were in the Netherlands again for the national remembrance and liberation days on 4 and 5 May 2025. From Amsterdam to Groningen, Apeldoorn, and the Freedom Ride in Arnhem, the spirit of remembrance and unity was deeply felt.In addition to these major milestones, the Europe Remembers online campaign covered many more local and regional commemorations, anniversaries, and remembrance initiatives across Europe. From small community events to large international ceremonies, we aimed to highlight the wide range of efforts being made to remember and honour the history of WWII. Throughout the campaign, we created and shared a broad range of content: historical videos, interviews, reportages, and short documentaries. We spoke with veterans, re-enactors, organisers, writers, and participants—bringing these stories to a broad audience on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://europeremembers.com">europeremembers.com</a>, Facebook, and Instagram. The website also served as a collaborative platform where people could find and explore WWII-related events organised across Europe. It helped connect organisations, institutions, and the public with accessible information about commemorations and activities taking place throughout the 80th anniversary period.The campaign is now entering its final phase, with a focus on audience engagement through the #IRemember initiative. This phase invites people to share their personal or family memories of the war. The campaign will continue through to September, marking the anniversary of the end of WWII.After that, we will take time to look back at the past years, assess the wide range of activities we’ve carried out, and consider how Europe Remembers can best grow and evolve in the future. Our goal is to ensure that this campaign continues to serve as a meaningful platform for remembrance and education. We want to thank all the partners who worked with us over the past months: Vfonds, the Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei, Region Gelderland, Brabant Remembers, Region Zeeland, the Bastogne Memorial and WWII Reference Center, as well as the many museums and local partners we met along the way. Thank you for following and supporting Europe Remembers. You can continue to explore our stories, videos, and commemorations on social media and at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://europeremembers.com">europeremembers.com</a>.

Europe Remembers: Update on the 80th Anniversary Campaign

By the spring of 1945, the end of the Second World War in Europe was within reach. With Berlin surrounded, Adolf Hitler committed suicide together with his wife in the Führerbunker on April 30th. His successor, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, sought to save as many German soldiers as possible from falling into Soviet hands by negotiating surrender terms with the Western Allies.&nbsp;&nbsp;On May 4, 1945, British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery accepted the surrender of German troops in northwest Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. Three days later, on May 7th, Germany’s unconditional capitulation was formally signed at General Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims (France). With that, it was official: the war in Europe was over. The document, signed by German General Alfred Jodl, wouldn’t take effect in most countries until the following day, but things were different in Britain.The day before VE DayOn the evening of May 7, the BBC interrupted its regular programming with a news flash: Germany had officially surrendered. In the same broadcast, it was announced that the following day, May 8th, would be declared a national holiday called Victory in Europe Day.&nbsp;&nbsp;When the news broke, the British couldn’t wait until the next day to celebrate and instead did so that very evening on May 7th, 1945. After almost six years of rationing, bombing raids and uncertainty, the chance to celebrate peace was for many irresistible.&nbsp;&nbsp;Across the country, people flooded into the streets. In Liverpool, ten year old Joyce Hughes was woken by music and laughter: “There was a big bonfire lit at the bottom of the road, someone had pushed the piano out and everyone was on Vale Road singing and dancing. It was dark but everyone was out, fifty or more people in the street. We waited for mum and dad to come up and get us and they took us down to the bonfire. Everyone was happy, singing and hugging each other.”&nbsp;&nbsp;That spontaneous joy was felt across the country. Street after street got decorated with flags, pubs filled up and people started dancing in the streets. Bonfires were also lit, beer was poured and strangers embraced each other.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;An official day of joy&nbsp;On May 8, 1945, Britain paused everything for the official Victory in Europe Day. Special victory menus and commemorative items, such as VE Day Mugs were produced overnight. Prime Minister Winston Churchill made sure there was enough beer in London and the Board of Trade allowed that red, white and blue bunting could be sold without ration coupons. VE Day could begin!&nbsp;Winston Churchill addressed Britain on a radio broadcast at 3pm with a speech, urging the public to celebrate but reminding them that the war in the Pacific was still going on. Later, he appeared before cheering crowds from the balcony of the Ministry of Health. “This is your victory,” Churchill said. The crowd roared back: “No, it’s yours!” The Royal Family played a role in the celebrations too, waving to crowds from Buckingham Palace.&nbsp;&nbsp;Joan Hall served the Women’s Royal Air Force for four years and celebrated VE Day in London. She recalled: “It was a once in a lifetime feeling of jubilation, the crowds and noise is like nothing I’ve experienced before.”&nbsp;Albert Jarett, originally from Jamaica and serving the RAF, remembered the celebrations vividly as well: “I was overwhelmed at the joy and celebrations going on around me! (...)”&nbsp;&nbsp;The celebrations went on into the night with music and dancing. Ray Smith, served aboard HMS Middleton during the war and recalls his night in London: “VE Day was truly a day of celebration! (...) We ended up going to London and joining in the celebrations right in the middle of Trafalgar Square and ended up partying all day long, meeting some lovely WRENs along the way who we ended up sleeping in a shop doorway with as there were no hotels available- but we didn’t care it had been the best day ever!”&nbsp;A bittersweet day&nbsp;However, not everyone joined the festivities. For many people, VE Day was a bittersweet moment. The war had left losses and extreme sadness. And while victory had come for Europe, the war in the far East and in the Pacific was far from over. Charlotte Webb joined the Artillery Territorial Service (ATS) in 1941 and said: “It was wonderful to hear the war in Europe was over, but it made no difference to my work, I was still working towards the efforts in the Far East.” The official end of the Second World War came on September 2, 1945, with the surrender of Japan.&nbsp;Sources:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-ve-day">https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-ve-day</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-war/ve-day">https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-war/ve-day</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/stories/ve-day-memories">https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/stories/ve-day-memories</a>&nbsp;

From May 7 to May 8, 1945: Britain’s two days of VE Day celebrations

Photo correspondents from the various Soviet republics captured the advance of the Red Army in pictures. In the exhibition, more than 50 photographs document this route at different sections of the front – from Karelia via Estonia and Lithuania, Belarus and the Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Serbia, East Prussia, Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia to the east of the German Reich. They show destruction and human suffering, the Majdanek concentration and extermination camp liberated by the Red Army, the march of German prisoners of war through Moscow, as well as the successive ends of the war in Bucharest, Belgrade, Katowice, Budapest, Königsberg and Danzig.The photographs of the surrender of the Wehrmacht in Berlin-Karlshorst, the victory celebrations in Leningrad and Prague and the meeting of American and Soviet soldiers and officers mark the end of the Second World War in Europe in the exhibition.

Germany

The last year of the war. June 1944-May 1945 from the perspective of Soviet war photographers

We visited the Casa della Cultura e della Memoria, took part in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Sacrario dei Caduti, and joined the many people gathering in the Monte Sole Historical Park. From guided tours to concerts, from remembrance sites to a photo exhibition by Giulio Di Meo, it was a full day that showed how memory can take many forms, each of them valuable as long as they are shared.

Liberation Day in Italy - Marzabotto and Monte Sole

🎨 Artist Natalia Grezina reflects on how the unspoken memories of her grandmother, who experienced WWII, continue to shape her personal and artistic journey.📢 Join the #IRemember Campaign and tell us about how you, your family, or your community experienced the end of WWII.

Commemorate the end of WWII – 80 years later

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The last year of the war. June 1944-May 1945 from the perspective of Soviet war photographers

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Liberation Day in Italy - Marzabotto and Monte Sole

#Iremember 1 : Artist Natalia Grezina and the unspoken memories of her grandmother

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Nisei: The Story of Japanese American Soldiers in WWII

Europe Remembers: Update on the 80th Anniversary Campaign

From May 7 to May 8, 1945: Britain’s two days of VE Day celebrations

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