Artifact #6

Hastings Park Detention Centre (1942)

For Japanese Canadians from outlying areas the first stop on the road to exile was Hastings Park. Women and children were assigned to the livestock building. Men were housed in the Forum. Conditions were barbaric - privacy was non-existent; the latrines were open gutters; the food unpalatable. Outbreaks of diarrhea added to the misery. Many were confined there for months without knowing where they would be sent or what had become of their husbands, families and relatives.

Consider the following questions as you examine this photograph:

  • Consider the sounds, smells, and feelings that you would experience here.
  • How would you feel about sleeping in this room?
  • Approximately how many Japanese Canadians would have been detained here?

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