Order Copies of Japanese American Internment Records

Members of the Mochida family awaiting evacuation bus. Identification tags were used to aid in keeping a family unit intact during all phases of evacuation. Mochida operated a nursery and five greenhouses on a two-acre site in Eden Township. By Dorothea Lange, Hayward, California, May 8, 1942. (Photo No. 210-GC-153)

For ordering Photographs:
See the Ordering Still Picture Reproductions page.

How to Order Copies of:

War Relocation Authority (WRA) Case Files

If you wish to obtain a copy of these files, please review the following privacy statement and provide the information requested on the relevant order form. Please complete and return one separate order form for each individual case file that you are ordering.

Privacy Requirements:

WRA case files are subject to privacy restrictions. You may order a copy of a case file if:

• You are the subject of the file.
• You can provide signed, notarized permission in writing from the subject granting you permission to see their case file (if the subject of the file is still living).
• You can provide proof of death such as a copy of a death certificate, Social Security Death Index listing, or obituary (if the subject of the file is deceased).

Please also provide the following information about each WRA case file you are requesting:

1. Name of internee (include all names used while in a center)
2. Name of the head of family
3. Date of birth; and
4. Name of the War Relocation Authority center

Proceed to the file request

For more information about these records, please see War Relocation Authority (WRA) Case Files.

World War II Alien Enemy Detention and Internment Case Files

To request a Department of Justice World War II Alien Enemy Detention and Internment Case File please provide the following information:

1. Name of internee (include all names used)
2. Date of birth
3. Department of Justice case file number (if known). 

Requests may be submitted to archives2reference@nara.gov. For more information about these records, please see World War II Department of Justice Alien Enemy Detention and Internment Case Files.

Compensation and Reparation Case Files for the Incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II

To request a Compensation and Reparation Case File please provide the following information:

1. Name of internee (include all names used while in a camp)
2. Date of birth
3. The act that the claim was made under, i.e. 1948 or 1988 (if known)

Requests may be submitted to archives2reference@nara.gov. For more information about these records please see Compensation and Reparations Case Files.

Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians for Public Hearings and Testimony

If you or your relative testified during the public hearings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, we may hold records of the testimony. To request these records, please provide the following information:

1. Name of witness
2. Location of testimony
3. Date of testimony

Requests may be submitted to archives2reference@nara.gov. For more information about these records please see Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Public Hearings and Testimony.

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