Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: William Marutani Interview
Narrator: William Marutani
Interviewers: Becky Fukuda (primary), Gary Kawaguchi (secondary)
Location: University of California, Los Angeles
Date: September 11, 1997
Densho ID: denshovh-mwilliam-01-0008

WM: No, it doesn't surprise me that they didn't know, because I thought I was fairly knowledgeable of what happened in 1942 and thereafter. But when I heard the testimonies, so many new things came up, that I was, sometimes I was shocked. And when the testimony came forth before the commission itself, there was a combination of a number of emotions. Number one is shock, surprise, rage, anger. Rage and pity as to what happened to some of these people. Rage at what the government did blatantly against my people. And when you get this combination of emotions, I... I've never had it before. You know, I may become angry at somebody who, well, driving along the road -- just to give you an example, I don't do that -- but I can see where you can get angry at somebody who cuts in front of you, or takes your parking space. That's one kind of anger. When you get an anger of sorrow and rage and hate to some extent -- not hating the person, but hating what happened -- it's a terrible, terrible emotion. And I could not... I tried to keep from letting tears come to my eyes. They did, to be honest with you.

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