The Tanforan shopping mall in San Bruno has a significant but underrecognized history related to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Over 120,000 Americans were unjustly imprisoned due to their heritage, with many detained at temporary sites like Tanforan before being sent to longer-term camps. Following Executive Order 9066 in 1942, Japanese Americans faced grave uncertainties, forced to sell properties and abandon their lives. Documentaries and memories keep alive the awareness of this painful chapter, urging acknowledgment of local historical injustices.
"I think as time goes on, people forget about the important parts of history that go on in our own backyard... If you know a Japanese American, it's more than likely it happened to their family."
Tanforan was one of more than a dozen temporary facilities where Japanese Americans were detained - in what was euphemistically called an "evacuation" - before being sent to long-term concentration camps like Manzanar.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 arrived in February 1942, Japanese Americans plunged deeper into uncertainty... They spent the next several weeks selling off property at a steep discount, closing businesses and abandoning their homes.
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