AZ: The History of Arizona podcast

Starting in March 1942, 120,000 Japanese Americans were removed from the West Coast and sent to 10 camps where they would ride out the majority of the war. Two of those camps were located in Arizona, introducing tens of thousands of people to the rigors of living in the desert … without the option for leaving.

Even in the decades before the 1942 executive order to remove them all from the West Coast of America, life for Japanese Americans in Arizona wasn’t easy. And it only got worse when literal bombs started flying.

After their daring breakout on the evening of December 23, 1944, the 25 escaping German POWs tried various methods to get to freedom. They would be hampered by things like rain, cold, patrols, wary citizens, cactus and a dry river bed, ultimately resulting in all 25 being back in custody just over a month after breaking out.

Starting in 1943, 3,000 German prisoners of war, mostly naval men, would be held in a POW camp at Papago Park. In 1944, 28 of those deemed to be troublemakers discovered a blindspot in their compound and set upon an audacious plan to break out and make a run for Mexico.

Starting in 1943, thousands of German and Italian POWs were shipped to Arizona. They would leave a mostly honorable legacy while the Sonoran Desert and the mountains of Flagstaff would leave a lasting impression on them.