Lawyer, Jailer, Ally, Foe: Complicity and Conscience in America's World War II Concentration Camps

by Eric L. Muller

It is 1942, and World War II is raging. In the months since Pearl Harbor, the US has plunged into the war overseas – and on the home front, has locked up tens of thousands of innocent Japanese Americans in concentration camps, tearing them from their homes on the West Coast with the ostensible goal of neutralizing a supposed internal threat.
At each of these camps the government places a white lawyer with contradictory instructions: provide legal counsel to the prisoners, but keep the place running. Within that job description is a vast array of tasks, and an enormous amount of discretion they can use for good or for ill. They fight to protect the property the prisoners were forced to leave behind on the coast; they help the prisoners with their wills and taxes; and they interrogate them about their loyalties, sometimes to the point of tears. Most think of themselves as trying to do good in a bad system, and yet each ends up harming the prisoners more than helping them, complicit in a system that strips people of their freedoms and sometimes endangers their lives.

In Lawyer, Jailer, Ally, Foe, historian Eric L. Muller brings to vivid life the stories of three of these men, illuminating a shameful episode of American history through imaginative narrative deeply grounded in archival evidence. As we look through the lawyers’ sometimes clear and sometimes clouded eyes, what emerges is a powerful look at the day-by-day, brick-by-brick perpetration of racial injustice—not just by the system itself, but by the men struggling to do good within it.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, American History, War

304 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2023

About the author

Eric L. Muller is Dan K. Moore Distinguished Professor in Jurisprudence and Ethics at the University of North Carolina School of Law and director of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Center for Faculty Excellence. He is editor of Colors of Confinement: Rare Kodachrome Photographs of Japanese American Incarceration in World War II and author of Free to Die for Their Country: The Story of the Japanese American Draft Resisters in World War II.

Reviews

[Izzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a poignant book that brings attention to an event in history that I hardly knew about before my trip. It taught me so much about my own accountability as a lawyer, especially one seeking a job in the U.S. government.

I am so incredibly lucky that I go to attend the writing seminar hosted by Professor Muller and see Heart Mountain! Finishing this book on the way back from Wyoming is an added bonus.

[East West Notes · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Am I right, Tom?” Masuda directed his gaze to the floor. He was not about to offer an opinion to the solicitor of the WRA on how many Caucasians at Poston were too many. And he was not about to tell Ted Haas that what people really wanted was not to run the camps but to leave them and go home.

During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated over 120,000 Japanese Americans into concentration camps under a system of "mass racial incarceration." This was initiated by President Roosevelt via an executive order after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Many lived on the Pacific Coast and were relocated into camps in the western interior. Lawyer, Jailer, Ally, Foe shares the fictionalised experiences of real project attorneys who worked for the War Relocation Authority (WRA), which was the civilian agency tasked with housing, protecting and 'rehabilitating' the prisoners.

Separate narratives highlight three of the WRA's concentration camps. The first takes place at Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming, the second at Poston Relocation Center in Arizona, and the third at Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona. The book uses the terminology of the time, so "evacuation" instead of "forced removal" and "relocation centers" rather than "concentration camps." We also hear from the vulnerable Japanese American lawyer, Thomas Masuda, who worked within the Poston Project Attorney's Office. His position "at the juncture of the prisoner and administrator" is absolutely fascinating and heartbreaking.

Author Eric L. Muller (Dan K. Moore Distinguished Professor of Law in Jurisprudence and Ethics at the University of North Carolina School of Law) bases this historical fiction on the extensive written correspondence between the attorneys and their offices. He notes that "I invent dialogue that is as consistent with their voices as I can achieve, as well as little events - an encounter in a hallway, and evening at the movies - to bring more significant real events to life." Helpfully, the closing of the book clarifies which events were based on fact and why certain creative choices were made. Muller succeeds in capturing the different personalities working under such stressful and fearful conditions, even when self-preservation required so much to remain unsaid. Furthermore, the chapters are accompanied by wonderful illustrations, such as the charcoal drawing of a dust storm at Poston Relocation Center by Shinkichi Tajiri (1923-2009).

Considered progressives for their time, these lawyers had serious doubts about the constitutionality of the concentration camps. They were not involved in debating the existence of the camps, but rather they were placed in the camps as project attorneys to advise the camp's executive staff and to run a legal aid office for the prisoners. The requirements of these different roles were often haphazard, contradictory and unethical. They were complicit in advancing a system they felt strongly against and "The question the white lawyers had to ask themselves— or suppress—each day was whether to go on administering a system of which they disapproved."

They often arrived knowing very little about Japanese Americans or how a "concentration camp lawyer" should act. On the surface, the project attorneys were to defend and protect Japanese-Americans and their interests. One describes how "He was just a few weeks in and already he’d been consulted on divorces, assaults, conflicts with Arizona officials, accidental deaths and injuries, elections, suicides, family squabbles over estates, and a whole lot more." However, sometimes the attorneys themselves were uncertain whether their client was the prisoner or the agency detaining them.

The project attorneys worked alongside Japanese-Americans, while also being expected to scrutinise and report on their activities. They benefited from their language skills and cultural knowledge, without acknowledging that these characteristics put their colleagues at significant risk of being considered disloyal to the United States. Their daily objectives ranged from protecting America from an internal threat, while also "protecting its charges, helping them weather a challenging time while preparing them to eventually to assimilate in a postwar America." They acknowledged that most of the Japanese Americans had already assimilated before being forced away from their homes, schools, farms and businesses. How did these lawyers manage the internal dissonance of their work? How did they justify their daily actions to themselves?

The strongest chapters detail the experiences of Ted Hass at Poston. Hass was a Jewish-American lawyer who had experienced racial discrimination first hand and had previously championed the rights of other U.S. minorities, and yet, was part of this system. We learn of his depression ("a familiar dull sadness") and how he tried to push beyond these lows by "throwing himself even more intensely into his work." His work also shows how some camps were on American Indian reservation land and that there were camps organised under the influence of the Office of Indian Affairs. His physical and mental health struggles will be familiar to those working in the high demand and high stress areas of law and social work.

One theme of this book is how the mental and physical health of the project attorneys crumbled as they continued working in the camps. Their living conditions were poor (but much better than the prisoners', of course) and they suffer from the same "valley fever." This fungal infection was a "mysterious respiratory illness that plagued the open desert areas of Arizona."

They frequently felt shame, loss of purpose and helplessness. They were intensely overworked by having far too many managers and clients. They had relentless power struggles with the army. For example, " … last week the army had surprised everyone—evacuees and WRA staff alike— by announcing a plan to plant posts along that line and string them with barbed wire. In some spots the fence was to stand within yards of the residential blocks." Additionally, they were constantly at odds with the local citizens and politicians around the camps. They were frequently reliant on other local legal professionals who were profiting from the needs of the prisoners by charging outrageous fees. The complexities of legal aid are clearly explained and the reader can easily imagine how daunting it must have been to rely on a local, minimally interested Arizona lawyer charging high rates to solve a legal matter back in California. The project attorneys acknowledged the "full-blown conspiracy of lawyers, collection agents, business managers, trustees, and the like all tied in with one another, trying to grab as much Japanese property as they could." In the meanwhile, the local economies around the centers were "making out handsomely" and local newspapers were reporting that thee 'evacuees' were enjoying fine meals and living standards beyond others in the local community ("Food is hoarded for the Japs in U.S. While Americans in Nippon Are Tortured. Openly Disloyal Japanese Pampered."). Despite recognising all of these outrages, one project attorney's family jumped the queue at the center's hospital without a thought to the waiting Japanese patients.

Another key theme of this book is how individuals grappled with having layered identities and constantly shifting roles. There are engaging and sensitively written descriptions of the prisoners and the Japanese-Americans working with the project attorneys. One memorable scene has Masuda being told thoughtlessly by Ernie Miller, the chief of internal security, that he needs to pack an overnight bag and wear nice clothes to go to court. In this moment, he's uncertain whether he's going to court to defend himself again against past accusations of disloyalty, or helping to defend others in his community. These inconsiderate and ignorant actions flow through the book, and the victims' response to these situations with nerves or tears only results in further suspicion. In another scene, a project attorney makes threats of the death penalty, oblivious of how it might upset his Japanese American secretary. “Miss Yamamoto?” When she again didn’t respond, Terry craned toward her, scanning for even a flicker of movement. After a moment she raised her head and met his gaze. Her eyes were moist. She said nothing."

The book covers many relevant historical events, from riots, to strikes, to the "registration" of the bureaucratic "loyalty questionnaire." The responses of this questionnaire were meant to aid the WRA in recruiting Nisei into military units and authorising others to be released from the camps. The questions produced waves of resentment, anxiety and uncertainty over the wording and significance of each questions. Being unfamiliar with the history of "registration," I initially had some difficulty understanding what these conversations were alluding to in the book until more details were provided later. These situations exacerbated tensions between the different generations of Japanese-Americans. This "clash between Nisei, Kibei, and Issei ideologies and culture— the Japanese and American way of life—became acute at times. American plays and movies versus Japanese drama and Shibai. Baseball, judo, golf, boxing and sumo competed. There was a diffusion of cultures. Many country girls learned how to jitterbug. Many youths improved their Japanese."

There is much to commend in Lawyer, Jailer, Ally, Foe. Its storytelling offers a window into the project attorneys' private motivations while maintaining a deep respect for historical accuracy. The author recognises there is a risk in 'humanising' those who facilitated the unjust detention of Japanese Americans during in World War II. However, Muller's "“responsible extrapolation” shows that these systems are not created by "moral monsters," but by ordinary people, who often set out with good intentions but ended up being complicit in abuse. Examining these stories serves as a warning for how "we might fall into doing the same."

This historical fiction sensitively presents the anguish of Japanese Americans during WWII without speaking over them. Its focus on professional ethics and the intersection of psychology and law are still extremely relevant and may be of special interest to those working in academia, policy, law and activism. It would be especially valuable for those working in government positions related to assisting culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

This book was provided by The University of North Carolina Press for review.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book describes some of the many experiences and job duties of lawyers assigned work in the internment camps for Japanese detainees across the US during WWII. It was a fascinating book in that the lawyers were asked to defend this questionable action by the government while also building relationships with the Japanese-Americans so that those detainees could be fairly be represented in their legal dealings. The lawyers were fully aware that these US citizens were having rights stripped from them, but were also trying to do their best to make a bad situation tolerable. As a product of their time, the presence of significant prejudice and distrust of the internees was also present. This was an honest look at the complexities of a horrible action taken by the US.

[Amanda Renslow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an interesting and educational read. I gained a lot more insight into the WRA and Japanese internment. I appreciated Muller's writing style and the multiple perspectives he highlighted.

[Belal Elrahal · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite line from the musical "Hamilton" is "If there's a fire you're trying to douse, you can't put it out from inside the house." It's a great line about complicity, and trying to improve a system while being a part of it, rather than apart from it. It's a quick quip, and oversimplifies a larger dilemma - or does it?

In Muller's book you'll live with three attorneys practicing in three concentration camps housing Japanese-Americans during WW II. You will be entertained, mortified, puzzled, and conflicted. For me, this book joins "The Innocent Man" by John Grisham and "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson as a nonfiction account of the legal world that speaks more to the human condition than the law. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The research put into this book was extensive and Eric did an excellent job of meticulously weaving the historical record into an engaging, readable narrative. I was personally interested in the subject because I’m from Cody, Wyoming, currently live 15 miles from the Heart Mountain camp, and met Jerry Housel when I was a young attorney. Professor Muller was my favorite law professor who taught me about the humanity and humility of being a lawyer.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read for those interested in expanding their knowledge of the unfair internment of Japanese-Americans during WW2. It's hard to categorize this book because it is both fiction and non-fiction as the author has created these accountings from three lawyers from actual letters that they wrote about their duties and experiences. It makes for easy reading and offers a rare viewpoint of those who worked at there. The title is apt because it is not easy to describe their roles, their thoughts, their politics, their humanity and their doubts. And also their powerlessness and their power. The book is well researched and gave me a lot think about. I wonder how it will be received by those who experienced internment.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's very unusual and illuminating.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lawyer, Jailer, Ally, Foe by Eric L Muller is a deeply researched and narratively presented glimpse at life at the concentration camps the US government created for Japanese-Americans during World War II.

I say life 'at' rather than life 'in' because the perspective is that of lawyers stationed there to serve both the US administrators as well as those imprisoned there. So while we see some of what life in the camps were like, that wasn't exactly the experience of these lawyers.

A lot of the issues presented in the running of these camps will be familiar to those who have studied them. What will be of interest is the new perspective, that of the people walking that tightrope that is reflected in the title of the book. Changing hats is a difficult thing to do in the best of situations, from my own experience I once held a position where I had to sometimes advocate for one group to another group, then on a different topic advocate the other way around. But that rarely presented situations where I was stuck with a conflict, I was wearing one hat or the other. These lawyers were forced, more often than not, to wear multiple hats at the same time. Coupled with the fact they generally didn't support a lot of what they were representing, they experienced burnout and serious mental and emotional fatigue.

While they didn't create or draft the policies they held positions that required them to do things they felt were unethical and just plain wrong. Carrying this idea to our current world, it is like someone who, because of holding a position in a bureaucracy that is oppressive, even if they don't intellectually support that oppression, are in fact perpetrating it by their participation in it. In fact, just being part of a society where one has unwarranted privilege makes one part of the system, even while one fights against it.

My interest in these camps began when I was young and parents of some of my friends had been in these camps. Though they rarely spoke of it, my friends would tell me what they knew and show me photographs. This book helps to create a more rounded picture. It is easy to paint those who created the program, from FDR on down, as having acted as evil agents, since little to no actual evidence supported this extreme measure. But just like living in the current white supremacist society, people who oppose it can still become agents in it through simply doing a job. It may not exonerate these men, but it does show that they did not act with malice or take great joy in what was happening. They did, however, seem oblivious at times to what those in the camps really felt.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in history, particularly this ugly chapter in US history.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very non-traditional historical consideration, and I'm still sorting out how I feel about it. The idea is compelling: looking at Japanese internment camps during WWII via the experiences of lawyers in the camps who balanced very strangely between advocates for internees and part of the oppressing machinery.

The disconcerting part for me is that it isn't overtly written through the expected historical lens. Instead, in more the vein of Erik Larson, the historiography is melded into more of a narrative or story. Instead of examining the letters and documents explicitly and drawing conclusions, Muller uses the documents to make some of these lawyers protagonists of the story of their time serving at these camps. I don't have a problem with this in theory, and, to be frank, it was eminently readable. I worry, though, about the amount of license that may have been taken that really toes the line between history and story-telling. In many of the interactions, it was clear where the source material likely came from (letters from the lawyers to the central office or from court documents), but there were times that the setting felt too specific or the internal dialogue to central for it to have been authentic. It certainly supported the ideas, but I don't know how much of the facial expressions of the people involved or how they felt about the rising sun is actually supported by the historical record.

In all, the book reads very nicely and I got a good sense of the camps in general and the bureaucracy surrounding internment along with the racial tensions. I'm just not sure how comfortable I am with the blurred line that made it so compelling.

[Rick Sacra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in 3 days! It was so relatable, so engaging. Definitely felt like I was right there in the office of the Project Attorney for one of these Japanese Internment camps. When you read this book, you will feel like you are right there in 1942 or 1943. The racist sentiments of many, in contrast to the liberal ideals of these lawyers who were trying to make the best out of a terrible situation. They sometimes fought for justice and sometimes participated in injustice. The extensive research is obvious--quotes from letters, registration forms, and cases make that clear--but the stories read like the best and most engaging short stories. I'm not a legal person or a World War II expert, and the only shortcoming I felt after reading this book was I wanted MORE! Very thought provoking. It places you right in the middle of some of the most morally complex scenarios you can imagine, and helps one understand how the whole internment policy put so many people--both the Americans running the camps, but especially those of Japanese descent who were displaced and imprisoned there--in literal no-win situations. Excellent writing! I'm going to check out Eric Muller's other books as soon as I have a chance!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific book, highly recommend. This is meticulously researched history that reads like short stories. During WWII, President Roosevelt forcibly relocated Japanese Americans from the west coast to internment camps. I didn’t need any background to get sucked into this book’s compelling narratives of the lawyers who worked at the camps.

Every working day, those lawyers confronted the moral dilemmas revealed in the book’s title. In working to simultaneously prop up the internment camps while also help individual Japanese American legal clients navigate divorces, wills, labor and other disputes, the lawyers wrestled with the ethical and moral conflicts inherent in their dual roles. Would they act as their Japanese American client’s jailer, ally, foe - or all 3?

I loved seeing the real historical documents that inspired this creative nonfiction.

Example: a Japanese American lawyer who is himself confined at the camp toils all day with Japanese American clients forced to answer a “US loyalty” questionnaire. At day’s end, the lawyer confronts his own loyalty questionnaire. Because we‘ve come to know this lawyer through his legal work for the very internment camp that also confines him, and through his growing office friendship with his white co-counsel, we know his complex history cannot be reduced to simple answers. It is a dramatic moment. It’s a gut punch to see the actual loyalty questionnaire and the Japanese American lawyer’s handwritten answers.

Eric Muller is a good storyteller. This accessible book is for a wide audience, including history readers and anyone who has ever wrestled with a professional ethical or moral dilemma. His thoughtful imagining of the working lives of these real lawyers heightens the drama of seeing the actual historical documents, and brings home the reality of this important history.

[Orit Ramler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lawyer, Jailer, Ally, Foe: Complicity and Conscience in America's World War II Concentration Camps by Eric Muller is a deeply insightful and thought-provoking book. Through meticulous research and a clear, concise writing style, the author presents a compelling argument that highlights the complexities of legal decision-making in times of crisis and raises important questions about the responsibility of legal professionals in upholding the principles of justice. What sets this book apart, is Muller's balanced and nuanced approach to the subject. Instead of painting lawyers as either heroes or villains, he examines the actions of individual lawyers and shows how they navigated complex and often contradictory legal and ethical obligations. He also explores the broader social and political context at the time, and how these factors influenced legal decision-making. I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the intersection of law and social justice, the role of lawyers in times of national crisis, and the ethical challenges of legal practice.

[Peter Branden · Rating 5 out of 5]

In “Lawyer, Jailer, Ally, Foe”, Eric Muller brings to life the conflicts and ethical choices facing three lawyers tasked with simultaneously representing the U.S. government’s WWII War Relocation Authority and the Japanese-American evacuees it interned in relocation camps. Through fictional dialogue crafted from carefully researched details of the characters and dark events of this time, Muller has written a compelling, well-paced, intriguing book that leaves its readers questioning how we would perform if placed in the same conflicting roles and situations. A must-read!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure how to review this. It's well researched and shines a light on an interesting aspect of a horrible part of our history. Muller also tries to be honest about the people in the book being complicated (and white) but a book that centers attorneys with a lot of agency in stories about internment camps is still tough to read. It this was still a difficult read during the early days of the second Trump administration when so many government entities are being gutted, weaponized, or both.

[Shaina Steinberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve done a fair amount of research about Japanese internment camps during World War II. This was an aspect of them I had not previously considered. On one hand, some of these lawyers had good intentions. Ted Haas, especially, seems like a very standup guy.

Others, seem to rail against other people’s prejudices without bothering to recognize their own. While very interesting, it was also very frustrating.

I also found myself wanting to know a lot more about each lawyer, their situation at camp, and especially the Japanese American internees who assisted them.

[Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Call me a fan on speculative nonfiction! Very creative and engaging and informative (through a critical eye…) Probably loved this so much because this class is freaking awesome, my professor is freaking awesome, and Muller refers to Timothy Snyder in a YouTube video about his book. Which is freaking awesome.

[Sarah Klahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely interesting, and a good synthesis of undoubtedly voluminous historical material. I wasn’t sure if three profiles would be too much—but by the end of the book I concluded it all “worked”. The postscript/epilogue pulled everything together in a fine way.

[Grace Di Cecco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely recommend this book! It has such an interesting blend of fiction and nonfiction elements, and explores the ethical choices individuals have to make when they navigate unjust systems.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and detailed view into lawyers in camp and how we might imagine their interior lives

[Jeni Enjaian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review included in my September week 3 recent reads vlog, September 23.

[Bernd Schnabl]

One of the most UNINFORMATIVE non fiction books I've ever read. I rather recommend the Wikipedia article instead.

[David Muller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reflects considerable research into an ugly period of US history, and manages to create a credible storyline around the historic facts. It reads extremely well - you feel like you’re listening in to actual discussions and deliberations of the three men who are the focus of the book. Were these lawyers really helping or harming the internees? Read to find out!