GALESBURG - A traveling exhibit that tells the stories of German-American civilians interned by the United States government during World War II will be in Galesburg on April 11.

"Vanished, German-American Internment 1941-1948" will be on display at the Galesburg Public Library from 1 to 4 p.m. April 11. The exhibit is inside a retrofitted school bus and uses 10 narrative panels, an NBC "Dateline" documentary and a 1945 U.S. government film to chronicle the experiences of the more than 15,000 German-American civilians who were held at 18 different internment and detention centers during World War II.


A staff member of BUS-eum 2 talks about the exhibit to a group of visitors. The traveling museum, which details the stories of German-Americans held in internment camps during World War II is coming to Galesburg on April 11.	German-American deportees prepare to be shipped out from Ellis Island circa 1945.

The school bus, called a BUS-eum 2, was created by TRACES, a non-profit educational organization created to gather, preserve and present stories of people from the Midwest and Germany or Austria who encountered each other during World War II.

Pam Van Kirk, Galesburg Public Library director, said she wanted to bring the exhibit to Galesburg to tell an unfamiliar story.

"When TRACES explained the exhibit, my first response was, 'I didn't know that German-Americans were interned during World War II,' " Van Kirk said. "When I mentioned the idea for the tour to people on my staff and friends, they had the same reaction."

Although the U.S. government has apologized for the imprisonment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans during the war, it hasn't acknowledged the internment of nearly 15,000 German-Americans and Italian-Americans.

The BUS-eum 2 will spend part of its day in Galesburg at the high school where several classes will tour the displays. Over 50 students from Lombard Middle School will visit the exhibit at the library. The exhibit will also be free and open to the public.

One of the stories the exhibit shares is that of Art Jacobs, the U.S. born son of German immigrants.Jacobs' father was arrested in November 1944 because he was deemed dangerous to the public peace by the U.S. government. In 1945, 12-year-old Jacobs, his mother and older brother went to the internment camp at Ellis Island, N.Y., to be with their father.
"From a child's perspective, the camp was pretty nice," Jacobs said. "There was a swimming pool and movies at night, so as a child you didn't know you were fenced in. For an adult, though, it was pretty tough."

Jacobs said he served in two German-American interment camps, at Ellis Island and Crystal City, Texas. After his family was released they were sent back to Germany, but months later Jacobs returned to the U.S. and joined the Air Force.

"I'm a patriot," Jacobs said. "I'm not bitter about what my country did to me, I'm bitter about what they do now. They don't recognize that I was locked up."

Now living in Tempe, Ariz., Jacobs has spent the past 30 years researching and writing about German-American internment during the war. He has written books and operates a Web site at www.foitimes.com.

"It's a story that needs to be told, and it's usually covered up," Jacobs said. "Internees were not criminals, we just happened to be of the same nationality as the enemy. We were not terrorists, we didn't take up arms. We were innocent victims and no one really cares."

The internment exhibit is one of several World War II displays operated by TRACES - most have a Midwestern angle. Others are about Midwestern soldiers held as prisoners of war in Nazi Germany, German prisoners of war held in the Midwest and Holocaust survivors who fled to the Midwest.

The BUS-eum 2 exhibit's visit to Galesburg was sponsored by the Elisabeth Reichel Memorial and Friends of the Galesburg Public Library