Topaz War Relocation Center
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Central Utah Relocation Center (Topaz)
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Topaz War Relocation Center on March 14, 1943.
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| Location | Millard County, Utah, United States |
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| Nearest city | Delta, Utah |
| Built | 1942 |
| Architect | Daley Brothers |
| NRHP Reference # | 74001934 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | January 2, 1974 |
| Designated NHL | March 29, 2007 |
The Topaz War Relocation Center, also known as the Central Utah Relocation Center (Topaz) and (briefly) the Abraham Relocation Center, was a camp which housed Nikkei – Americans of Japanese descent and immigrants who had come to the United States from Japan. There were a number of such camps used during the Second World War, under the control of the War Relocation Authority.
The camp consisted of 19,800 acres (8,012.8 ha), nearly four times the size of the more famous Manzanar War Relocation Center in California. Most Topaz internees lived in the central residential area located approximately 15 miles (24.1 km) west of Delta, Utah, though some lived as caretakers overseeing agricultural land and areas used for light industry and animal husbandry.
The site is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
Since the end of World War II, there has been debate over the terminology used to refer to Topaz and the other camps in which Americans of Japanese ancestry and their immigrant parents were imprisoned by the United States Government during the war. Topaz has been referred to as a "War Relocation Center," "relocation camp," "relocation center," "internment camp," and "concentration camp," and the controversy over which term is the most accurate and appropriate continues to the present day.
In 1998, use of "concentration camp" gained greater credibility prior to the opening of an exhibit about the American camps at Ellis Island. Initially, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the National Park Service, which manages Ellis Island, objected to the use of the term in the exhibit. However, during a subsequent meeting held at the offices of the AJC in New York City, leaders representing Japanese Americans and Jewish Americans reached an understanding about the use of the term. After the meeting, the Japanese American National Museum and the AJC issued a joint statement (which was included in the exhibit) that read in part:
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