Berkeley was in the midst of World War II 75 years ago and learning about possible relocation of “non-essential” residents to make room for war workers. On Oct. 13, 1942 the Berkeley Daily Gazette reported that “Berkeley residents and families not considered essential for war work or maintenance of the city government may be removed entirely from this war industry area for the ‘duration’ it was revealed today.”

“First disclosure that Federal machinery had already been set for actual removal of Berkeley’s, including families, not actually engaged in activities essential to the war effort or the city was made today by Mayor Frank S. Gaines.” Gaines told the City Council that Federal Housing Registration Offices in the East Bay would be replaced with War Housing Centers with federal power to remove people from Berkeley.

“I also understand operations actually have started in San Francisco and will be followed immediately in the East Bay!” Gaines said. The Gazette added that “Later he disclosed that a survey has already been made of local properties, including large homes, that can be converted to war housing use.”

However, he said, “the removal of non-essential residents does not necessarily mean ‘mass deportation,’ that it was hoped that the program can be carried out by ‘negotiation and arrangement’.” That was a courtesy, readers will remember, the federal government did not offer to Berkeley’s Japanese American community.

Gaines said the new housing authorities would be able to lease “and operate, including remodeling and alterations, any property deemed needed for war housing emergency purposes.”

I’ve recently been researching the history of a 1890s Victorian house in Berkeley. It had operated for decades as a boarding house. In 1942, building permits show it was converted to six small apartments with federal funding. I’m hoping to find a Gazette article that will shed some additional light on this.

Better fowl

“Bigger and better and more chickens with a resulting adequate egg supply for Berkeley residents will be the goal of the ‘Victory War Food Committee’ appointed last night by members of the Berkeley Defense Council,” the Gazette reported Oct. 13. “With the present shortage of meat and the situation becoming more acute each day the committee appointed last night will promote throughout Berkeley the raising of chickens and the growing of Victory gardens,” said Mayor Gaines.

The Gazette added that “Contrary to general opinion, no zoning ordinance forbids chicken raising in any part of Berkeley. Restrictions are limited to 25 feet of a neighbor’s house or dwelling unit, according to City Clerk Florence Turner.”

Scrap drive

By Oct. 13, an estimated 585 tons of scrap metal had been donated to Berkeley’s metal drive, and about 20 military trucks were still scouring the streets picking up piles of donated metal debris. There were also “huge piles” of metal at Garfield and Burbank junior high schools.

“A pile of scrap in front of your home is not a pretty sight, but it is a badge of honor” said Emory Stone, chair of the Salvage Committee.

War news

War was still raging literally worldwide in the fall of 1942, but Professor Robert Kerner at the University of California was predicting “a gigantic Axis disaster” would soon befall Germany, Italy, and Japan. He said that when war production in the Allied nations reached anticipated levels, it would far outpace what the Axis could put into the war effort.

Meanwhile, since Germany had not defeated the Soviet Union, “the actual establishment of a second front on European soil may well be the signal of Nazi Germany’s interior collapse and the outbreak of European revolt of the nations against the Nazis”.