Arson feared in, 'Bloomfield The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, January 19, 1983-Page 5 Interned Japanese plan to appeal convictions r- 'A, a A i. synagogue blaze BLOOMFIELD HILLS (UPI) - SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A key mili- tary report that led to the internment of nearly 120,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II was based on "in- tentional falsehoods," say attorneys planning appeals of three landmark cases from 1943. The cases involve the convictions 40 years ago of three men, now in their 60s, on charges of violating curfews and refusing to report to assembly centers, said attorney Don Tamaki. PART OF THE appeals will be based on documents found in the past few months in government archives by Peter Irons, a law professor in the political science department at the University of California-San Diego. Irons said the documents discredit a report by Army Gen. John Dewitt which alleged Japanese-Americans were a threat to the nation's security. The report by Dewitt was used to justify the evacuation of American-born Japanese and Japanese aliens from the West Coast into internment camps, Tamaki said. More than 75,000 American-born Japanese and some 41,000 Japanese aliens living in California, Oregon and Washington were relocated to camps in Arkansas, Colorado, Utah and other states beginning in 1942, following the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Many of the Japanese lost their homes and life savings because of the internment. THE ORIGINAL internment order was issued in early 1942 by President Franklin Roosevelt, who, at the time, said, "The successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage." Lawyers, for the three mhen - Fred- Corematsu, Gordon Hirabyashi and Min Yasui - said the military argument advanced by the Dewitt report claimed Japanese-Americans were engaging in espionage and sabotage by radio transmissions to enemy ships. Dewitt died in 1962, and Washington attorney Joan Bernstein, chairman of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, declined comment on, the case yesterday because she has not seen the briefs filed by the attorneys general of California, Washington and Oregon. The writs will be filed today in federal courts in San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Ore., said Tamaki. Authorities said arson was suspected as the cause of a fire that caused extensive. damage yesterday to a synagogue nor- th of Detroit. The investigation into the pre-dawn fire at Congregation Beth Abraham in West Bloomfield Township was turned over to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, : Tobacco and Firearms, officials said. DAMAGE WAS estimated in the - range of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Fire fighters, however, were able to save the Torahs, which were turned over to rabbis. A fire department spokesman said the blaze was reported at 12:23 a.m. EST and firemen were on the scene within five minutes, but the synagogue's two domes already were "fully involved" in flames. Several firemen suffered minor in- juries in the blaze, officials said, but none required hospitalization. Fire fighters were hampered in their efforts to control the blaze by strong winds and a windchill factor of 25-below zero. It took 21/2 hours to bring the blaze under control. Pentagon wants weapons for space (Continued from Page 1) Daring rescue AP Photo project force in and from space as needed," the document said. It did not spell out by what means space-based systems would "project force." "SPACE-BASED systems have the capability of providing us with almost instantaneous access to any point on the globe and thereby add a new dimension to our military capabilities," the document said. With the exception of an ASAT device under development, the document ap- peared deliberately vague about types of space systems that should be developed for use against an adversary. A space-based system would indicate an orbiting weapon, unlike the ASAT now under development - a missile that can be launched into space from an F-15 fighter. Pentagon officials have said the Soviet Union ig ahead of the United States in developing satellite hunter-killers. I I INDIVIDUAL THEATRES 51h Ave at lbrty 701-7 I A New York City policeman and two unidentified men prepare to catch a young girl being lowered to safety by a firefighter during a six-story apartment fire in The Bronx Monday. Three police officers who arrived at the scene before firemen braved 20-foot flames to reach the girl and another infant trapped inside the bur- ning building. i Pot law debate heats up $1.75 WED SHOWS BEFORE 6 pm HURRYI ENDS THURSDAY! He is afraid. e0 h ome THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL (PG) THURS-7:10, 9:20 WED 12:30, 2:40, 5:00, 7:10, 9:20 (Continued from Page 1) be overemphasized, as most of 'the people who brought up the repeal were concerned parents who didn't want the issue to become to political. Velker also said that he thinks the pot law repeal will not bring "droves of people" to the polls from either side. "I DON'T think students are as alar- med about the issue as they were (when the law was first changed.) I think they may be bored with the issue," he said. But Democratic mayoral candidate ' Thomas Blessing said he believes the proposal will bring out more voters, both conservatives and those concerned with civil liberties. Blessing does agree with Velker, however, that smoking pot is not really the issue - the important fact is that "students will respond to the realization that city council actually does affect their lives." MICHIGAN Student Assembly President Amy Moore agreed that the issue is student participation, saying that "students should realize where they live and get to the polls." MSA hopes to help defeat the proposal by distributing voter infor- mation sheets that will educate studen- ts about the issue. Michigan Ensemble Theatre January 19-23 8 p.m. February 2-5 8 p.m. February 6 2 p.m. New Trueblood Arena Frieze building Ann Arbor I I MY F Adapted for the stage and Directed by Walter Eysselinck An American Premiere Tickets: PTP ticket office Michigan League 764-0450 DIARY of a MADMAN 11 v DOL' WED 1 A MAGICAL BLEND OF YTHOLOGY AND SCIENCE FICTION" -REX REED I STEREO THURS-5:50, 7:50, 9:40 12:20, 2:10, 4:00, 5:50, 7:50, 9:40 by Nikolai Gogol Don't miss OLD TIMES next week!! M-