Following its entry into the War against Nazi Germany on 11 December 1941 , the US Government interned a number of German and Italian citizens as enemy aliens . The exact number of German and Italian internees is a subject of debate.In some cases their American-born family members volunteered to accompany them to internment camps in order to keep the family unit together . The last to be released remained in custody until 1948 . In 1944 , Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau , Jr. put forward the strongest proposal for punishing Germany to the Second Quebec Conference . It became known as the Morgenthau Plan , and was intended to prevent Germany from having the industrial base to start another world war . However this plan was shelved quickly , the Western Allies did not seek reparations for war damage , and the United States implemented the Marshall Plan that was intended to and did help West Germany 's post war recovery to its former position as a pre-eminent industrial nation
Second Quebec Conference
Second Quebec Conference
Anti-German sentiment