Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

Soon after I listen to a ‘conversation’, well a rather basic ‘Are you there?’
between fellow prisoners, initiated by Pete in Cell 5 next to me.
‘Hey, Woody, Woody! Did you hear that? A Nazi. We’ve got a Nazi here’.
From Cell 3 comes a muted response: ‘Yea’.
‘What’cha doin’?’.
‘Watching TV’.
Pete then starts on the fellow in No. 4. I can tell from the voice volume
where they are located:
‘Hey, Chris?’.
‘Yea, what?’.
‘You alright?’.
‘Yea – sleeping’.
‘Hey, Paul? Paul, are you there?’.
I hear a faint voice respond about watching a TV program, and Pete falls
silent, and then the section of six cells falls silent.
I enjoy the peace, and I am at one with the universe, with my God, and no
disturbances from outside. These moments are precious; I am totally free
from any wants just as the monastic life is much needed for many individuals
who have been driven or who let themselves be driven into consumerism and
the predatory financial system’s enslavement. At this moment because
freedom means nothing now, and only because with reflection would I have
to ask that further question: Freedom from what and for what?
Lunch is served around noon, but it seems as if it is only a little after
11 a.m. It is passed through the door trap by one of those barking officers.
I take the paper bag and look at its contents – a spring roll. I again consign
the contents of the paper bag to the rubbish bin, something I hate doing
because to throw food away is a criminal matter to me; and then take the
tea in a styro foam cup.
I like not having any cutlery, because that is one thing I learned in Iran where
only a spoon and a fork are used generally. After all, using cutlery for eating
rather than using your fingers is like making love through an interpreter.
Lying down on my mattress I begin to wonder what will happen. Not wearing
the compression stockings is beginning to affect my right ankle, which is now
swelling, and the skin is beginning to crack. It’s the stress of it all – that’s how
I try to understand and console myself when I see what hasn't happen to my
legs since regularly wearing these compression stockings.
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