Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

When a farming community (any community) is in distress, as are now
many through drought and unemployment, the political climate needs to be
corrected from within the community first, something that is easier said than
done. The question my father always asked was: How can a community
correct itself when detrimental things, such as a questionable monetary
system, are imposed from without that community? Usually critical voices
are bought off to join the club, or they are chased out of the district.
Usually natural catastrophes such as fires, floods and drought bond
communities into cohesive and co-operative units. Father’s voluntary job
within that context was to organize the food for the Country Fire
Authority. Whenever the regular bush fire period arrived, Hans Töben
made certain that the volunteer food brigade had enough food with which
to feed the army of voluntary fire fighters.
Mother’s spinning and weaving of home-produced wool, not only pure
white but also grey, black, brown, etc. was a hit for the community at large.
Whenever Heidi Töben held her exhibitions, father was allowed to play
the drink waiter!
When during the seventies and eighties the Commonwealth Government
(Federal) attempted to solve the high youth unemployment in country
areas, special schemes were devised, such as the Commonwealth Youth
Scheme, CYS, whereby a community attempted to help youngsters find
their first job within the local area. Father was involved in this for some
years, and the shire boasted a low unemployment rate, perhaps owing to
my father’s activity. What was his contribution to the scheme?
Father recalled his own war years in Germany and how Germany’s
unemployed were organized through Kraft durch Freude - joy through
work. The idea was that actual physical work should not be shunned but
enjoyed, no matter what and no matter how menial the job was. Youngsters
who were not happy in doing the menial tasks that the local community
offered them as a first contact for employment did not get on well with my
father. Anyone who opted for unemployment benefits rather than work
would be approached by father with a reminder that there are jobs available.
If they still refused, then he attempted to persuade them to leave the district
rather than just sit around town and feel sorry for themselves. He urged
them to seek adventure and to challenge the outside world. In effect father
did what birds do when their young need to be pushed out of their nests.
I recall that during the early 1980s before joining the teaching system, I
applied for a job similar to what father had been doing except that the
advertised position was not a voluntary but a salaried one. During the
interview with the committee, I was asked how I saw my task of helping
youngsters find a job. I replied that I would do what had been father’s
intentions - to make my job superfluous. The committee members did not
appreciate my reply that I would work to eliminate my own job. It was
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