Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

During his time in Yatala and Cadell, the 65-year-old former Goroke
teacher lost 13 kilograms. He spent a considerable part of his time
cleaning and painting. ‘I was ‘poster boy’ in the prison’s newsletter, the
Cadell Courier, in November,’ he said. ‘I almost single-handedly
cleaned it up – like a good German. [At Yatala] My punishment was
cleaning my cell. But it wasn’t punishment because cleanliness is a godly
virtue. ‘As a teacher I never gave yard duty [as a form of punishment]
because it gave the wrong message that a cleaner was not worth much.’
He said [some] people in prison were forgotten by the system. Many
were not well educated , without good social connections. About 80 per
cent were in for drug-related offences, and received ‘liquid handcuffs’ –
methadone for their addiction. He believed drugs should be legalised,
under strict controls, to minimise their destructive repercussions.
Dr Töben is now working on his next book, provocatively titled Arbeit
Macht Frei – ‘work makes you free’, the message over the entrance to
Auschwitz.
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