Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

I sat down on that fixed chair and sipped the tea. I made up my mind to
stop eating anything at all and survive just on liquids. The opportunity now
exists to be unsociable and not eat, to lose some weight. I recall that
whenever I planned an overseas trip I would deliberately reduce my food
intake a month before because a large part of travelling and meeting people
is taken up with socialising – and that means eating especially local foods
that have a high calorie intake.
I assume that the call at the door is the breakfast call because in all prisons I
have been in the prisoners have breakfast in their own cell.
When Radio Mix FM 7 a.m. news came on I knew the time: and then I
heard, ‘Adelaide Holocaust historian Fredrick Töben is behind bars’. True,
true! The radio with its incessant commercials cannot be switched off and
so I was pleased around 7.45 a.m. when central control did it for me.
Literally, I am flying blind because I have no sense of time or my glasses;
and I don’t know anything about this prison’s daily routine, rules and
regulations yet. Newcomers are inducted usually. I was not. I certainly did
not regard that scrum welcome as an induction. But then again, it set the
tone to which I should adapt – no questions asked!
It had to be about 8 a.m. The sun’s rays reflecting through the shaft on the
ceiling penetrate through the prism glass panes then reflect un-contoured
against the cell wall – wafting in and then out of the cell as the sun sets for
the day, should give me a possible time clue. As I watch the rays I hear the
noise outside the entrance to the corridor about 30 paces from my door
and I ready myself to stand to attention. The blankets I’d folded properly a
long time before, as soon as I woke up.
There seems to be a conversation going on, a banter, a form of laughter I
would call cackle, and the opening of the other five cell doors – but no
barking at all, almost soft responses so that I cannot hear what is happening
to the prisoners in Cells 1–5.
Then there is the noise of the key in my door and I balance out into bodymind-soul
to face morning inspection. Half-a-dozen men crowd in on me
again but only one man spoke, firmly, severely, snappily. My blankets are
faulted and I am shown how to do it properly. I am also advised how to clean
the cell spotless – walls, stainless steel sink and toilet, and floor. I am asked to
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