Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

Chapter 25
RE-EDUCATING WHOM?
‘Assemble for the count’ issues forth from CTC’s PA system. It is almost
11.50 a.m. and some of us rush back to the Cell Block, glancing hopefully
to the office window to see if the ‘Mail Late Today’ sign is up. My mail
comes from a group of individuals who keep me going – Amelia, Dagmar,
Helga, Ida, Jane, Jennifer, Lila, Mary, Olga, Yvonne, ‘Wifey’ Bryant, Allan,
Andrew, Bert, Christopher, Claus, Gerard, George, Kai, Peter, Maurice,
Michael, Mohammed, Neville, Nigel, John, Randulf, Robert, Spencer and a
few who wish to remain anonymous. I hasten to add that anyone writing to
a prisoner or visiting a prison should know they are on a list. Like any list
drawn up by a bureaucratic institution, the information therein will be used
by those who have the authority to access it. Hence my aim to remain
transparent and above board in all my work.
One of the first of many cards I received from well-wishers came from
Christopher Steele, the man behind the scene who has remained a tower of
strength for me. His comments are telling:
Dear Fredrick
Well, this note to you in incarceration is a lot closer to home than in
previous times! In the cause I hope it is equally successful for the future.
You are dedicated in your endeavours, and will eventually be rewarded
for your circumspection.
Strange, though, that your sentence turned out to be on a legal
technicality rather than a legislative crime!
The card is dated Sunday, 16 August 2009 and addressed to me at HM
Gaol, Grand Junction Road, Yatala, SA 5126. On the envelope prison
322