Prisoner Diaries

Liz Schulz is an artist, educator, and author. The catalyst for the research that would become Prisoner Diaries and Guilty Till Proven Innocent was a request from Liz's mother more than 50 years ago. In 1970, on returning from living overseas for 10 years, her mother asked her to help research the Schulz family history. After she died 7 years later, the job of gathering together all the family documents fell to Liz. When she found the diaries, she knew they were an important part of not only her family, but Australia's social and wartime history.As part of Liz's Bachelor of Education, she was encouraged by her professor, Margaret Allen, to research her grandfather's detention story. She researched the papers at the Australian Archives, and used content from her grandfather's diaries, family letters, and military documentation. After successful presentation and positive feedback, Liz sent copies to family members. Typed and bound, her copy languished on a bookshelf for decades.When Liz retired in the mid-2000s, she chose the tranquillity of Andamooka in a semi-underground home built of local stone. She started sorting books and papers and came across the notebook where she had transcribed, in pencil, all his diary entries. Re-reading the papers provided her with the understanding that there was much more to tell.Liz has wonderful memories of her grandfather and it feels like she is honouring him to tell his story and to share it as an example of detention, especially given Australia's current legislation.Prisoner Diaries and Guilty Till Proven Innocent are dedicated to the memory of J.F.W. Schulz and Liz's twin sisters, Josie and Helen.

J.F.W Schulz was an Australian of German heritage who was born north of the Barossa Valley in Robertstown. He was the owner of Auricht's Printing Office, he had a keen interest in film, and was an aspiring politician. He was also a prisoner...On 13 December 1940, Schulz was arrested and transported to the Wayville Army Barracks. No accusations were made at that time, but Schulz knew what the arrest meant; someone, somewhere, considered him a threat.Despite an absence of evidence of his disloyalty to Australia, his country of birth, and without a fair trial, Schulz was detained for more than three years. Prisoner Diaries is a record of Schulz's internment during World War II and his relentless search for answers.¿¿¿