Item 59: Internment camp diary, November 1917-August 1918 - Page 76

<p>[Page 76]</p><p>To refuse now to hand over the document is plain cowardly and only deepens the rift. In a camp you invariably run into most of the inmates, but now you go past them, even long-standing acquaintances, as if you had never met them. If the men who signed the letter would at least admit to their former friends that they made a mistake, as some have actually done, the matter could be put to rest. But the longer this drags on, the harder a rapprochement becomes. The new 5-member committee has since been elected and consists of Messrs Taeufert, Brandt, Stegherr, Hoffmeister and Widmann. Berblingen, who wanted to stand as well, had to be told by his friends that it wouldn&#39;t do at all. We Bolsheviks have abstained from voting as agreed, so the new committee was elected by only half the camp. We will let them do their work and I&#39;m sure they&#39;ll take care not to repeat the errors of their predecessors.</p><p>Yesterday I had a very interesting conversation with a long-term resident [of Australia] about the political shenanigans. In his opinion there is hardly a politician in Australia who isn&#39;t corrupt. All</p>