Guilty Until Proven Innocent

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In 1940, Australian born, J.F.W. Schulz, a respected member of the community in Tanunda, South Australia was arrested and put into detention. He was accused of being a Nazi and of keeping Nazi propaganda in his home. Although he maintained his innocence and made a number of appeals against his detention, he remained in detention, far from his family, for another three years and for a further year he was under government direction regarding his occupation and his place of residence.

In this meticulously researched history, his grand-daughter, Liz Schulz explores the reasons given for and the circumstances of his arrest. She had access to the security files of the Australian government: files which her grandfather was never able to examine. She was also able to draw upon her grandfather's own diary and correspondence held in private hands. In mapping his own quest for justice she seeks to get justice for her late grandfather.

While this thesis concerns one individual's struggle it also relates to wider issues about the rights of British subjects of German origin in war-time Australia. Furthermore it illuminates contemporary discussions about civil rights and the power of the state.