Thursday, May 8, 2008

Daddy Dearest





Doesn't he look very loving?  I wasn't going to write about this monster, but I read today about his claim to have loved and cared for the people he hurt.

This is Josef Fritzi from Austria.   When his daughter was 11 years old he had already allegedly been molesting and raping her, but by that time she was getting rebellious and she wasn't making it easy.  Josef while making additions to his home made the decision to build a secret dungeon beneath his home, protected by several (at least 7) 500 lbs steel doors, that could only be open electronically.  It took him almost 8 years to finish.   

His daughter Elisabeth at 18 years old suddenly went missing one day while riding her bike.   There was barely a search and she was assumed a runaway.   What the world didn't know was that Josef locked her in his new dungeon where he knew her screams would  not be heard and he could rape her as much as he wanted and no one would come and she could never get away. This dungeon was very small with no windows or light, it was sound proof and she had no way of escape.

She remained there for 24 years and he fathered 7 children with his daughter, one of which was a twin that died and he burned in a furnace.  

I have to stop for a moment and just try to understand how this woman gave birth six times , alone, with no drugs or doctors to help her.  How did she live through this?  

Josef had a problem, his dungeon was a bit too small to house all of these children and so after he made some additions that did not solve the over crowding, he had to come up with a plan to alleviate the overwhelming situation below. 

Josef decided to leave the babies on his doorstep and tell his wife that his runaway daughter had abandoned them there.  He forced Elisabeth to write letters telling the family that she was OK, but could not take care of her children.   He did this three times and his wife believed him and these children were raised upstairs while his mother lived in the dark below with her other three children.

Then one day one of his children an 18 year old girl who shared her mother's prison, became sick with a serious infection, he had no choice but to abandon her at the steps of a hospital.  While treating this unidentified woman the authorities pleaded over the local television station for the mother of the child to come forward, they also found an S.O.S note inside her jeans that her mother placed there.  They could find no record of this girl, she didn't exist. 

Finally Josef released Elisabeth from her prison and brought her to the hospital, he made up some story about her returning home after 24 years, but it was obvious that Elisabeth had not seen the sun or people in decades and was strangely awkward and placid.  Soon enough the tale was told and her remaining children were released from the dungeon.  The sun hurt their eyes, their skin a pale white and their minds rotten and damaged.

The youngest of the bunch a 5 year old boy was both overjoyed and scared to see the outside world.   

Josef claims he loved them and took care of them, bringing them food, toys and books.

Please pray for these children and Elisabeth who authorities say is very disturbed and will need years of therapy.  Kerstin 19, Stefan 18 and Felix, 5 will need years of therapy and education as well.  Apparently they speak in coos and growls to one another, they are all hunched over and the 5 year old can only crawl and does not walk.

Josef has not been charged with any crime yet.  What are they waiting for?

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