I find it impossible to believe that the mother of imprisoned Elisabeth Fritzl had no idea that something strange was 
happening in her house.
How could her evil husband, Josef Fritzl, 73, sneak in food and clothing for his daughter and three captive children over 24 years without her noticing anything odd?
And what about good old-fashioned woman’s intuition, did Rosemarie Fritzl really believe her pretty daughter had simply vanished from their home in Austria and had no suspicions at all? Was she also a victim of her husband’s abusive and controlling character?
How many women turn a blind eye when their husbands abuse their innocent daughters, and the helpless, young girl knows she will not be believed? Fritzl is reported to have begun abusing his daughter Elisabeth from the time she was 11 years old.
Fritzl has confessed to imprisoning his daughter in a windowless cellar for 24 years and fathering her seven children, one of whom died. The electrical engineering technician would enter the basement prison through a small hidden door at his home, opened by a secret keyless entry code.
I wonder what would have happened to those pitiful, helpless prisoners if their wicked captor had died suddenly, would they simply have been left to rot in the cellar?
From what I’ve read, he smuggled food and clothes into the cellar from a secret door in the garage. And yes, apparently he told them that if anything happened to him, they (the remaining children) would rot in there as it was completely soundproof and only he knew the secret code to get in. Good piece in the Indy today by a psychologist on the effects it will have had on poor Elisabeth. Quite horrific – poor woman I darent think how she feels.
Such a horrible story. I agree with your take on it entirely.
I heard this on the radio first thing this morning and was totally shocked by it. I just can’t imagine what must have been going on in his head.
It is possible for a woman to not know what is going on. I used to know someone whose husband abused her children sexually. She didn’t know until one of them told her many years later, she was devastated. She also felt very guilty.
Yes I think they may have been left to rot – some people see what they decide to see. They see with their expectation and prejudice. I’ve known a caring mother defending her children from a quiet and polite but abusive father only to be persecuted by neighbours and distant family members because they said he obviously couldn’t have done such things as he wasn’t that sort of person. You all think this vile abuser featured in the news is some kind of monster, but had you talked to him over the garden fence he would have appeared polite and quiet and the neighbours expected nothing. So suspect everybody? No, just realise that bad men don’t wear black hats. And see with your eyes and your brain, not with your social expectations and prejudices.
This really is an astonishing story. How it happened is bewildering. How come Austria seems to have these sort of crimes?
3rd blogaversary post now up.
Sadly, there are very many good people in the world but also very many bad people and also a whole range of people in between. I believe this is generally true irrespective of belief or creed.
Perhaps there are always going to be a few extreme cases like this or perhaps we could look seriously at what it is that really convinces people in our society not to do things that injure their fellow human beings.
But whence competition, if we were all to avoid hurting our fellow human beings in every possible way.
Should cooperation or competition lie at the root of our society’s ethical code? If we are serious about discussing how people can behave in this way, these are the issues we must confront.
How could she not know something was wrong. Three of these children lived upstairs with herself and the monster. Where did she think the children came from? Did she think the stork brought them?
It’s one thing to miss the signs that your children are being abused or to turn a blind eye to the beast’s long absences in the basement. But to have three children suddenly appear in your life over a number of years, and not ask questions, stretches the bounds of credulity beyond the breaking point.
[...] Read full article: http://elleeseymour.com/2008/04/29/how-could-rosemaria-fritzl-know-nothing/ [...]
[...] Read this blog article about Josef Fritzl [...]
This is such a horrific story and has clearly stunned the world..
What I’m thinking right now is that the rest of their lives should be as comfotable as possible rather than them soon turning into ‘yesterdays news’…
I know money can’t buy happiness but if every person in the world who has been touched by their story was to give a little from their bank accounts, that might help them.
Julie
I’m afraid I find it very hard to believe too. She can’t have been very interested in the place she inhabited not to wonder about the extra space which would be needed to house four people.
During WWII, Amstetten had a horrific female concentration camp nearby. Unimaginable torture and depravity was inflicted on the female prisoners by the guards. Many of the Amstetten locals worked as guards. Fritzl was 10 years old when it was still running. Of course, the locals said nothing. No one stood up and said this is wrong. Many of the children of the camp guards still live in the town, but it is taboo to mention it. The entire Amstetten society psychology was forever wrecked by its complicity in the running of a German concentration camp. It’s easy to see how a young Fritzl monster was formed.
Women and children in Mauthausen-Gusen
Although the Mauthausen-Gusen camp complex was mostly a labour camp for men, a women’s camp was opened in Mauthausen, in September of 1944, with the first transport of female prisoners from Auschwitz. Eventually, more women and children came to Mauthausen from Ravensbruck, Bergen Belsen, Gross Rosen, and Buchenwald. With them came some female guards. Twenty are known to have served in the Mauthausen camp, and sixty in the whole camp complex. Female guards also staffed the Mauthausen sub-camps at Hirtenberg, Lenzing (the main women’s sub-camp in Austria), and St. Lambrecht. The Chief Overseers at Mauthausen were firstly Margarete Freinberger, and then Jane Bernigau. Of all the female Overseers who served in Mauthausen, almost all of them were recruited between September 1944, and November 1944, from Austrian cities and towns. In early April of 1945, at least 2,500 more female prisoners came from the female sub-camps at Amstetten, St. Lambrecht, Hirtenberg, and the Flossenbürg sub-camp at Freiberg. It is rumoured that Hildegard Lächert also served at Mauthausen.[32]
Common methods of extermination of prisoners, who were either sick, unfit for further labour or as a means of collective responsibility or after escape attempts included:
* Being beaten to death (by the SS and Kapos)
* Icy showers – some 3,000 inmates died of hypothermia – after having being forced to take an icy cold shower – and who were then left outside in cold weather.[43]
* Mass-shootings
* Medical experiments
o Aribert Heim, dubbed Doctor Death by the inmates, was there for seven weeks, which was enough to carry out his experiments[44]
o Another of the Nazi scientists to perform experiments on the inmates was Karl Gross, who purposely infected hundreds of prisoners with cholera and typhus in order to test his experimental vaccines on them. Between February 5, 1942, and mid-April of 1944, more than 1,500 prisoners were killed as a result of his experiments[45]
* Hanging
* Starvation
* Injections of phenol. (A group of 2,000 prisoners who applied to be transferred to the sanatorium were declared mentally sick and were killed by Dr. Ramsauer in the course of the H-13 action)[43]
* Drowning in large barrels of water (Gusen II)[46][47]
* Beating to death or starving to death in bunkers[48]
* Throwing the prisoners on the 380 volt electric barbed wire fence[48]
* Forcing prisoners outside the boundaries of the camp and then shooting them on the pretense (pretence) that they were attempting to escape[49]
The other thing is that she did know but was too frightened to say anything. Look at what he did to his daughter – he’s quite capable of doing that to his wife.
Think of the planning and construction that preceeded modifying this house to incorporate these hidden chambers – did she not question why it was being done?
It is difficult to see how she could not have at least supected something.
It’s an horrific story and there is so much that doesn’t add up.
My heart goes out to the people and children involved…I am still trying to come to terms with it in my own mind; but thankyou Joe for shedding some light on the community and the horrors of the past, (as well).
May they find some peace and happiness.
Thanks Ellee, (for Simon’s link), will promptly get over there…funny thing, some of my ancestors are from East Anglia regions..
Thanks very much.
Pam (Oz)
I happened to be in Austria (Vienna) when this story broke, it is sickening.
Joe, I didn’t know about that Amstetten connection with WW11, how horrific it all was. Many thanks.
Pam, it’s good to hear from you, I hope you make contact with Simon via his blog.
Maalie, you must have been in the thick of it when this news broke, how interesting.
Yes, it’s obviously hard to believe his behaviour could go unnoticed for so long – but that doesn’t mean his wife necessarily knew. Personally I suspect that she didn’t have a clue as this guy was clearly twisted and able to hide things very well.
http://lettersfromatory.wordpress.com
However controlling and evil this guy is, his wife was aware of his character and I still find it hard to believe she had no curiosity about her missing daughter, that she accepted it all at face value. If a mother doesn’t know her daughter, who does?
There was more explanation in our newspaper yesterday and it made more sense to me reading how he hid her and the children. He is definitely a monster! Who could/would do something like that to his own child and live like a totally innocent person with the rest of his family. I wonder what he was like to his wife, though, that she would believe the stories he told her about the daughter running away and then leaving these babies on the doorstep. Interesting about his history of growing up during WWII and the Amstetten connection. A monster certainly was born then! Such a sad sad story.
I wonder what the illness is that the daughter has who has been admitted to hospital and is said to be in a coma. I do hope she gets better.
Like your other readers, I share their digust.
Just appalling.
The information from Joe probably tells us the roots of this horrendous story. I would like to know what the story of his youth was. Even weeds need water to grow… Just like cancer can develop from stress, a community with a suppressed and shameful past can produce a monster amongst them. Don’t forget that Austria joined the Germans in WWII. Of all the conquered European nations at that time, only Bulgaria found a way to resist deporting Jews. Apparently not one Jew was deported out of that country!
A former tenant claimed he saw Rosemarie help her husband take food down to the cellar in a wheelbarrow, but yet Rosemarie’s sister claims that she wasn’t even allowed to take a cup of coffee down to him ?
Either she was extremely subservient to her husband to the point where she believed (or was bullied into believing) all the stories he made up about drafting machinery designs, or she was an accomplice and had full knowledge of her husband’s appalling crimes.
Personally, I can’t imagine that she would let something like this continue had she known. I think the reason why she never acted on her suspicions is because she never thought that her husband would be capable of carrying out such a callous act right under her nose.
I think Rosemarie Fritzl knew exactly what was going on with Elisabeth. She knows how much food the family needs, and it’s already been said that Josef Fritzl drove OUT OF AMSTETTEN to get food/supplies and things like TAMPONS (hello) etc. WITH ROSEMARIE in the car. The woman is SICK and guilty of TREACHERY against her own daughter — they should both (Josef and Rosemarie) ROT in jail for their crimes. Fear is no good excuse — if she was so afraid WHY didn’t she bail and tell someone — give me a break — also Josef RAPED a woman, did one year and a half in PRISON — and then came back to his wife and had THREE MORE KIDS — GEE — while he was in PRISON would’ve been a good time to BAIL with her three kids she had already and RELOCATE — remember, ROSEMARIE HAD MONEY — she owned vaction bed and breakfasts near MONDSEE lake where Martina Posch was MURDERED. — anyone who doesn’t believe this woman knew is STUPID.
Here is a comment that I would like to make
about Josef Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie …
Clearly that “person” (and one has to stretch the
definition of the word “person” in order to apply
it to that creature) known to the world as Josef
Fritzl was / is the DEVIL-INCARNATE —- AND
he should burn in h*ll for all of eternity for his evil.
In addition, it also needs to be stated that no person
on earth should allow themselves be fooled for
even one moment by the lies of “I didn’t know”
that are currently being claimed by that lying
and equally evil wife of this evil DEVIL!!!
That vile, evil, perverted, disgusting, devil
b**tch of a wife of that MONSTER KNEW!!
SHE KNEW!!! SHE KNEW!!! SHE KNEW!!!
She KNEW the whole time (or at least had
literally no excuse whatsoever to have not
at least ‘suspected’ something was amiss!!!)
She is a LIAR and she must think the entire world is
as perverted as both she and her husband are and
that by coming up with that ridiculous and flimsy
excuse that she can then convince the rest of
the world to then respond to her own complicity
the same way she chose to respond to that of
her husband’s evil — by ‘turning a blind eye’.
BOTH of them are utter DEVILS and one
cannot help but to hope that they both burn
in h*ll for all of eternity for their evil acts!!!!
She expects anyone on this planet who has even
half-a-brain-stem to believe for even one fraction
of a moment that she didn’t know anything at all?!?!
Give me a break!!!
For crying out loud–unless this woman is Helen
Keller –she has NO EXCUSE at all to not have
known (or at least ’suspected’) something strange
and conspiratorial was going on regarding her
daughter’s whereabouts and situation and that the
husband’s stories were just far too incredulous
and absolutely made no sense in the least bit!!!
After all — think about it — daughter runs away as a
very young teen; daughter mysteriously disappears
at the age of 18 (an age when she can both make
her own decisions and choose to get away from
her father and even bring charges against him); the
(convicted-rapist/arsonist) father gets a letter from
daughter 1 month after her disappearance which
ridiculously claims she has joined a cult and does
not want to have any contact with the family – yet
amazingly then later chooses (for 3 years in a row)
to simply leave 3 of her newborn babies on the
doorstep of very home that she tried to run away
from at least 2 X’s before and is “allegedly thought”
to have finally left in order to join some sort of
“phantom” cult (a “cult” which, unlike every other
cult, just somehow, seemingly has no desire to try
to indoctrinate the youth from birth, but rather it
simply allows it’s members to select a home –one
which in fact, is both not a part of the cult AND is
the very home from which the member ran in order
to join the cult —to raise their babies and kids of
the cult members) –ALL THE WHILE – the father
forbids ANYONE to ever for ANY REASON dare to
go ANYWHERE NEAR the mysterious basement
(which he always keeps locked, disappears to for
hours and days on end; has ‘unseen’ bathroom
equipment installed; and has a cement-barricaded
door installed which both has a security-code and
which was so complicated it needed inspection
by local government authorities in order to install).
Just 2 years before the “discovery” of what this
monster (and his devil wife via her complicity of
silence) did to their poor child – another young girl,
and former kidnap victim, was also found in Austria.
It was discovered that the other young kidnap /
rape victim had disappeared 8 years earlier and
had been held in a basement / dungeon where
she had been repeatedly raped the entire time
by the individual who had also kidnapped her.
Now —- even if the public was expected to
simply throw all common sense to the wind
and accept this monster’s devil-wife’s excuse
that she “didn’t know”, say, in the beginning …
it still stands to reason that after hearing about
the case of the other young girl 2 years earlier
—– this creep’s equally creepy wife would
have said something to herself like, say …
”””Hmmm … a young girl who disappeared 8 years
ago, out of no where, has been discovered
to have been held in a basement the entire
time and while there she was repeatedly
raped by the person who trapped her there.
Hmmm … my daughter, who repeatedly tried
to run away from my convicted-rapist husband
as a child has also mysteriously disappeared
– and – my convicted-rapist husband is
always coming across both ‘letters’ and
‘grandchildren’ that were allegedly left
by my daughter (who has vanished
without a trace) — and – meanwhile
my convicted-rapist husband also
has a mysterious basement that he
keeps under lock and key and never
allows anyone to come near — ever.
Hmmm … now I cannot help but to wonder
if that convicted-rapist husband I married
just may have had something to do with
the disappearance of our daughter – and
— the appearance of all these grandkids
and letters – and I also can’t help but to
wonder if that mystery-basement room
of his would, in some way / in any way,
be connected somehow to our child’s
disappearance and / or the mysterious
appearance of all of these grandchildren.”””
Yes – one would think that – even if this woman
could have claimed ‘ignorance’ earlier – (a lie
which, again, no one with any common sense
should ever consider buying into) – once the
discovery was made of a similar situation 2
years earlier – she then had NO excuse to not
have at least been suspicious of something
about her convicted-rapist husband and his
ever-so-mysterious hidden basement room.
That vicious devil simply did not care at all about
her own daughter – or — she simply cared more
about her own creature-comforts and keeping up
with her middle-class appearances than she did
about the torture being done to her own child.
THAT POOR GIRL’S VILE, DISGUSTING
PERVERTED LYING B*TCH OF A MOTHER
KNEW FULL WELL WHAT WAS GOING ON
– SHE KNEW– SHE KNEW– SHE KNEW!!!
THAT WIFE IS A B*TCH, A DEVIL AND A
VILE PERVERT AND ONE CANNOT HELP
BUT TO TRULY HOPE THAT— SINCE SHE
OBVIOUSLY FELT SOME STRANGE NEED
TO BE SO VERY LOYAL TO THAT DEVIL,
OF A PERVERTED CONVICTED-RAPIST
AND ARSONIST FREAK OF A HUSBAND
OF HERS AND TO CHOOSE TO STAND BY
HIS SIDE FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY
ALL THE WHILE THAT HE IMPRISONED
AND ALSO SEXUALLY AND PHYSICALLY
AND MENTALLY TORTURED THEIR
CHILD — SHE WILL REMAINS BY
HIS SIDE AS THEY BOTH BURN
IN H*LL FOR ALL OF ETERNITY!!
She is clearly as much of a
pervert and devil as is he!!
Would anyone even be remotely surprised
if further investigation later revealed that
‘Rosemarie Fritzl’ (who is actually trying to
get the world to see her as a co-victim of
her daughter’s horrific nightmare of a life)
was actually just another ‘Rosemary West’
(a woman whose husband also originally –
and falsely – claimed that she had nothing
to do with his unbelievably evil sex crimes)?
What kind of a woman, after all, chooses to marry
(or remained married to) a man who had already
committed and also been convicted of previously
raping another woman and has shown absolutely
no remorse about any of it whatsoever in the least.
SHE KNEW!!! SHE KNEW!!! SHE KNEW!!!