1984, August 29. Sunny summer day. Elisabeth, the 18-year-old daughter of the Fritzl couple, disappears without a trace.
Concerned parents immediately reported the disappearance to the police.

The house in which the Fritzl family lived is not some gloomy infernal castle or
abandoned hut in the forest. Josef Fritzl did all these terrible things in an apartment building where 3 other families live for 24 years. And no one suspected that this nice old man was in his basement,
According to him, adjacent to the basements of other residents, he is holding his “missing” daughter captive.
What was this connected with? Total ignore? Global blindness? Reluctance to see the obvious? When the police came for Fritzl, the neighbors were, in their own words, shocked. Well, that's probably true. In the end, only “Papa Josef” appears in the court’s verdict, while even his wife remained “out of the game.” But do you believe that the loving mother of the family for 24 years did not find a single
a reason to go into the basement of your own house?
A few years later, in May 1993, a foundling - a nine-month-old girl - is suddenly discovered at the doorstep of the Fritzl couple's house. Attached to the package with the child was a letter written in the handwriting of the “prodigal daughter”,
who reports that she has no way to take care of the child, and therefore asks the parents to take care of the child. It also follows from the letter that the allegedly missing Elizabeth already has two children. And again, none of the neighbors heard or saw anything.

Is it possible for a prodigal daughter to sneak into a locked entrance with a basket like a ghost on a dark night?
By the way, as we now know, the “foundling” was discovered... in the Fritzl spouses’ own laundry basket! Indeed, where does a runaway sectarian get the funds for a new basket? You can always borrow from your parents' basement! However, Joseph Fritzl generously adopts the girl, being a little indignant because of his unlucky daughter. A year and a half later, history repeats itself - another child, a ten-month-old girl, is brought to the doorstep of the Fritzls’ house. And again with a letter from the mother containing a request to feed the next offspring. The compassionate Fritzls adopt the child again.
August 1997. The third child was either thrown in again, or came on his own - a boy at the age of 15 months was already briskly stamping his feet along the corridors of the apartment building where the Fritzls lived. Three times, grandparents have already scolded their unlucky daughter on all corners, who, it seems, has become a habit of throwing her offspring to her parents. Only Josef knew that Elisabeth Fritzl had many more children than the three who live with her grandparents: in her terrible cell, the daughter he constantly raped gave birth seven times - without any medical care or clean linen. One child died - a kind grandfather refused to take him to the hospital. He burned the corpse in a coal stove. The three children grew up like Wells' Morlocks - without ever seeing sunlight. The neighbors are silent about this whole situation. Until the very end, they pretended that the Fritzls were respectable burghers who were having a hard time with the adventures of their prodigal daughter.

In April 2008, the terrible story of the Fritzl family is finally coming to an end. Josef Fritzl's eldest daughter and granddaughter (one of those who lived in the basement) falls ill, and something human awakens in the maniac. Maybe he just realized that the coal stove would be too small to burn a big 19-year-old girl in it. The girl is sent upstairs to the “official” children as another foundling, after which she is taken to the hospital. Josef and his wife publish in the media a heartbreaking request for Elsabeth to return home or at least give instructions for the treatment of her daughter. Of course, no response was received. But the doctors at the hospital immediately realized that the “foundling”
suffers for one simple reason - she was born as a result of incest. In addition, the girl’s mental state and behavior also left much to be desired. The kind Grandpa Fritzl, under the pressure of circumstances, delivers Elisabeth, who has been locked up for 24 years, to the hospital - after threatening her that if she spills the beans, he will kill her and all the children. However, the police are already waiting for them at the hospital, and Elizabeth tells everything right in the presence of her father. From the emergency room, Josef Fritzl goes straight to prison. Already in June 2008, the eldest daughter Elizabeth left the hospital - doctors considered her healthy. Elizabeth and the rest of the children were placed in a specialized sanatorium and protected from the press and neighbors who saw the light.
As for Joseph, a psychiatric examination establishes his sanity and emphasizes “a high degree of moral decomposition.” He repeatedly expressed a desire to give an interview, but not a single publication - from
serious news outlets and yellow tabloids expressed no desire to listen to the “maniac from Amstetten.”
Surprisingly, Joseph only partially admitted his guilt. Only after some time was an explanation found for this.
It turns out that in his “free” time from testifying, he is trying to sell the rights to a future book about his “hobby” to a number of Austrian and foreign publishers. He asks for a very modest amount for the memoirs: 4 million euros. If he fully admits guilt, he will have to reveal all the details of his crime. And then, in his opinion, he will have nothing to interest publishers. The zest will be lost. Naturally, not a single publishing house agreed to print these notes of a madman. March 19, 2009. Josef Fritzl was unanimously found guilty on all counts and sentenced to life imprisonment. College of Psychiatrists
made a decision that he would have to spend the rest of his life in a specially guarded institution, in solitary confinement, without contact with anyone except guards and doctors, without the possibility of ever filing a petition for clemency. There will be no windows in the cell, just as there were none in the basement where he kept his own daughter for 24 years in a row.

Surely many people know Elisabeth Fritzl - the unfortunate victim of her cruel father. This terrible story took place in Austria, in the small town of Amstetten. The investigation into this case lasted a whole year before the culprit got what he deserved. So, what kind of story is this that plunged the whole world into horror, we will find out from our article.

The Story of Elisabeth Fritzl

The world learned about who Elizabeth was in 2008, when the girl managed to free herself from the basement in which her father had imprisoned her. The police kept the details of the case secret, since all the circumstances were not fully disclosed.

It only became known that Elizabeth’s release was preceded by a serious illness of her eldest daughter, 19-year-old Kerstin. The girl, weakened by illness, was brought to the hospital by her grandfather, Joseph Fritzl. It is also known that the doctors were given a written message from her mother, in which she allegedly asked to help her daughter.

The doctors who examined Kerstin were wary, because everything seemed rather strange: the mother who did not arrive, the unusual behavior of the grandfather and the inexplicable condition of the girl who arrived (the doctors were never able to diagnose her). In this regard, it was decided to contact the police.

Basic details of Elizabeth's release

At the time of her release, Elisabeth Fritzl was already 42 years old. From the testimony of the woman herself, it followed that her own father raped her from the age of 11, and when the poor girl tried to escape, he locked her in one of the basement rooms. This event took place in 1984, when Elizabeth was only 18 years old.

It is unfortunate that during her imprisonment the girl gave birth to seven children from her father. He took three of them into foster care, and left the rest in the basement with Elizabeth. One of the babies died immediately after birth. The elder Fritzl burned his body right in the courtyard of the house.

The victim herself told the police all this, and then her father confirmed her words. DNA tests put all the dots in place, which convinced investigators that all this really happened to Elizabeth. It is also noteworthy that the town of Amstetten was considered one of the quietest and calmest in all of Austria. None of those living nearby even suspected that such terrible events were happening very close by.

A few words about the head of the family

The entire time the investigation was ongoing, the police tried to find out new details that would tell us how a father could do this to his own daughter.

People around him claimed that he was always observed to be cruel. In addition, it turned out that the head of the family was intemperate in sexual activity. For example, in 1967 he was arrested for rape. Fritzl spent 1.5 years behind bars. It also became known that, despite having a wife, he used the services of prostitutes, who in narrow circles called him a real sadist.

In the family the man was described as a tyrant. Neighbors and friends of Rosa Maria's wife unanimously said that the woman was very afraid of her husband. It should be noted that, in addition to Elisabeth, seven more children grew up in the Fritzl family.

The horror is that the cruel man did not even bother to lock his victim in a remote place, but built a real prison in his basement. The door to the dungeon where Elizabeth lived was located in her father’s workshop and was covered by a shelf with tools.

According to the family, Fritzl constantly went down to the basement and did not come out for hours. Nobody even suspected what was happening there.

How did Fritzl explain his daughter's disappearance?

The father said that his daughter Elisabeth Fritzl went to a religious sect without explaining anything to anyone. Why the mother did not do anything to search for her daughter still remains a mystery.

Rosa Maria was not alarmed by the fact that Josef began bringing babies one after another into the house, explaining that his unlucky daughter was throwing them up. Three children of Elisabeth Fritzl, whose photo is attached in our article, were adopted by their grandparents. They, like all normal children, attended school, played with friends, while the rest languished in the basement. Unfortunately, the fact of the unexpected appearance of three children in the Fritzl family did not even interest social services.

Have anyone else been recruited?

According to public records, no other arrests have been reported in this case. The mother herself claims that she knew nothing about her husband’s actions. In addition, in court she demanded compensation from newspapers that wrote about her personal life.

As for Fritzl himself, doctors discovered he had serious mental disorders. Apparently, Joseph considered himself a maniac. At his trial, he called himself a “natural-born rapist.”

What was the reason for such deviations in Fritzl Sr.?

The main reason for this abuse was a terrible childhood. As it became known, his own mother beat him and did not allow him to communicate with his peers. Fritzl himself said that he had punished her a long time ago. The woman sat in a closed room for almost 20 years.

Despite the maniac's inappropriate behavior, the court found him sane. Therefore, Fritzl appeared in all his glory before the court and answered for his actions.

What is the punishment for a rapist?

The prosecution in the case of Elisabeth Fritzl, whose photo after her release is in our article, tried to achieve the most severe punishment for the criminal. It turned out that from a legal point of view, rape (in accordance with Austrian law) provides for 15 years in prison, and incest even 1 year.

But the prosecution still managed to achieve maximum punishment for Fritzl on two serious charges: murder and slavery. The first implied life imprisonment. It was proven that the child died due to medical care not being provided on time, so it was Fritzl who was to blame for his death.

In addition, Joseph was accused of two more articles: cruel treatment and illegal imprisonment.

Court

After the investigation was completed, a new problem arose - with the jury. Many candidates refused to participate in the process because no one wanted to listen to the circumstances of such a terrible case.

During this time, the jury managed to listen to the testimony of Fritzl, witnesses, a video in which Elisabeth spoke about her terrible life, the opinions of psychoanalysts, specialists who examined the basement where the cruel father kept his daughter, etc.

It should be noted that Fritzl himself initially denied many circumstances. For example, he claimed that he tried to protect his daughter from drug addiction, and also said that the child was not killed. It is also noteworthy that he accused Elisabeth Fritzl of incitement: the daughter allegedly asked to kidnap another girl so that she would not be bored.

On the third day, Fritzl confessed to all the charges. This happened when Elizabeth herself appeared in the courtroom, who had refused to take part in this for a long time.

As a result, he was sentenced to serve in a prison designed for mentally ill criminals.

Elizabeth's later life

Elizabeth has never appeared in public or given interviews to journalists. The press only flashes photos of the victim before the abduction. It is known that Elisabeth Fritzl and her children currently live in another city under a different name.

As for the eldest daughter, who fell into a coma after a long absence of sunlight in her life, she was saved.

We are unlikely to know what awaits Elisabeth Fritzl after her release. One thing is clear: the less the poor family bothers the public, the faster their life will become normal.

The world has discussed this story at least three times. The first time was in 2008, when international media wrote about the Austrian Joseph Fritzl, who for 24 years kept his own daughter in the basement of his house, who bore him seven children. The second was a couple of years later, when Emma Donahue's novel The Room, based on these events, became a bestseller and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The third wave began in the winter of 2016, when the film of the same name starring Brie Larson received a well-deserved Oscar. Years go by, but we still can’t wrap our heads around how a person who “wanted what was best” could do this to his own child, and why reality so often turns out to be worse than the most sophisticated fiction.

It is believed that the authors of film scripts strive to exaggerate something - for greater effect. However, in the case of the film “Room” it was the other way around. The viewer saw a retouched version of what was happening in the pastoral and quiet Austrian town of Amstetten for a quarter of a century.

Maniac Empire

Engineer Joseph Fritzl, an exemplary family man, father of seven children, a sweet and courteous gentleman from those who are in good standing in any society, equipped a real bunker in the basement of his house. He did this with the consent of the authorities, having received permission for redevelopment (note site: the victim of the maniac Natasha Kampusch, who bought the house of her tormentor, had problems with this).
He lined the room with very low ceilings (it was impossible to stand upright in it) with rubber mats so that not a single sound from the basement could come outside. The massive metal door was locked with a combination lock. Engineer Fritzl went down to the basement every day (when he was at home, of course), at the same time, in order to “make a few more drawings” in a calm atmosphere. The wife was strictly forbidden to go down there. None of the tenants dared to approach the shelter either. Josef forbade this, allegedly worrying that no one would be electrocuted.

Why did he do all this? Fritzl had a plan that did not bode well for one person very close to him - his own daughter Elisabeth.

On August 28, 1984, Joseph began to implement the previously conceived scheme. He dragged 18-year-old Elizabeth, who had previously been put to sleep, into the basement, handcuffed her and chained her to the wall. A day later, the “alarmed” father went to the police to report his daughter’s disappearance. A few weeks later, the couple received a letter from her (site note: it was indeed written by Elizabeth, but not of her own free will), in which the girl said that she had decided to leave home in order to become independent. The message also talked about “people who will look after her.” The police decided that Elizabeth had ended up in a cult (this is the version her father will promote).

The girl, who allegedly fell into the sect, will be searched all over Europe for many years, while her father regularly comes to her basement to rape her again, bring food, or continue repair work in the bunker, the total area of ​​which was 60 square meters. .

From the recollections of the police officers involved in the investigation of the case: “Fritzl could have killed the children and no one would have heard. The children could kill their father and no one would hear. But in this case they would be doomed to a painful death next to his body. After all, only Josef knew the code for the electronic lock.”

Josef's friends, having learned that he led a double life, wondered how his daughter and children survived, because Fritzl loved to travel and once flew to Thailand for 4 whole weeks. The answer to this question is given by the Austrian press, quoting Elisabeth's diary. At this time she had to catch rats with her bare hands...

Lord of Fates

Three of Elizabeth's six surviving children were raised upstairs in a "normal" family - they went to junior firemen's classes, played police department sports, played musical instruments and brought home good grades. Those who remained below were taught by their mother to speak and walk, read and write practically on their fingers. There were almost no toys in the bunker (as opposed to textbooks, which were still available).

From Elisabeth Fritzl’s diary: “The children were delighted with the mirror (site note: not immediately, but a stove, a couch, a toilet and a shower appeared in the dungeon) and especially with the scales. They would eat something and immediately stand on it to see if it showed weight gain.”

The basement became more and more crowded, and Joseph began to take the kids with him one by one, each time depicting the scene “Bad mother dropped off the child at the grandparents, not forgetting to leave a note.” So on the surface in May 1993, 9-month-old Lisa was successfully “legalized,” and in December 1994, 10-month-old Monica. Three years later, in August 1997, in the same place in front of the front door, Josef “found” Alexander - the baby was then a little over a year old.

Do you want to know what guided Fritzl when deciding who should stay in the bunker and who could leave it? He took to the top the most vociferous, those who cried the loudest...

When Elisabeth gave birth to twins, and one of the boys died (the baby had lung problems), Joseph burned his body in the stove and scattered his ashes throughout the garden so that he would not be accused of murder.
It is curious that while “foundlings” were appearing in the family, the police did not even think to check whether these children were actually the grandchildren of the Fritzles!

In April 2008, this story ended. Josef called the emergency services and said that he had found a girl, presumably his granddaughter, lying unconscious outside the house. 19-year-old Kerstin (the eldest daughter of Josef and Elisabeth) was immediately taken to the hospital, she was in critical condition. The doctors were amazed to learn that the girl had no documents at all. In addition, it turned out that she did not have a single filling in her mouth. The letter that the “grandfather” had asking the “prodigal mother” to take care of the sick Kerstin did not impress the doctors too much. The patient, whose organs began to fail one after another, was placed in intensive care and put into deep artificial sleep. However, doctors were never able to diagnose her to clarify the clinical picture. They definitely needed to talk to their mother.

Here the police finally became alert. The girl’s symptoms of illness, her unusual pallor and lack of pigmentation - all this played against Joseph, who began to be suspected of at least concealing the facts (further suspicions of incest and child abuse followed).

Fritzl was put under surveillance, and Interpol also got involved. On local television every now and then they played a video with an appeal to the girl’s mother. That's what Elizabeth saw in her basement. She began to beg her father to allow her to go to her daughter and take with her two other children, who until that time had not seen the white light - in the literal sense of the word. And Joseph gave his permission...

Josef Fritzl was born on April 9, 1935 in Amstetten, Austria. In 1956, at the age of 21, he married 17-year-old Rosemary, with whom he had two sons and five daughters. Among them was Elisabeth Fritzl, whose date of birth was 1966. The unstable father reportedly began molesting Elizabeth in 1977, when she was 11 years old.

The Story of Elisabeth Fritzl

After completing her compulsory education at the age of 15, Elizabeth began training to become a waitress. In January 1983, she ran away from home and fled to Vienna with a friend she met at work. She was found by police within three weeks and returned to her parents.

The official biography of Elisabeth Fritzl ended when she came of age. On August 28, 1984, after the girl turned 18, her father lured her into the basement of the house, saying that he needed help moving the door. This was the last part needed to close the basement, which became a real prison for Elisabeth Fritzl - biographies with photos of the girl usually show it in detail. After the girl helped her father fit the door into its frame, he threw a chloroform-soaked towel over his daughter's face until she passed out, then threw her into a cell in the basement.

After Elizabeth disappeared, Rosemary filed a missing persons report with the police. Almost a month later, Josef Fritzl handed over the letter to the police - the first of several that he forced Elisabeth to write while in captivity. The letter, published by the Braunau newspaper, states that Elisabeth was tired of living with her family and ran away with a friend. She allegedly warned her parents that if they looked for her, she would leave the country. Her father told police the girl likely joined a religious cult. A photo of Elisabeth Fritzl accompanied all newspaper articles about her disappearance.

Father monster

Over the next 24 years, her father visited Elizabeth, captive in the basement, on average every three days, bringing food and other necessary items. After his arrest, he admitted to raping her repeatedly during this time. During her captivity, Elisabeth Fritzl gave birth to seven children from her own father. One child died shortly after birth. And three of the children (Lisa, Monica and Alexander) were taken from the basement as infants to live with their pedophile father and his wife, who were approved by local social services authorities as their adoptive parents. Officials later admitted that Josef Fritzl gave a “very plausible” explanation of how his three grandchildren appeared on his doorstep. The family received regular visits from social workers who did not see or hear anything in the house that could give rise to any suspicion.

After the birth of his fourth child in 1994, Fritzl authorized the expansion of the prison from 35 to 55 square meters (380-590 sq ft). To achieve this, Elizabeth and her children worked for years, digging the soil with their bare hands. The prisoners had a television, radio and video recorder. Food could be refrigerated and cooked or heated on hot stoves. Elizabeth taught the children to read and write. From time to time, Josef Fritzl would turn off the lights in the basement or refuse to deliver food for several days to punish them.

Violent threats

Fritzl told Elisabeth and the remaining three children (Kerstin, Stefan and Felix) that he would gas them if they tried to escape. Investigators came to the conclusion that this was an empty threat to intimidate the prisoners, because there was no gas in the basement. He stated after his arrest that he told them they would receive an electric shock and die if they tried to break down the basement door.

According to Fritzl's sister-in-law Christina, he went to the basement every day at 09:00, where he allegedly designs cars that he sells to various companies. He often stayed there overnight and did not allow his wife to bring him coffee. A man who had rented a room on the ground floor of the house for twelve years claimed to hear a noise from the basement, which Fritzl attributed to a breakdown in the gas heating system.

Biography of Josef Fritzl

Josef (now known as Mayrhoff) was born on April 9, 1935 in Amstetten, the son of Josef Fritzl Sr. and his wife Maria. He grew up as an only child and was raised exclusively by his mother. His father left the family when the boy was four years old, and he never had contact with him again. Fritzl Sr. later fought as a Wehrmacht soldier during World War II and was killed in action in 1944. His name appears on a memorial plaque in Amsteten. In 1956, at the age of 21, Josef Fritzl Jr., a future rapist and sadist, married 17-year-old Rosemary, who bore him two sons and five daughters.

After completing his studies at a technical college with a qualification in electrical engineering, Fritzl got a job in Linz. From 1969 to 1971 he worked for a building materials company in Amstetten. He later became a technical equipment salesman traveling throughout Austria. He retired from work when he turned 60 in 1995, but subsequently continued his commercial activities. In addition to his residential building in Amsteten, Fritzl rented several other properties. In 1972 he purchased a guest house and adjacent camping site on Lake Mondsee. He lived there with his wife until 1996.

Crimes

In 1967, Elisabeth Fritzl's father, while in Linz, broke into the house of a 24-year-old nurse while her husband was gone, after which he raped her, holding a knife to her throat and threatening to kill her if she screamed. He was also named as a suspect in the attempted rape of a 21-year-old woman, according to the 1967 annual report and press release that year, and was also detained several times for indecent exposure. Fritzl was arrested and served twelve months of the eighteen months to which he was originally sentenced. In accordance with Austrian law, his criminal record was expunged from the records after fifteen years. As a result, more than 25 years later, when he applied to adopt Elizabeth's children, local child welfare authorities found no criminal history of his.

Goals and motives

After his arrest, Fritzl argued that his behavior towards his daughter was not violence, since everything was allegedly done consensually. Lawyer Mayer sent excerpts from the minutes of his negotiations with his client to the Austrian weekly News for Publication. According to these statements, Fritzl said that for 24 years he always knew that what he was doing was wrong and he must have been crazy to do such a thing, but living a double life eventually became normal for him.

Regarding his attitude towards the family he had with his wife, Fritzl said: “I am not the beast that the press is trying to make of me.” Regarding his treatment of Elizabeth and her children in the basement, he explained that he brought flowers to the captive, books and toys for the children in the "bunker", as he called it, and often watched videos of the children and ate food with his daughter and their joint offspring. Fritzl decided to imprison Elisabeth after she stopped adhering to any rules when she became a teenager. "That's why I had to do something, I had to create a place where I could keep Elizabeth by force, if necessary, away from the outside world," the fiend stated. The children of Elisabeth Fritzl also became victims of the insidious maniac.

News magazine's editors-in-chief noted in their editorial that Fritzl's statement would form the basis of his lawyer's defense strategy. Critics said his statement may have been a ploy to build evidence of his insanity.

A loveless childhood

Reflecting on his childhood, Josef initially described his mother as "the best woman in the world" and "as strict as she needed to be." He later expressed a negative opinion of his mother and stated that she beat him to the point that he was "lying in a pool of blood on the floor." It made him feel completely humiliated and weak. His mother was a servant and worked all her life, but she never kissed or hugged her son, although Josef really needed it. He also claimed that she called him “Satan, a criminal, bad,” and that he was “terribly afraid of her.” In 1959, after Fritzl got married and bought his own house, his mother moved there with him and his wife. Over time, their roles changed and his mother became afraid of him. He also eventually admitted that he later locked her in the attic, telling neighbors that she had died, and kept her locked up until her death in 1980. It is unknown how long Fritzl kept his mother locked in the attic, but newspapers suggested that the captivity could have lasted up to 20 years.

Psychopathological picture

A report by forensic psychiatrist Adelheid Kastner described Fritzl's mother as unpredictable and tactless. Josef called himself an “alibi child,” born only to prove that his mother was infertile. Josef claims that his pathological behavior is innate. He admits that he planned to lock up his daughter during his prison sentence for an earlier rape conviction as a way to express his "evil side." He said: “I was born to rape and I restrained myself for quite a long time. I could have behaved much worse." A forensic psychiatrist diagnosed the monster with a mosaic personality disorder, including features of borderline, schizotypal and schizoid disorders, and also indicated the presence of sexual disorders and recommended that the investigation ensure that Josef receives psychiatric care for the rest of his life.

Daughter's testimony

In accordance with the agreement that she would never have to see her father again, Elisabeth Fritzl testified by video before Austrian prosecutors and investigators on July 11, 2008.

On November 13, 2008, Austrian authorities published an indictment against the jailer. This was the beginning of the famous case of Josef Fritzl. He stood trial for the murder of baby Michael, who died shortly after birth, and faced life imprisonment. He was also charged with rape, incest, kidnapping, imprisonment and slavery.

Trial and verdict

The trial of Josef Fritzl began on March 16, 2009 in St. Pölten, presided over by Judge Andrea Humer.

On the first day, the monster entered the courtroom, trying to hide his face from the cameras behind a blue folder, which he had the right to do under Austrian law. After the hearing began, all journalists and spectators were asked to leave the courtroom, after which Fritzl showed his face. He pleaded guilty to all charges except murder and assault.

In his opening statement, Rudolf Mayer, the defending lawyer, urged the jury to be objective and not get carried away by emotions. He insisted that Fritzl was “not a monster,” saying he even brought a Christmas tree into his captives’ basement during the holiday season.

On the first day of testimony, jurors watched 11 hours of testimony recorded by Elizabeth during meetings with police and psychologists in July 2008. The tape was said to be so “harrowing” that eight jurors could watch it for no more than two hours.

On March 19, 2009, Josef Fritzl was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the first 15 years. He said he accepted the sentence and would not ask for clemency. He is currently serving his sentence at Garsten Abbey, a former monastery in Upper Austria that has been converted into a prison.

Life after tragedy

In March 2009, Elisabeth Fritzl and her children were forced to leave their parents' home and returned to a psychiatric clinic, where medical staff began to provide professional assistance to the entire family. A woman was reported to be distraught and close to a serious breakdown after a British paparazzo burst into her kitchen and began taking photographs.

After the trial, Elisabeth and her six children were moved to an unnamed village in northern Austria, where they live in a fortress-like house. All children still require ongoing therapy. Factors that traumatized the children living "upstairs" with Josef included the knowledge that Josef had lied to them about their mother abandoning them, as well as the abuse they had suffered at his hands as children. The children "down below" receive therapy because of their deprivation of normal development, the lack of fresh air and sunlight while living in the basement, and the rape of their own mother in front of their eyes. All children may have genetic problems common to offspring born from incestuous relationships. Elisabeth distanced herself from her mother, Rosemary, who accepted Josef's story that their daughter had joined the cult and never tried to find her again. But the woman allows her three children, who grew up in the house of Josef and Rosemary, to regularly visit their grandmother, who lives alone in a small apartment.

A March 2010 article in The Independent reported that Elisabeth Fritzl and her children were doing well considering the hardships and hardships they had endured for so long. The famous prisoner enjoys spending time shopping, walking in the rain and driving. She got her driver's license without much difficulty. It was reported that her relationship with Thomas, one of the bodyguards, continues to this day, and he has become something of an older brother to her children. It was him who Elisabeth Fritzl married a couple of years later.

Let the reader have no doubt about the happy ending of this story. All of Elizabeth's children developed normal relationships with each other. And after they had problems related to traumatic events, the three children “on top”, taken from Elisabeth Fritzl after birth, gradually began to recognize her as their mother. Children enjoy being outside, playing video games, and spending time with their family and grandma. Despite the strained relationship, Elizabeth and her mother Rosemary began to visit each other more often. The woman reportedly forgave her mother for believing Josef's false story.

End of story

On June 28, 2013, workers began pouring concrete into the ill-fated basement in the Fritzl house. Estate liquidator Walter Anzbeuk said construction work on the site would cost €100,000 and would take a week to complete. The house was sold at a public auction. While most neighbors approved of the proposal, some preferred the building be demolished due to its sordid history. The asylum seekers were offered a house to live in. It was eventually sold for €160,000 in December 2016 and will be converted into apartments by the new owner in the future. But photographs of this house are almost never found, as well as photographs of Elisabeth Fritzl after liberation.

In May 2017, the rapist father changed his name to Josef Mayrhoff. Nobody knows what the gloomy sadist, who ruined the lives of two generations of his offspring, is thinking about now. Does he repent or dream of liberation and revenge?