Josef Fritzl, Monster

If you have been reading the news these days you are probably familiar with the name Josef Fritzl. If you are not familiar, he is the monster that was not satisfied to rape his own daughter from age 11 until she was age 18, so he built a prison for her in the basement of his home and kept her there for 24 years. During this imprisonment, he fathered are least 6 children with his daughter, a reported 7^th child remains to be investigated. Apparently this child was a twin who died and was disposed of my Fritzl like garbage.

Three of the children that Fritzl fathered were actually brought up stairs for their grandmother to raise. Mrs. Fritzl was apparently told that her ‘run away’ street daughter had dropped them off (during an absence of some kind by Mrs. Fritzl) and they were ‘abandoned’ by their uncaring mother to be raised by their grandmother. The other three were left in the basement to live or die as prisoners of their father. I only know the ages of the three children that were locked away, they were 19, 18, and 5. None of the three had ever seen the light of day, ever! My understanding is that the three ‘free’ children were good students and lived a ‘normal’ life with their grandparents.

I can’t imagine someone being as vile as this man. To imprison his own daughter and rape her for years, to fool his wife into thinking that their daughter was a run away drug addicted street person who abandoned her children. To father his own grandchildren and then to have the nerve to bring some of those children into his home for his wife to raise. And to abandon and imprison the others he had fathered as if they simply did not matter. And worst of all, when he was caught, he showed no regret or compassion for any of them. He simply thought that he had been violated because his wickedness was exposed.

Hearing video clips and reading about this case brings out the worst in me. I find myself thinking there is simply not a place in existence where this monster can get what he deserves. I don’t want rehabilitation for him, I don’t want therapy for him, I don’t want a long prison sentence for him. I simply want this monster to suffer more than all the suffering he caused others. And yet, I can’t think of any way that would be possible.

Please offer your prayers for the elder Mrs. Fritzl, for Elisabeth Fritzl (the daughter) and for the six children. All of these people will forever have to deal with the pain and emotion that comes of their involvement with Josef Fritzl. May their lives be blessed and may they flourish somehow in spite of the pain they have endured.