In the quiet Austrian town of Amstetten in the balmy spring of April 2008, a truly horrifying vision of hell was discovered by police in the cellar of a normal suburban home.
On 28 August 1984, seemingly respectable family man, Josef Fritzl, had lured Elisabeth, the youngest of his seven children, into the cellar of their family home, where he then drugged and handcuffed her in a windowless dungeon he’d spent years constructing.
For the next 24 years Josef held his daughter captive in unimaginable conditions and repeatedly raped her, fathering seven children. When the eldest captive child, Kerstin, was admitted to hospital, Josef’s sickening web of incest and abuse was uncovered by the authorities. This is the full and utterly disturbing true story of what happened in those underground chambers of horror.
The actual story of The House of Horrors has already been told in the media. The book does not add much more to the story. But it goes into much more detail.
Josef Fritzl had grown up under the Nazi regime. It is not certain whether he was a member of Hitler Youth. The Nazi influence gave him the iron discipline he needed to live a double life. He had no sympathy for other people, was inflexible. If you were sick he did not care.
He married Rosemarie when she was aged 17. She was expected to be subservient. She had no professional qualifications. Rosemarie and Josef had 7 children. But after some time the wife and the children received regular beatings. They were totally cowed.
Josef applied for permission to build a nuclear shelter during the Cold War, which was not unusual. But his future use of it was!
Fritzl gave out the story that Elisabeth had left to join a secret sect. That no such sect existed was never followed up. It is an unbelievable story, but people accepted it.
Elisabeth says the abuse started at age 11, although Fritzl denied this. In 1984 she was taken to the shelter, put on a leash, handcuffed, and raped. She had seven children there " unassisted. Her father gave her a book on childbirth and left her to get on with it. One of the births was twins, of which one died.
Three children remained downstairs with Elisabeth. Three of the children were left on the doorstep upstairs for Rosemarie to look after. This the mother did without question. She was a good mother and looked after and loved these children. They went to the local school and were well behaved and happy. The last child remained downstairs as it was getting too crowded upstairs. They never saw daylight or sunshine, never had room to run around and get exercise, and were vitamin D deficient. The older boy could not walk straight as the ceilings had been too low for him to stand up straight.
Imagine not knowing what the world looked like in real life. They had only seen it on a television screen. When they entered the world they had to learn that everything they saw was in 3D. Their eyes had never seen daylight or sunlight.
Why did Fritzl do this? Behind closed doors he had an insatiable lust for power. He wanted to control everything and everyone. Sexual abuse is not about sex as much as it is about power over the victim. But on the outside he was thought of as a pillar of the community.
The end finally came when the oldest girl became deathly ill and was taken to hospital. The doctor did not believe the story that was given to him and called the authorities.
So where was God in all this? God is a God of love " couldn't He have put a stop to this?
Yes, but God has also made man responsible for his actions. In the long run Fritzl will have to answer to God for his actions. Elisabeth did the best she possibly could under her horrific circumstances. She tried to teach the children to read and write. And she must have given them a rudimentary knowledge of God. When little Felix first came out into the light he asked: "Is God up there?"
God's timing is not our timing.
As Nahum 1:3 says "The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished."
2 Peter 3:9 also reminds us "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
