Convicted Murderer Josef Fritzl
Chalet Manager Recalls Incidents with the Austrian in Amstetten
I used to let rent out one of Josef Fritzl's chalets for holidays. Here are the only memories I have of a man now convicted of rape, murder, incest and enslavement for trapping his daughter in his 650-ft cellar in 1984 for 24 years and fathering 7 children with her.
Three children were adopted by his public family, while one twin died of neglect whom Fritzl burned in an incinerator. He scattered his ashes in the garden. Fritzl lived a double life in Amstetten Austria as an electrician who installed electric coded locks to keep his secret. Fritzl was convicted in Vienna on March 19 and will serve life in a prison for mentally ill convicts. He is 73.
When I knew him, he was well-kept, his trousers had a length of cord to hold them up rather than a belt, and the only personal touches he had added to the place were old photographs from the war.
Once he made me walk to a convenience shop with him to buy matches for the pilot light on the chalet boiler. The shopkeeper did not have any, and Fritzl lost his temper and kicked over a display of some local produce. He grabbed a chocolate bar without paying for it. The shopkeeper looked scared of him.
When a wasp was trapped in the cloakroom of our chalet, Fritzl cupped it in his hands and set it free.
My friend Teresa said that he pressed himself against her in the chalet. Now that the news of his horrible acts have revealed what had been going on during these years, I am sickened by my proximity to him and grateful to have escaped a similar fate.
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Comments
Some of the language in your story reads very strangely for a native English speaker. Whereabouts in England did you grow up?
The author is from Cleethorpes, United Kingdom.
Hi Bernice,
I think you should change your article a little bit before you start being chastised and attacked left and right for talking about your friend like that. Do you honestly believe that no man would be interested in your friend because she is overweight? That you are more likely to gain attention because you're thinner and more beautiful? If she receives attention and you don't, she must be fibbing when she does receive some form of attention? I'm sorry, but if you had told me that about your friend to my face, I would have slapped you and given you an earful. That was very shallow and self-absorbed of you to make that assessment of your friend.
Women are more likely to be overly critical of other women. Men don't look at women quite the same way that women look at each other. She must make you feel better about yourself because you're secretly thinking that you are better than her. You don't even take notice that this attitude of yours does indeed hurt your friend. I think she needs to be asking herself if YOU are truly a friend to her. By the way you constantly criticize her in your article, I don't think you're a friend at all.
Consider revising your story.
MK
I'm not thinking about "political correctness." This story is really supposed to be about Fritzl, not about her thoughts on her friend. I found what she had to say about her friend to be highly insensitive. My thoughts on revising the article was that she take out her personal thoughts on her friend.
You have to step out of your own shoes and put yourself into her friend's shoes. How would you feel if you found out that your friend had posted up a story on an international news site about what she really thought about you (and it wasn't really nice)? It's one thing if she posted it up on her own Myspace or Facebook, but on an international news site???
It was just highly insensitive for her to speak like that. I'm more concerned about who she was hurting in that article. People have committed suicide over things like this. That's why it should be revised.
I totally agree. But keep in mind that in our youth, we are not yet capable of understanding our faults in the present moment. It's years later when we look back that we discover our wrongs against others. This is going to be a very hard lesson for her to learn. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way, instead of heeding others advice before they truly harm someone else.
We have no idea what the state of her friend's mind or self-esteem is. If she's depressed and sees something like this, she could become suicidal. I know I wouldn't want to have on my shoulders for the rest of my life that I was the cause of a friend's suicide. Makes you truly realize how crappy of a person you are. But I don't recommend learning a lesson from that angle.
I'm more or less telling her to save herself before she destroys herself. She should read Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth."
I agree and disagree with you all at the same time, but that's just our opinions between each other on everything.
Is the issue here a pretty, self-involved girl (wow, a real rarity – I have at least a half dozen of these in my own family – I don’t think they are as capable of harm as some may think) or an insight into the second worst S.O.B. to come out of Austria (YIKES! - only second, I hope there isn’t something in the water) in the last 100 years? It is curious to me, considering what this jackass did, that what gets seized on are a couple honest benign statements from someone who has a high opinion of themselves (and what the hell is wrong with that anyway) and only wants to contribute and share her experiences with us. Is there a difference between calling someone ‘fat’ or calling them ‘stupid’ (and if they ARE fat or stupid, then what is the issue exactly)? Sure, maybe a little mean-spirited, but perhaps merely a product of age – most of us grow out of that sort of thing naturally. All of this language is meant to marginalize people who don’t look or act in a manner which meets ones comfort level. Anyway, I hope you all found that cathartic.
As for Fritzl, he’s gotta go. To my mind there is a line and once crossed there is no return. Frankly, as a society, we should provide him the means to do it himself (in an effort for him to regain a modicum of respect) and if he refuses we should do it for him. The only regret I would have is that we don’t have the ability to raise this fracker (for my Battlestar Galactica homies) from the dead and kill him twice.
Stories like this really make me question whether or not this world is worth preserving. I was truly hoping to read this article and get a sense of outrage by reading the comments – yet this did not happen. If it had, I may have been placated. Instead, we worry about the perceived shortcomings of someone who (as far as I know) has broken no laws, has destroyed no one’s life, has not outraged any right thinking individual, has contributed positively to society and has harmed no one. I think I may as well go out and by some aerosol deodorant. Happy earth day.
Couldn't agree more.
I also think the main issue here is Josef Fritzl - I'm sure Bernice's friend may have something to say about the comment, so maybe she'll read this and leave her own comment. But the big picture is the crime and this woman's rare glimpse...
Heather
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