By, Alisa Yardley
Secrets in the Cellar is a story that never should have taken place. Josef Fritzel had a history of sexual misconduct that culminated in forcible rape; the edge of a knife pressed against his victim's throat. His punishment was light and his record was expunged only 15 years later so he could live his life free from persecution. The lenience of his sentence was, in my opinion, a gross injustice, and furthermore, the expunging of his violent criminal history prevented police from seeing the red flags that were present all along.
Fritzel is a strong argument for the existence of evil. He tortured many women for pleasure, frightening even those who were experienced sex trade workers with his perverse desires, but worst of all, he tortured his own daughter in a variety of psychologically and physically maniacal ways. If he had a redeeming quality, it was not made clear by reading this story. Frtizel used his considerable intelligence and skills to do harm. His selfishness and lack of empathy cross the boundaries into extreme territory. It's difficult to imagine he had a conscience at all. Every decision he made was for his own self interest regardless of the pain he caused anyone else. He was a pathological liar and his excuses of a poor childhood, while being tragic indeed - no child should be made to suffer - are not enough to mitigate the extraordinary lengths he went to in his crimes. I think it likely people like Josef Fritzel have abnormalities in their brains and are thereby rendered incapable of certain "human" emotions and responses within the range of what most people would consider normal. Since there is currently no cure, people who present as he did, must at the very least, be tracked in some way or incarcerated if they are at a high risk of reoffending.
There is another side to Secrets in the Cellar. There is a story of great resilience, fortitude and unbreakable human spirit. Fritzel's daughter, Elisabeth, was raped repeatedly by her father from the time she was just eleven years old. When he tricked her into entering a dungeon he built for her, he left her tied up alone in the dark for days, breaking the silence only to assault her more. He imprisoned her for years, raped her at will, and left her to deliver seven children unaided, in a dank space with hardly enough oxygen to breath. She, and three of her children were isolated from the rest of the world in extreme conditions. They were deprived of sunlight, proper nutrition and medical care among other things. Three others were taken to live above ground to be raised by her unwitting mother, who thought she had run away, and tragically, one newborn baby died in Elisabeth's arms. Still, through all that horror, she taught her children to read, decorated their space with paper crafts, and managed to convince Fritzel to give them a TV to break the silence.
When the truth came out, and the nightmare conditions were finally lifted, Elisabeth understandably needed a great deal of therapy, as did her children, mother and siblings, but the way she handled herself through her ordeal was remarkable! One can never really know why certain things happen. Perhaps one of the children will go on to some extraordinary greatness. Perhaps this horror story will help us see patterns of behaviour that indicate a criminal is lurking behind the mask of a "normal" human face. Perhaps we can catch these disturbed individuals sooner, or better still, maybe we can learn enough to take preventative measures to stop these monstrosities before they start. Maybe we will come far enough in neuroscience to find a cure. One can hope. It's natural to look for a reason. Maybe there isn't one.
Secrets in the Cellar was hard to read, and hard to stop reading. The only way to end a cycle of abuse is to choose out. It's easy to say. It's not easy to do. Perhaps for some it is impossible. We are all human, even those unsavoury sorts who inflict pain on others without care, or worst of all, with delight, but when there is a dog infected with rabies, while we understand it is still a dog, we also recognize it is dangerous and incurable. We know it will attack, so we take appropriate measures to prevent that from happening. Perhaps we ought to consider prevention more seriously when it comes to rabid humans too, in my opinion.
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