May 18, 2008
Elisabeth Fritzl will be interviewed by the same reporter who spoke to Natascha KampuschElisabeth Fritzl is to talk about the 24 years she was imprisoned in her father’s dungeon on Austrian TV.
Miss Fritzl, 42, is thought to have chosen the same interviewer who spoke to Natascha Kampusch about the eight and a half years she was imprisoned in a cellar.
Miss Kampusch, now 20, escaped in August 2006 and told of her ordeal on Austrian ORF TV.
Miss Fritzl could make millions of pounds in syndicated rights for the interview. It is thought that more than 300 TV stations will broadcast it.
She is expected to talk about the first time she was raped by her father Josef, 73, and how she coped with multiple births alone in the dungeon.
The interview has been organised in part to reduce the pressure on the family from photographers camped at the door to Amstetten-Mauer hospital where Miss Fritzl is in a secure ward with her mother Rosemarie, 69, and five of her six children.
Miss Fritzl’s eldest daughter Kerstin, 19, is still in a coma.
Josef Fritzl is to undergo DNA testing to see if he is the killer of three women whose murders have remained unsolved in Austria.
Natascha Kampusch broke free from an eight-and-a-half year captivity in August 2006 and told the world of her ordeal on ORF TV in her homeland.
Media reports in Austria say that Elisabeth is now poised to do the same after marathon negotiations between the TV station and her lawyer.
Upwards of 300 TV stations globally will pay handsomely to beam it live or in repeat showings.
Media in Austria said none of the children – either the three she gave birth to who lived upstairs from her underground tomb nor the two of three healthy ones forced to endure her captivity below – will be in the studio with her.
Christoph Feurstein, the journalist who interviewed Natascha for her first – and subsequent – TV appearances, has been lined up for what promises to be a gripping television spectacle.
It is expected to be broadcast next Monday evening (May 26).
Elisabeth is also expected to talk about how she felt after one of her stillborn child was burned in a stove by her father after it died; how she thought she would never see sunlight again; and her hopes for a more normal future with the children who adore her.
“Elisabeth’s hatred of her father is a bottomless pit,” said one ORF source.
Scroll down for more…
Dungeon: The hallway in the cellar leading to one of the bedrooms where the children slept
The cellar bathroom: Bright decorations cannot disguise the ramshackle state of the hiding place“It might not be good for the psychological healing process but Elisabeth’s heart pumps nothing but pure venom for him.”
It is unclear whether she will have to wear tinted glasses for the interview. Her eyes are still very weak from years of never seeing sunshine and high-powered studio lights could, fear doctors, be too much for her.
There is increasing tension between authorities and paparazzi who know that a picture of Elisabeth or her children would be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Monster: Josef Fritzl confessed to holding his daught captive for 24 years and fathering seven childrenIn a weekend fracas a security guard at the hospital was injured after he fell from a balcony while tackling a photographer.
Hospital officials confirmed that 17 lensmen have been caught in recent weeks trying to get into the Amstetten Mauer hospital.
They included one dressed as a policeman, another that disguised himself as a cleaner and a third who dug a hole in the grounds, filled it with provisions and then covered himself with a bird watcher’s hide in the hope of the life-changing picture.
He was caught by a sniffer dog while several others hiding in trees have been rumbled with thermal imaging cameras provided by local mountain rescue guides usually used to spot trapped climbers or stranded skiiers.
Austrian media also reported yesterday that a hospital worker had taken secret pictures of the family and was offering them for sale at 300,000 euros – £260,000.
Officials have sent a letter to staff warning them that there will be legal consequences and a claim for damages that would “far exceed any profit made from the sale of such photos.”
The Fritzl family staying at the clinic include Elisabeth and her two children from the cellar Stefan, 18, and Felix six, and her three children that lived in freedom – Alexander 12, Monika 14 and Lisa 15.
Elisabeth’s mother Rosemarie is also in the hospital.
Daughter Kerstin, 19, the third cellar captive, is still in a coma. Meanwhile Josef Fritzl is to undergo new DNA testing to see if he is the killer of three women whose murders have gone unsolved in his homeland.
Scroll down for more…
Elisabeth Fritzl and her children are being cared for at this private Austrian hospitalPolice chief Franz Polzer says he is being considered as a suspect in the 1986 murder of 17-year-old Martina Posch, and two other murders in 1966 and 2007.
Also on Sunday another major newspaper, the Kurier, asked the question in a headline: “Is Austria the heart of darkness?”
It said that 64 percent of Austrians believe the image of the country has been damaged as a result of the Amstetten case.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=567131&in_page_id=1770
Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, the fourth child of six.[1] His father, Alois Hitler, (1837–1903), was a customs official. His mother, Klara Pölzl, (1860–1907), was Alois’ third wife. She was also his cousin, so a papal dispensation had to be obtained for the marriage…. Hitler was an inbred, compelling, convincing, driven psychopath.
There have been other kidnapping sex-cases exposed in Austria lately. Is it in the bloodline of certain strains of the Austrian populace?
DNA not only holds physical attributes, it also holds Psychological attributes, amongst others. Pedigreed dogs, for example, have generally predictible characters down their lineage.
The thing about psychopaths is, generally, their intense desire to procreate/duplicate themselves. Those that have less psychopathic tendencies tend to want to procreate less. Thus, in an ancient civilisation like Austria, there will be a higher percentage of psychopaths as the more passive non-breeders die out and the breeders breed more of their own kind and then interbreed, unwittingly through the ages… or like Hitlers’ ancestors – on purpose and very determinedly.
Now, if you don’t like this opinion, I have others…..
Max, I am not likely to disagree with you on this. Theory proven? No. Theroy plausible? Absolutely.
Austria does have a very dark past. If anything has seeped into the culture it is probably the legacy of cruelty left by the Nazis in the concentration camps. Just because these camps are no longer operating does not mean that the people who have either experienced them first hand or who know what went on there have forgotten the cruelty. Fritzl is an example of this and admitted being influenced by what he saw as a child. Austria may never escape its negative image but the present generation must at least try to reinvent Austria to show that it has moved on from all the evil things that took place there.
all this stuff about the nazis makes me laugh. boderline personality disorder is a condition that an individual is born with. they could be born with it anywhere. dressing xenophobia up as science is not helpful. let’s not fool ourselves that such an individual could not surface anywhere. they could. so lets pay more attention to looking out for each other instead of trying to define divisions.
Well, it doesn’t make me laugh at all. It has happened in Austria, in the nazi culture society, it is Hitler’s legacy. Remember Natascha Kambpusch case, now Joseph Fritzl . It is more than a coincidence in the same country. Check every cellar! Suspect on every neighbour in Austria!
Peace Family-
I think that the default American culture is to say “that is crazy”, when it comes to the Nazi ‘connection’ being made in the Fritzl case; we are some arogant idiots at times, and we think we know everything about everyone else and everywhere else in the world.
Fact is, we don’t. I have never been to Austria nor will I likely ever go.
But I am aware, and thankful, that people are coming to this site, and leaving comments on this site, from all over the world, some close to Austria, some far, some in Austria.
I don’t know what it is like to grow up having Hitler as a part of my lineage, and I don’t mean blood, I mean direct history, just like most of ya’ll don’t understand what it is like to have slavery as a part of my lineage, as a stolen African born in America.
There is a 3 Austria case in recent years, though I cannot tell you anything about it, because I do not remember, and the Kambpusch case and the Fritzl case have been what has dominated the news.
We know that there are certain cultures where it is more acceptable to be dominating over the female. I’m not saying that is what Austrian men do to women, I’m saying it’s not impossible.
I’m sure this is something that will be looked at as we continue down this road none of us particularly want to be on.
It’s also important to note that right here in the good ol US of A there have been cases of children forced to be slaves, or kept in cages for years at a time. Some of these cases are on this site as well.
So thanks again for all of your comments, and let’s remember to just be open, because the fact of the matter is if we can determine why these things happen, we can protect future potential victims. If we push a theory and force it to be the truth, we nothing more than wrong.
Peace-
Sable Verity
I think you are going with quite a stretch there Max. I don’t think the fact that two evil persons have originated from Austria means this is connected with Austria’s gene pool. Or the statement that those with less psychotic tendencies want to procreate less. Just to dispute your logic right now, are you aware that Hitler didn’t want to have children, nor are there any documented births from his relationships? Similar crimes like Fritzl’s have surfaced in the United States. Look up John Jamelske. He imprisoned 5 different women as sex slaves. Also in regards to Hitler, I think part of what drove him to commit such horrible crimes was the political situation in Germany. He had a nation backing many of his ideas, and many of his leaders supported him wholeheartedly. My general philosophy: there are good and bad people everywhere.
I am trying to find out where in the USA I can see today’s interview with Elisabeth Fritzl. I can’t seem to find information about when the interview will be broadcast to the public. Can anyone out there tell me a channel and time? I also don’t see any stations promoting this at all, or am I just brain-dead and have missed it? I’d hate to miss this. I have been following the story from the beginning; what a mess.
JB; Elisabeth will not be giving an interview, per reports tht have come out in the past few days.
What happened??? Can you give me a URL to read up on why this was changed? Many thanks for up-dating me. I couldn’t find anything on the subject that was newer than May 19.
It sounds to me like this was never going to happen in the first place. You know how media will speculate for the purpose of ‘getting the scoop’…I suspect that is what happened here.
I sort of put two and two together when reports came out that the survuvors may assume new identities; if they want new identities then they can’t very well go on tv.
And I don’t have any other URL’s on the subject, just what I have in the post above.
Another clue that this would not be happening; when I googled Elisabeth Fritzl, clicked news, then clicked news for the past day, there was nothing there at all. If she were giving an interview today there would be a recent news article to remind us, and of course to speculate on what she may or may not say, you know?
i live in texas will i be able to see the story here? if so where i live in nacogdches tex.
see updates, ginger, she is not giving the interview. If she ever does, I’m sure ABC, CNN, CBS News, etc, would purchase broadcast rights to it and show if the following day.
Bloggergirl – Borderline Personality Disorder is not something one is born with. It is a personality disorder that often occurs in children that were abused.
““Elisabeth’s hatred of her father is a bottomless pit,” said one ORF source.”
______
Part of Elisabeth’s great strength that has been noticed before: unlike many victims who are under far less control, she appears to have none of the ambivalence about her tormenter that so many hostages and captives fall into as part of their survival. However damaged she certainly is, Elisabeth survived in some sense psychologically whole of that common psychological fragmentation.
The last I heard, “Borderline personality disorder” was still, as it always has been, a catch-all for people who are sorta psychotic, sorta sociopathic, sorta functional, don’t really fit other diagnoses. We used to apply it, for example, to adolescents who were almost certainly growing up psychotic but it seemed unfair to attach that label so early in their star-crossed lives.
But don’t take it from me; read the DSM-IV definition, and confirm for vourself that it fits everyone and no one. When it is applied to a patient, it lies on his shoulders and covers him like a sandwich board, touching here and there but mostly missing the mark.
No entry in the DSM-IV illustrates more clearly the appeal of its writers that (paraphrased) the definitions are to be applied only by professionals because no one else will understand what is written or whether it applies.