Each time, the child would be swaddled neatly and accompanied with a note allegedly written by Elisabeth, claiming that she couldn’t take care of the baby and was leaving it with her parents for safekeeping. In order to conceal what he was doing from Rosemarie, he staged elaborate discoveries of the children, often involving placing them on bushes near the home or on the doorstep.
Josef didn’t just bring the children up to live with him, however. One more was allowed to remain in the basement with her, one died shortly after birth, and the other three were taken upstairs to live with Rosemarie and Josef. Over the next 24 years, Elisabeth Fritzl would give birth to five more children. Elisabeth attempted to teach them with the rudimentary education she herself had, and give them the most normal life she could under their horrific circumstances. Kerstin and Stefan remained in the cellar with their mother for the duration of her imprisonment, being brought weekly rations of food and water by Josef. Two years later, another baby was born, a boy named Stefan.
In August of 1988, a baby girl named Kerstin was born. Two years later, however, she fell pregnant again, this time carrying to term. Two years into her captivity, Elisabeth became pregnant, though she miscarried 10 weeks into the pregnancy. Then, he began to rape her, continuing the nightly visits he had begun when she was just 11 years old. For the first two years, he left her alone, keeping her captive. At the minimum, he would visit her in the basement three times a week. Occasionally, he would spend the night, but his wife wouldn’t worry – her husband was a hard-working man and was thoroughly dedicated to his career.Īs far as Elisabeth Fritzl was concerned, Josef was a monster. And over the next 24 years, he would make that very clear to his daughter.Īs far as the rest of the Fritzl family was concerned, Josef would head down to the basement every morning at 9 AM to draw plans for the machines that he sold. SID Lower Austria/Getty Images The cellar home that Josef Fritzl built to keep Elisabeth in.īut Josef Fritzl wouldn’t forget.