Timeline of important events in Elizabeth Fritzl's Life Time

Up dated July 11th 2008: the judicial statements by Elisabeth begun

this is a time line of important events in Elizabeth Fritzl's life, and the life of the family that she had in the dungeon...

there are two events I have not been able to track down... 1) when she started school, 2)the time period when her mother was living away from the family... that last was reported on another blog, but didn't get the source...

as well, wonder if there is a source for Birthdays for the family...
the ages in here are approximations only...
I probably should have included Rosemarie's ages in here as well...

the text does not come out exactly as formatted in the compose window, but this will have to do...

I know that this will be tedious to read, but bear with it, I really do think that this is important for understanding the situation Elisabeth found herself in... thanks for visiting...

Sources, Wikipedia Page, various newspapers...

1966 - Elizabeth was born
1977 - JF began to sexually abuse her
Elisabeth is 11
1978 - JF began application to city for permission to extend his basement
Elisabeth is 12
1981 - Elisabeth began training as a waitress/cook
Elisabeth was 15
1982-83 - JF began work on his dungeon extension to his already planned basement extension, adding, toilet, fridge, and hot plate... it appears that it was 35m²(380 sq ft) NB but that is unconfirmed at present

1983 - she was in cooking school and fell in love
January, she ran away from home and, together with a friend from work, went into hiding in Vienna. She was found by police within three weeks and returned to her parents. She rejoined her training course.
Elisabeth is 17

1984 - upon completion of her course in the summer Elisabeth was offered a job in the city of Linz.
28th of August - JF imprisoned her in the dungeon, when she was making plans to leave and live with a sister, possibly in Linz
for 9 months, from September to the following May, she is kept in the dark, on a leash or chain attached to a pole, and fed only when she submits to JF's sexual needs... it may be that it took 9 months to break her spirit, so that she would not rebel (NB if not break her spirit, then at least to convince her that she was trapped, and not going to get out)
Elisabeth is 18/19 years old

NB 4 year gap here... SHE WAS ALONE FOLKS... at this point, there was no TV for certain; no mention of a radio or other sources of entertainment...

1988 - Elisabeth becomes pregnant for the first time; JF gets her books on child birth and pregnancy, which are all she has to prepare her for the coming event
Elisabeth is 22
1989 - Elisabeth delivers Kerstin into the world, (NB alone??)
Elisabeth is 23

1989/90 - Elisabeth becomes pregnant for the second time
Elisabeth is 23/24, Kerstin is less than one perhaps
1990 - Elisabeth delivers Stefan into the world, now she has two babies to look after
Elisabeth is, 24, and Kerstin is 1

1991 - Elisabeth becomes pregnant for the 3rd time
Elisabeth is 25, and Kerstin is 2, and Stefan is 1
1992 - (August/ September) Elisabeth delivers Lisa into the world
Elisabeth is 26, and Kerstin is 3 and Stefan is 2
1993 - May, Lisa is left on door step at 9 months
Elisabeth is pregnant for the 4th time
Elisabeth is 27, and Kerstin is 4 and Stefan is 3

1994 - February, Elisabeth delivers Monika into the world
Elisabeth was 28, Kerstin was 5 and Stefan was 4
JF began work on the extension of the dungeon, by digging a walkway to an already excavated area of at least 2 room... this would expand the dungeon from it's
35m²(380sq ft) to 55m²(600 sq ft)
December, The fourth child, ten-month-old Monika, was found in a stroller outside the entrance of the house. Shortly afterwards, a phone call was made to Rosemarie, apparently, from Elisabeth. The caller asked Rosemarie to take care of the child. However, it is assumed that JF was able to use a recording of Elisabeth's voice to make the call. Rosemarie reported the incident to the police, expressing her astonishment that Elisabeth knew of their new and unlisted phone number. (NB these "cults" sure have great investigative powers to find Rosemarie's unlisted number, ie why didn't the police investigate this)


1995 - Elisabeth is pregnant again, this time with the twins
Elisabeth was 29, Kerstin was 6 and Stefan was 5
1996 - May, Elisabeth delivers Michael and Alexander into the world
Michael dies after 3 days and is cremated in the boiler
Elisabeth was 30, Kerstin was 7 and Stefan was 6
1997 - August, Alexander is left outside the family door after 15 months with Elisabeth, Kerstin and Stefan... (NB, God, but that has got to have hurt, all of them, big time; parting with him, he was probably beginning to walk and be a little angel)
Elisabeth was 31, Kerstin was 8 and Stefan was 7

1998 - JF goes on a 4 week vacation to Thailand, presumably leaving Elisabeth and family with enough food in the freezer
Elisabeth was 32, Kerstin was 9 and Stefan was 8

NB Then there is a big gap here... 3 years

2001 - Elisabeth is pregnant for the 6th time and last time
Elisabeth was 35, Kerstin was 12 and Stefan was 11
2002 - May, Elisabeth delivers Felix into the world
Elisabeth gets a washing machine as a present so she did not have to wash her own clothes and that of the children by hand anymore NB so that means for 18 years she washed clothes by hand, and dried them by hanging them out, no wonder there was mold all over the dungeon, one police officer described it as like being in a submarine; and the police that had to investigate the dungeon, needed psychological counseling afterwards
Elisabeth was 36, Kerstin was 13 and Stefan was 12

NB another big gap, nothing reported of note, Felix was kept in the dungeon, because it was felt that Rosemarie had enough to do, handling the raising of the other 3

2008 - April 19th - Kerstin has been having stomach cramps and fainting spells, Elizabeth begs her father to take her daughter to the hospital, when over the counter medication don't help anymore... JF waits several days, until Rosemarie leaves for her annual holiday, and then brings Kerstin out to the world; and either takes her to the hospital or sends her in an ambulance; but takes Elizabeth back to the dungeon before leaving for the hospital himself... Elizabeth may have put a letter on Kerstin's person, asking for help, but that has not been confirmed by police or the hospital; they do mention a letter in which the mother of Kerstin, begs them to look after her daughter and make her well again

2008 - April 26th - for a week, she, Felix and Stefan will be glued to the TV, and watching the news, see the request by the doctors, for Kerstin's mother to come forward from the 'cult'... Elisabeth again begs her father to let her go... by this time Rosemarie is back, having heard about Kerstin, and JF brings the kids up, (NB whether before Elisabeth goes to see Kerstin or after is not clear) and tells her that Elisabeth has returned home...

Evening of April 26, Elisabeth comes out of the dungeon for the second time in a week, and this time rides to the hospital with JF to see Kerstin and the Doctors. The Doctors, inform the police and both Elisabeth and JF are taken into custody, separately.
night of April 26/27 police arrest Elisabeth on suspicion of child abandonment of Kerstin, (NB they don't know yet about the dungeon or the other children) when she came to visit Kerstin in hospital in Amstetten for the first time out. But after 2 hours of questioning, hearing her story, go to the house with JF who confesses and shows them the dungeon... (NB that is one version of the events, but until the trial we won't know for sure the exact sequence)

May 12 they had started to reduce medication that was keeping Kerstin in a coma.

May 14 a handmade poster created by Elisabeth, her children and her mother at the therapy facility was displayed in the Amstetten town center. The message thanked local people for their support. "We, the whole family, would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you for sympathy at our fate," they wrote in their message. "Your compassion is helping us greatly to overcome these difficult times, and it shows us there also are good and honest people here who really care for us. We hope that soon there will be a time where we can find our way back into a normal life. "

May 15 Kerstin opened her eyes and shows that the feared brain damage was far less likely after she laughed nervously at those around her. (NB I wonder what she was thinking at that moment, as her last memory may have been falling over in the dungeon)

May 15th to June 1, Elisabeth travelled back and forth from the clinic to the hospital (NB possibly daily) to be there to encourage Kerstin. The doctors acknowledge that this was a big part of the reason for Kersin's recovery, (NB understandably, there is a strong bond between these two women that probably goes way beyond mother daughter relationship, and perhaps can only be understood by military personnel who have trained, and gone into combat together, but that is my own opinion, not having read anything on it in the press)

Sunday 1 June at nine o'clock in the morning, the moment of truth arrives,
when the breathing apparatus that had kept her alive until then had been removed.

June 8th Kerstin is taken to the clinic where her mother and family were waiting for her; she went sitting up in the seat (NB: doesn't say if in front or back; cannot imagine how this must have felt for the young woman. First time in a vehicle and watching the world, not through a TV screen.)

June 11 the family was moved into a house on the clinic grounds and now move up to a more intensive regime of therapy

June 24th update on Kerstin: doctors caring for the family say that Elisabeth's daughter Kerstin, 19, was making great progress since she had started getting specialist help from ergonomics experts. Ergonomics is more commonly applied to designing office environments. But by useing a mixture of scientific and evidence-based information about an individual's physical and psychological capabilities and limitations, they are able to design an environment that will help her to fit in and grow stronger after her ordeal.

JUNE 24TH we learnt on July 15th that the family had been moved out of the clinic's house, into a house in a secret location, to continue their recovery... this was revealed at the same time that Elisabeth was going through her recorded testamony... which had been leaked by an annonomous person in the Judicerary office... obviously we were not to know that because we had the day before the leak, had been told it would be 2 weeks before the testamony... a pattern has emerged, of telling us after the fact, that something major in Elisabeth's life had happened...

June 26, the children have been tutored by female teachers, half days, and are being prepared for end of term exams; surprisingly, Stefan is finding it easier than expected, and shows an advanced level, and will be allowed to take some of the exams

July 10th, the proscecution made the announcement that the pretrial hearings to take Elisabeth's victim statements will be held in the next 2 weeks...

July 11th, it has been stated on the BBC that the statements process began today, quoting unnamed judicial officials... Elisabeth was taken to a secret location, where, with the judge, her lawyer, doctor and the prosecution, video linked to Josef Fritzl's lawyer, (Josef declined to participate) where her statement process was begun... this will continue next week... for some reason 1 day of unspecified hours was not enough... it is to be hoped that there was no medical reason for needing more than one day...

July 19th, the pre trial testamony of Elisabeth has been complete, it is over... unless there is a need to clarify an item, which will be a short interview, there is going to be no more full day testamony... it is not clear if there will be a need for the testamony of her mother, children or other members of the family... this may be all they need...

For Elisabeth now, I feel that it is all over but the waiting to see what happens at the trial, which will be anti-climatic... she will get on with her life and with the raising of her children... it has been 3 months since Kerstin was released from the dungeon to go to the hospital... and in that time, they have done a huge amount of recovering from their ordeals... very often the biggest part of the recovery, over 50% is done in the few months after... how much more they can recover will depend on themselves and how much they work at it...
I will note the times and outcome of the trial, but not much detail... it now has nothing to do with Elisabeth... unless she comes forward to say something to the public, it is time to put this to rest... God bless you dear and lovely lady... you have touch all our hearts, in ways you cannot imagine, and you will not be forgotten... {{{XX}}} to all of you... Schnee Wolfe 1948

Elisabeth is 42 (NB possibly turning 43 as I saw mention of her passing that mile stone), Kerstin is 19, Stefan is 18, and Felix is 5 turning 6

When does someone die

http://the-hermits-cabin.blogspot.com/2008/07/nb-i-wrote-this-in-february-just-prior.html
This post has been moved to the above URL

female respones to mother's of abused children

it seems to me, that in a lot of responses of women to Rosemarie Fritzl, who don't seem to have gone through abusive relationships, or had children who were abused, that it is a visceral reaction, based on disbelief...

HOW COULD SHE NOT HAVE KNOWN...
SHE KEPT QUIET TO PRESERVE HER LIFE STYLE...
SHE DESERVES TO BE PUNISHED AS MUCH AS HIM...
SHE IS JUST AS GUILTY....
SHE IGNORED THE SIGNS OUT OF SELFISHNESS...


There is a searching for 'evidence' to pillory the mother, most hearsay, and of really doubtful validity... taken either out of context, from unreliable sources, or sources that have no experience in dealing with long term incarceration, or with the culture that the abuses happen in...

I don't believe that these women are thinking, so much as reacting to a situation that they have no way of comprehending, and any attempt at bringing understanding has fallen on deaf ears... they don't seem to want to know.... it is the emotional turmoil inside, that says,

HOW CAN A MOTHER NOT KNOW,
HOW CAN SHE NOT PROTECT HER CHILD...
A MOTHER WOULD INSTINCTIVELY KNOWN WHAT WAS GOING ON...

instead of dealing with the reality of Rosemarie's situation, or that of any other woman who allows such atrocities, and ignoring them, to justify their own righteous anger and coming to the conclusion in their minds...

THEY WOULD NEVER HAVE NOT SEEN...
THEY WOULD HAVE REACTED...
THEY WOULD HAVE DONE EVERYTHING TO SAVE THEIR CHILD...

and in so doing, perpetuate their own myths that they would be perfect mothers... looking at the situation from their safe homes, in western society, where women are queens, and not second class citizens... one only has to look at where most of these cases happen to realize that it is the society that is at fault... whether it be rural France, or Austria, Argentina or Italy... Hungary and Belgian... in many cases never coming to the rescue until it is too late... in many cases the woman imprisoned is so mentally and emotionally damaged as to be only a shell of her potential... never truly able to have a chance at anything like what we would term a normal life or relationships... which re-enforces the guilt that these commenter's have placed on the likes of Rosemarie, and their own righteous indignation...