‘I’m No Monster’ a shocking true crime story

  Earlier this year, the world learned of 73-year-old Josef Fritzl, who was jailed for imprisoning his daughter Elisabeth in a dungeon he built himself.
  As the story emerged, it was learned that Fritzl long ago said his daughter was a runaway, joining a cult at age 19. The truth was that he had her chained in the basement, where she would stay for 24 years, being repeatedly raped and eventually bearing seven children by her own father.
  In “I’m No Monster: The Horrifying True Story of Josef Fritzl,” journalists Stefanie Marsh and Bojan Pancevski detail the horrific case, outlining Fritzl’s lies and premeditation as well as Elisabeth’s struggle to survive and keep her sanity.
  The book focuses not only on the unimaginable crime against Elisabeth, but also on Fritzl’s history of erratic behavior, the authorities' failure of Elisabeth, and a community so rooted in patriarchy its members never questioned what was happening in their own neighborhood.
  The authors paint a disturbing portrait of Fritzl, a man with a record of exhibitionism, rape and attempted arson. He’s described as a peeping Tom, a child and wife beater, a cruel and frightening man.
  The Austrian town of Amstetten does not fare much better, described as a place where the word of a convicted rapist is believed and the fate of a missing girl never questioned. When one of his basement children falls ill, Fritzl relents and brings the child upstairs, leaving the baby outside to be discovered. He explains that Elisabeth abandoned the baby, and the authorities and neighbors believe him, accepting that Elisabeth is simply a slut, burdening her parents with her illegitimate child. When more "abandoned" children appear over the years, no one questions anything.
  After Fritzl’s arrest, the authorities suggested the crime was inevitable, but others disagreed.
  There was no investigation into the role of the authorities, there has not been a single resignation, and it was never determined whether there might have been any possible negligence on behalf of the officials who had come to know the Fritzls over the years. Experts from Scotland Yard expressed astonishment that many of Fritzl’s family members were never questioned by police in detail or in a manner fit for cases of such complexity. Many observers strongly suspected that this crime could have been stopped in its tracks many times. The feeling was that justice had not been served.
  Ultimately, readers are left to make up their own minds about blame, but a truth that shines brightest throughout the book is Elisabeth’s stunning resiliency. Though she thought of suicide often, she persevered. Once her children were born, she did her best to shield and educate them. She fought. She waited. She cried. She survived.
  Josef Fritzl will in all likelihood die in prison. He maintained that he was not a monster since he allowed his basement family to live. Most readers will disagree with his self-assessment. And most, surely, will hope that Elisabeth and her family find their way through the darkness of their memories into a new life enveloped in light and hope.