'They can speak and make themselves understood, but they're far from being in a normal state.' 'The children who grew up in the cellar are as you'd expect them to be, considering what they've been through,' said Kepplinger. The so-called cellar incest children were reportedly able to make themselves understood, but psychologists said their language was far from normal.

'And how do you greet your mother, who you've always been told had fallen into the arms of a devilish sect and given up her children when they were still babies, but who you learn also had to vegetate in the cellar for 24 years?' Doctors nevertheless said that, because of his age, he had the best chance of being integrated into society.Īttempting to sum up the scale of the family's suffering, one commentator asked yesterday: 'How do you greet your brother who you didn't even know existed, and who you have just learned has spent his whole life until now imprisoned in a dark dungeon, only two floors below your own bedroom, locked up by your grandfather, who, you discover, is also your father? He had hardly met any human beings, other than his mother, two siblings and the figures he had seen on television, and was said to have clung to his mother, terrified. While Elisabeth had told the children kept underground of the existence of their siblings who had been snatched from her as babies, those brought up by their grandparents had been under the impression that their mother had abandoned them and joined a sect.įive-year-old Felix, who was born in the cellar and, like the brother and sister he had grown up with, had never seen daylight until three days ago. They cried and didn't want to let each other go,' the psychologist said. Psychiatrists, neurologists, speech therapists and physiotherapists are among the specialists on hand to aid them back into society, Kepplinger said.Įlisabeth Fritzl and her mother, who were reunited again after 24 years, were said to have 'fallen into each others' arms. So began the long road to recovery for the damaged family, a process that doctors said could take years. This will help their recovery and we'll try to ensure they stay together from now on.' She remained in a critical state last night.īerthold Kepplinger, head of the clinic in Amstetten, Lower Austria, where the reunion took place and where the family is receiving therapy, said: 'It was astonishing how easy it was. He was found to have caused the death of one newborn by failing to seek medical help despite knowing the baby was in danger of dying.Missing from the encounter was Kerstin, 19, whose hospitalisation 11 days ago led to the unravelling of one of the worst known kidnap and incest cases. In August 1984, after his daughter Elisabeth turned 18, Fritzl lured her into the basement of their house where she remained captive until 2008.įritzl routinely raped her during this period, leading to the birth of seven children. The Vienna Higher Regional Court has now upheld that appeal.Īccording to the court, there were no 'convincing indications' that Fritzl was no longer a danger and therefore must remain in a secure psychiatric facility. However, the Krems public prosecutor's office filed an appeal against this. In April, the Krems regional court had ordered the 87-year-old move, under certain conditions, to an alternative penitentiary. Now, the court in the Austrian capital has said that Fritzl will remain 'in an institution for mentally abnormal lawbreakers.' Had Fritzl been transferred to a regular prison, rather than the Krems-Stein correctional facility where he is currently in custody, he could have applied for conditional release after 15 years.įritzl was sentenced to life in jail in 2009 after imprisoning and raping his daughter repeatedly over a 24-year period.

Josef Fritzl will not be transferred to a regular prison from a secure psychiatric facility, the Higher Regional Court in Vienna determined on Tuesday.

Elisabeth fritzl now age