Many, perhaps, have heard about this terrible and at the same time amazing story that took place in a quiet and prosperous Austria. A young girl spent eight years in captivity of a maniac! In 2008, after the happy release of the girl, the story of Natasha Kampush became known to the whole world. A photo of the victim of the kidnapping, her captor, as well as a detailed description of this story - later in our article.
Natasha Kampush: birth, family and early life
The story of Natasha Kampusch happened in Vienna, the capital of Austria, in its largest district, Donaustadt.
The girl was born on February 17, 1988 in a complete family. Father - Ludwig Koch, owner of a small bakery, mother - Brigitte Sirny. However, soon, when Natasha was five years old, her parents separated.
Before her abduction, Natasha Kampush was an ordinary child - she went to an ordinary elementary school, after classes she attended the Alt Winn kindergarten. True, after the kidnapping of the girl, notes often began to appear in the press that Natasha's childhood was not entirely prosperous. And some individuals even stated about the alleged involvement of the mother of the child in the fact of the abduction. By the way, the Austrian police worked on this version. Brigid herself. Sirny completely denied all these statements and allegations against her.
Natasha Kampush herself would later write in her memoirs that her mother loved her, but she was very strict. The girl had almost no friends as a child, so she often felt lonely.
Natasha Kampush: the beginning of a nightmare
Natasha's parents divorced, and her father went to live in Hungary. Just before the kidnapping, the girl spent the winter holidays with her father. Back at home, Kampush was getting ready for school.
The story of the kidnapping of Natasha Kampush is generally quite typical. A ten-year-old girl - an ordinary, slightly well-fed child - goes to school in the morning. However, she did not return home in the evening. Finding out that her daughter was also absent from school, the mother immediately contacted the police.
Almost immediately a witness was found - another 12-year-old girl. According to her testimony, the abduction of Natasha Kampush took place in broad daylight, right on the street. Two unknown men forced the missing girl into a white van (later it turned out that the kidnapper was still alone).
Vienna police immediately started searching. Having convinced the press that the white minibus was the only clue to solving the case, the detectives began to actively work on other versions. In particular, they separately checked the girl's father and his entourage in Hungary.
At the same time, the search teams were checking all the cars in the area that matched the description of the witness. Curiously, one of them was the minibus of the kidnapper himself. However, the man who claimed to be using a van to transportbuilding materials, did not arouse the suspicions of the police.
In general, the story of Natasha Kampush is tragic, incredible, but with a good ending. After all, the girl, having been imprisoned by a maniac, swore to herself that she would definitely get out.
Wolfgang Priklopil
The story of Natasha Kampush is inextricably linked with this man. Wolfgang Priklopil was born in 1962 in Vienna, in an ordinary family.
The future kidnapper of Natasha Kampush studied mediocre, was distinguished by good behavior. However, some mental abnormalities in the boy began to be observed already in childhood. He was unsociable, avoided communication (as, indeed, Natasha Kampush), read a lot. At the age of 13, he made himself a homemade gun and began to have fun shooting birds and stray dogs in the streets.
After school and a year of study at a technical school, Priklopil got a job as a simple worker at Siemens. At the same time, his colleagues never noticed anything strange behind him. Later, he changed jobs, taking a job as a technician in the Austrian telephone network. He worked there until 1991.
After investigating this high-profile case, psychologist Mainfred Krample notes that it was in the early 90s that Priklopil first thought about kidnapping a child. It was Natasha Kampush who became the victim of the maniac. You can see the photo of the kidnapper Wolfgang Priklopil below.
8 years in captivity
It should be noted that at the age of 10, Natasha Kampush was a fairly educated and intelligent child. Once in the minibus, she immediately realized that she was kidnapped by a maniac. However, the girl did not scream and did not resist. She remembered one of the TV shows about kidnappings, which said that maniacs most often kill those victims who resist them.
As Natasha recalls, everything happened very quickly. True, she managed to pay attention to the blue eyes of Priklopil (she learned his name later) and the fact that the kidnapper looked very pitiful and unhappy.
The van with the kidnapped girl drove for about half an hour. Wolfgang Priklopil brought her to his small house in Strashof an der Nordbahn in Lower Austria.
The room the girl found herself in was tiny and windowless. Natasha Kampush was supposed to spend about 8 years here. The basement in which the child was kept, as it turned out later, was soundproof. And Priklopil carefully disguised the entrance to it.
Once in her "prison" and realizing that there was nowhere to wait for help, the little girl decided to act reasonably and calmly. She deliberately tried to seem stupider than she really is, immediately recognized the authority and power of Priklopil. Whether Natasha did this consciously, or intuitively, is not known for sure. However, this behavior turned out to be correct: the kidnapper generally treated the girl well, as if he were his own child.
Natasha Kampush spent almost seven years in this little room, which was furnished like an ordinary nursery. It had a bed, shelves, several wardrobes, a TV and a fan. Wolfgang Priklopil paid due attention to the education of the girl, bringing her books, magazines andforcing you to listen to classical music.
Only in 2005 did Priklopil allow the already young Natasha to walk in the garden near the house and even leave it with him. At the same time, the maniac begins to beat the girl almost every day. According to the memoirs of Natasha Kampush, she constantly walked with numerous bruises and abrasions on her body.
Escape
Kampush thought to run away more than once. Also, the girl had ideas to kill Priklopil. The kidnapper himself kept repeating that the doors and windows of the house were mined, and that she would not be able to escape alive.
Nevertheless, the long-awaited release of Natasha Kampush took place on August 23, 2006. The girl was in the garden when Priklopil received a call from a client on an advertisement for the sale of a car. He stepped aside, and Natasha was able to escape unnoticed by jumping over the fence. A few minutes later, she knocked on the door of one of the neighboring houses and called the police.
Natasha Kampush: photo after the escape
The girl, taken to the police station, looked pale and exhausted, but her he alth was satisfactory. A scar on her body, as well as a DNA test, helped identify the girl. The police determined that this was the girl who had been kidnapped in 1998. It was Natasha Kampush.
The photo after Natasha's escape, when she was taken out of the police station, covered with a blanket, spread all over the world. During the eight years of her imprisonment, Natasha Kampush grew by 15 centimeters and gained only 3 kilograms of weight!
After listening to the testimony of the girl, the police immediately rushed to detain Wolfgang Priklopil. However, they did not have time: the man committed suicide by throwing himself under a train at Vienna North Station. By the way, Priklopil, apparently, knew that sooner or later everything would end that way. The phrase "they will never catch me alive" Natasha heard from him more than once.
Life after release
Natasha Kampush gave several interviews after being released from eight years of captivity. She donated all the proceeds from this to needy women in Africa and Mexico.
After her happy release, the girl became actively involved in charity work and the fight for animal rights. She also transferred 25 thousand euros to the victim of another maniac, who spent 24 years in the basement. In 2007, Kampusch created her own website, and in 2008 she even hosted her own TV show.
It is curious that after the death of Priklopil, Natasha bought his house, and now it belongs to her.
Natasha Kampush and "Stockholm Syndrome"
The press has repeatedly suggested that Natasha Kampush suffers from the so-called Stockholm syndrome. It is known that the death of Priklopil, despite the fact that he was the culprit of her troubles, upset her very much, she even lit a candle for him in the church. In addition, even some gratitude and sympathy can be traced in her statements about her kidnapper. In particular, Natasha once said the following: "I was able to avoid many dangerousthings: didn't start smoking, drinking, didn't get involved with bad company".
Also, many have suggested that Natasha Kampush could have escaped much earlier, but for some reason did not.
Natasha Kampush: 3096 days of horror
Natasha Kampush categorically rejects all speculation that she allegedly suffers from Stockholm syndrome. To dispel this myth, she publishes an autobiographical book about herself in 2010.
The book is based on the diary of Natasha Kampush. Work on its creation lasted several months. Journalists Corinne Milborn and Heike Gronemeier helped Natasha write the book. The book, released under the name "3096 days", was included in the list of the most commercially successful works of the year.
The story of Natasha Kampusch is also featured in a feature film of the same name. The picture of the German director Sherry Horman was released in 2013.
In conclusion…
3096 days… That's how long Natasha Kampush spent in captivity at the maniac Wolfgang Priklopil. At the same time, the girl managed not only to survive physically, but also did not break down mentally. After her happy release, Kampusch turned to charity, helping other women victims of violence.
