Wolfgang Přiklopil
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Natascha Maria Kampusch (born 17 February 1988) is an Austrian author and former talk show host. At the age of 10, on 2 March 1998, she was abducted and held in a secret cellar by her
kidnap Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
per Wolfgang Přiklopil for more than eight years, until she escaped on 23 August 2006. Upon her escape, Přiklopil killed himself by stepping in front of a train at a nearby station. She has written a book about her ordeal, ''3,096 Days'' (2010), which was later adapted into a film and released in 2013.


Early life

Kampusch was raised by her mother, Brigitta Sirny (née Kampusch), and her father, Ludwig Koch, in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. Kampusch's family included two adult sisters, and five nieces and nephews. Sirny and Koch separated while Kampusch was still a child and divorced after her abduction. Kampusch spent time with both of them, and had returned to her mother's home from a holiday with Koch the day before her kidnapping. At the time of her abduction, she was a student at the Brioschiweg primary school.


Controversy

Ludwig Adamovich, head of a special commission looking into possible police failures in the investigation of the kidnapping, claimed that the time Kampusch was imprisoned "was always better than what she had known until then". This assessment was denied by Brigitta Sirny, and Adamovich's statement was in a news report by a criminal court; his conviction was later overturned on appeal. In Kampusch's 2010 book about her kidnapping, ''3,096 Days'', she stated that her parents slapped her, and that she was considering suicide on the day of her abduction. However, Kampusch asserted that her mother was not abusive and that her home life was better than life in captivity.


Abduction

The 10-year-old Kampusch left her family's residence in Vienna's
Donaustadt Donaustadt (; "Danube City") is the 22nd district of Vienna, Austria (). Donaustadt is the easternmost district of Vienna.Statistik Austria, 2007, webpagestatistik.at-23450. Wien.gv.at webpage (see below: References). Geography The Donaustadt ...
district on the morning of 2 March 1998, but failed to arrive at school or come home. A 12-year-old witness reported having seen her being dragged into a white minibus by two men, although Kampusch did not report a second man being present. A massive police effort followed in which 776 minivans were examined, including that of her kidnapper Přiklopil, who lived about half an hour from Vienna by car in the Lower Austrian town of Strasshof an der Nordbahn near Gänserndorf. He stated that he was alone at home on the morning of the kidnapping, and the police were satisfied with his explanation that he was using the minibus to transport rubble from the construction of his home. Speculations arose of
child pornography Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...
rings or
organ theft Organ theft is the act of taking a person's organs for transplantation or sale on the black market, without their explicit consent through means of being an organ donor or other forms of consent. Most cases of organ theft involve coercion, occur ...
, leading officials to also investigate possible links to the crimes of French serial killer
Michel Fourniret Michel Paul Fourniret (4 April 1942 – 10 May 2021) was a French serial killer who confessed to killing 12 people in France and Belgium between 1987 and 2003. After he was arrested in June 2003 for the attempted kidnapping of a teenage girl in ...
. Kampusch had carried her passport with her when she left, as she had been on a family trip to Hungary a few days before, so the police extended the search abroad. Accusations against Kampusch's family complicated the issue even more.


Captivity

During the eight years of her captivity, Kampusch was held in a small cellar underneath Přiklopil's garage. The entrance was concealed behind a cupboard. The cellar had only of space. It had a door made of concrete and was reinforced with steel. The room had no windows and was soundproof. For the first six months of her captivity, Kampusch was not allowed to leave the chamber at any time, and for several years of her captivity, she was not allowed to leave the tiny space at night. Afterward, she spent increasing amounts of time upstairs in the rest of the house, but each night was sent back to the chamber to sleep, as well as while Přiklopil was at work. In later years, she was seen outside in the garden alone, and Přiklopil's business partner had said that Kampusch seemed relaxed and happy when he called at his home to borrow a trailer. After her 18th birthday, she was allowed to leave the house with Přiklopil, but he threatened to kill her if she attempted to escape or attract any attention. He later took her on a skiing trip to a resort near Vienna for a few hours. She initially denied that they had made the trip, but eventually admitted that it was true, although she said that no opportunities to escape had arisen during that time. According to Kampusch's official statement after her escape, Přiklopil and she would get up early each morning to have breakfast together. Přiklopil gave her books, with which she educated herself. She did not feel that she had missed out on anything during her imprisonment, but she noted, "I spared myself many things, I did not start smoking or drinking and I did not hang out in bad company", but she also said, "It was a place to despair".Sydney Morning Herald, 7 September 2006.
It was a place to despair: kidnap girl
. Accessed 7 September 2006.
She was given a television and radio to pass the time, although she was initially only allowed to watch taped programmes and listen to foreign radio stations so that she would not be aware of the publicised search for her. At one point, she tried to escape by jumping out of Přiklopil's car. A large portion of Kampusch's time upstairs was spent doing housework and cooking for Přiklopil. Dietmar Ecker, Kampusch's media advisor, said that Přiklopil "would beat her so badly that she could hardly walk". He would also starve her to make her physically weak and unable to escape. He also
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
d her. Přiklopil had warned Kampusch that the doors and windows of the house were booby-trapped with high explosives. He also claimed to be carrying a gun and that he would kill her and the neighbours if she attempted to escape. Nevertheless, Kampusch on one occasion fantasized about chopping his head off with an axe, although she quickly dismissed the idea. She also attempted to make noise during her early years of captivity by throwing bottles of water against the walls. She said that, when out in public with Přiklopil, she had unsuccessfully attempted to attract attention.


Escape

The 18-year-old Kampusch escaped from Přiklopil's house on 23 August 2006. At 12:53 pm, she was cleaning and vacuuming her kidnapper's white van in the garden when Přiklopil got a call on his mobile phone. Because of the vacuum's loud noise, he walked away to take the call. Kampusch left the vacuum cleaner running and ran away when Přiklopil was out of sight. She ran for some 200 meters (218 yards) through neighbouring gardens and a street, jumping fences, and asking bystanders to call the police, but they paid her no attention. After about five minutes, she knocked on the window of a 71-year-old neighbour known as Inge T, saying, "I am Natascha Kampusch". The neighbour called the police, who arrived at 1:04 pm. Later, Kampusch was taken to the police station in the town of
Deutsch-Wagram Deutsch-Wagram (literally "German Wagram", ), often shortened to Wagram, is a village in the Gänserndorf District, in the state of Lower Austria, Austria. It is in the Marchfeld Basin, close to the Vienna city limits, about 15 km (9 mi) north ...
. Kampusch was identified by a scar on her body, by her passport (which was found in the room where she had been held), and by DNA tests. She was in good physical health, although she looked pale and shaken and weighed only ; she had weighed when she disappeared eight years earlier. Her
body mass index Body mass index (BMI) is a value derived from the mass (Mass versus weight, weight) and height of a person. The BMI is defined as the human body weight, body mass divided by the square (algebra), square of the human height, body height, and is ...
had reached as low as 14.8 (normal BMI: 18.5 to 24.9), and she grew only during her captivity.


Kidnapper

Wolfgang Přiklopil (; 14 May 1962 – 23 August 2006) was an Austrian communications technician. He was born to Karl and Waltraud Přiklopil in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, and was an only child. His father was a
cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cogn ...
salesman and his mother was a shoe saleswoman. Přiklopil worked at
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
for a time as a communications technician. Přiklopil fled in his red BMW sports car that was later found in a Vienna car park; knowing that the police were after him, he committed suicide that night by jumping in front of an oncoming train near the Wien Nord station in Vienna. He had apparently planned all along to end his own life rather than be caught, having told Kampusch, "they would not catch imalive". Evidence recovery was complicated, as Přiklopil's only computer was a 1980s
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...
, which is incompatible with modern-day
data recovery In computing, data recovery is a process of retrieving deleted, inaccessible, lost, corrupted, damaged, overwritten or formatted data from computer data storage#Secondary storage, secondary storage, removable media or Computer file, files, when ...
software. Before Kampusch escaped, Přiklopil was trying to procure false papers as a Czech citizen to "begin a new life" with Kampusch.


Aftermath

In her official statement, Kampusch said, "I don't want and will not answer any questions about personal or intimate details". After Kampusch's escape, police investigated whether Přiklopil had an accomplice, but they eventually determined that he acted alone. Kampusch sympathized with her captor in the documentary ''Natascha Kampusch: 3096 days in captivity''. She said, "I feel more and more sorry for himhe's a poor soul". According to police, she "cried inconsolably" when she was told that he was dead, she had grown feelings for him and she lit a candle for him at the morgue. She has, however, referred to her captor as a "criminal". Newspapers quoting unnamed psychologists suggested that Kampusch might suffer from
Stockholm syndrome Stockholm syndrome is a proposed condition or theory that tries to explain why hostages sometimes develop a psychological bond with their captors. Emotional bonds can possibly form between captors and captives, during intimate time together, ...
, but Kampusch says that this is not the case. She suggests that people who use this term about her are disrespectful of her and do not allow her the right to describe and analyze the complex relationship that she had with her kidnapper in her own words.


Interviews

After reportedly "hundreds of requests for an interview" with the teenager, "with media outlets offering vast sums of money", Kampusch was interviewed by Austrian public broadcaster ORF. The interview was broadcast on 6 September 2006 with her approval. ORF did not pay a fee for its interview but agreed to forward any proceeds from selling the interview to other channels, forecasted to total 300,000 euros, to be donated to women in Africa and Mexico by Kampusch. Likewise, she was planning projects to help these women. Interest was enormous. The newspaper ''
Kronen Zeitung The ''Kronen Zeitung'' (), commonly known as the ''Krone'', is Austria's largest newspaper. It is known for being Eurosceptic. History The first issue of the ''Kronen Zeitung'' appeared on 2 January 1900. Gustav Davis, a former army officer, ...
'' and newsweekly ''
NEWS News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...
'' also interviewed Kampusch. The interview was published on 6 September 2006. Both press interviews were given in return for a package including housing support, a long-term job offer, and help with her education. On 16 June 2008, the newspaper ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' published an in-depth interview with Kampusch by Bojan Pancevski and
Stefanie Marsh Stefanie Marsh is a British journalist, author and a senior features writer at ''The Times''. She has been a correspondent in Palestine for ''The Times'', and was one of the first English-speaking reporters to cover the Fritzl case in 2008. In 2 ...
. On 17 February 2010, the British TV channel Channel 5 broadcast an hour-long documentary about the case, including an exclusive interview with Kampusch: ''Natascha: The Girl in the Cellar''.


Books

The book ''Girl in the Cellar: The Natascha Kampusch Story'' by Allan Hall and Michael Leidig appeared in November 2006, written in English. Kampusch's lawyer described the book as being both speculative and premature and therefore planned to take legal action against it. Together with two journalists, Kampusch's mother Brigitta Sirny wrote a book about the ordeal, ''Verzweifelte Jahre'' ("Desperate Years"). Kampusch appeared at the initial presentation of the book in August 2007, but did not want to be photographed or interviewed. Sirny writes that she did not have much contact with Kampusch after the escape because Kampusch was shielded from the outside world. Kampusch wrote a book about her ordeal, ''3096 Tage'' (''3096 Days''), published in September 2010. It was adapted into a movie, '' 3096 Days'', in 2013. On 12 August 2016, Natascha Kampusch released her second book titled ''10 Years of Freedom''.


Film adaptations

On 17 June 2010, German film-maker and director Bernd Eichinger announced that he was making a film based on Kampusch's captivity and wanted
Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet (; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Primarily known for her roles as headstrong and complicated women in independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including an Ac ...
to star in the film. The film was Eichinger's last before his sudden death on 24 January 2011; Kampusch attended his funeral. In 2011, the Austrian film ''
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
'', which has a plot that resembles the Natascha Kampusch case, was released. On 15 April 2012, German newspaper ''
Welt am Sonntag ''Welt am Sonntag'' (German for ''World on Sunday'') is a German Sunday newspaper published in Germany. History and profile ''Welt am Sonntag'' was established in 1948. The paper is published by Axel Springer SE. Its head office is in Berlin. ...
'' reported that the film would feature
Antonia Campbell-Hughes Antonia Campbell-Hughes an Actor/ Filmmaker from Northern Ireland. She is best known for playing Natascha Kampusch in ''3096 Days'', and in Dangerous Liaisons (TV series), Dangerous Liaisons, most recently she can be seen as ‘George’ in h ...
as Kampusch and
Thure Lindhardt Thure Frank Lindhardt (; born 24 December 1974) is a Denmark, Danish actor, educated at the drama school at Odense Teater, Odense Theatre in 1998. Life and career Lindhardt grew up in Roskilde. At the age of 12, he got a part in Bille August's ...
as Přiklopil. Ruth Toma completed Eichinger's unfinished screenplay and the film was directed by Sherry Hormann. It was also cinematographer
Michael Ballhaus Michael Ballhaus, A.S.C. (5 August 1935 – 12 April 2017) was a German cinematographer, known for his work with directors like Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Martin Scorsese, and Mike Nichols. He was a member of both the Academy of Arts, Berlin a ...
's final film. The film '' 3096 Days'' (''3096 Tage'') was released on 28 February 2013.


Media endeavors

Kampusch established her own website containing personal information including pictures of herself on 5 December 2007. She had her own talk show on the new Austria TV channel, PULS 4, starting on 1 June 2008. The show had the working title of ''In Conversation with…Natascha Kampusch'' and eventually premiered as ''Natascha Kampusch trifft'' (''Natascha Kampusch meets...'').Kidnapped Austrian girl to host own show
Digital Spy, 13 December 2007
It ran for three episodes.


House

The house where Kampusch was imprisoned was built by Přiklopil's grandfather, Oskar Přiklopil, after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. During the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
period, Oskar and his son Karl built a
bomb shelter A bomb shelter is a structure designed to provide protection against the effects of a bomb. Types of shelter Different kinds of bomb Shelter (building), shelters are configured to protect against different kinds of attack and strengths of host ...
, thought to be the origin of Kampusch's cellar prison. Přiklopil took over the house in 1984 following his grandmother's death. Kampusch now owns the house in which she was imprisoned. It was reported that she claimed the house from Přiklopil's estate because she wanted to protect it from vandals and being torn down; she also noted that she has visited it since her escape. When the third anniversary of her escape approached, it was revealed she had become a regular visitor at the property and was cleaning it out. In January 2010, Kampusch said she had retained the house because it was such a big part of her formative years, also stating that she would fill in the cellar if it is ever sold, adamant that it will never become a macabre museum to her lost adolescence. In 2011, the cellar was filled in; Kampusch still owned the house.


See also

*
Fritzl case The Fritzl case was a case that emerged in 2008, when a woman named Elisabeth Fritzl (born 6 April 1966) informed investigators in the city of Amstetten, Lower Austria, that she had been held captive for 24 years by her father, Josef Fritzl ( ...
* Jaycee Dugard * Li Hao *
Elizabeth Smart Elizabeth Ann Gilmour (née Smart; born November 3, 1987) is an American child safety activist and commentator for ABC News. She gained national attention at age 14 when she was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City by Brian David Mitchell. ...
*
List of kidnappings The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings. By date * List of kidnappings befo ...
*
List of solved missing person cases Lists of solved missing person cases include: * List of solved missing person cases: pre-1950 * List of solved missing person cases: 1950–1999 * List of solved missing person cases: post-2000 See also

* List of kidnappings * List of murder ...


References


Further reading

* Natascha Kampusch, ''3,096 Days'', (Penguin, 2010) . * Allan Hall and Michael Leidig, '' The Girl in the Cellar'', (Hodder, 2009) . * Natascha Kampusch, mit Corinna Milborn und Heike Gronemeier: ''3096 Tage''. List, Berlin 2010, . * Pelu, Martin: ''Der Fall Natascha Kampusch''. Tectum, Marburg 2010, ; 2013 auch als E-Book, . *
Kathrin Röggla Kathrin Röggla (born 1971) is an Austrian writer, essayist and playwright. She was born in Salzburg and lives in Berlin since 1992 but moved to Cologne in 2020. She has written numerous prose works, including essays, as well as dramas and radio ...
: ''Die Beteiligten'', Theaterstück, 2009Ulrike Gondorf:
Der Fall Kampusch auf der Bühne.
' In: ''
Deutschlandradio Kultur Deutschlandfunk Kultur (; abbreviated to ''DLF Kultur'' or ''DKultur'') is a culture-oriented radio station and part of Deutschlandradio, a set of three national radio stations in Germany. Initially named ''DeutschlandRadio Berlin'', the station ...
'' vom 19. April 2009.
* Sirny-Kampusch, Brigitta: ''Verzweifelte Jahre, ein Leben ohne Natascha''. Aufgezeichnet von Andrea Fehringer und Thomas Köpf, Ueberreuter, Wien 2007, .


External links


Natascha Kampusch's official website


by
International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...
of open letter released by Kampusch on 28 August 2006
Diagram and pictures of the hidden room
by Federal Criminal Police Office of Austria {{DEFAULTSORT:Kampusch, Natascha 1988 births 1990s missing person cases Austrian autobiographers Austrian television presenters Austrian women television presenters Formerly missing Austrian people Kidnapped Austrian people Kidnapped children Kidnappings in Austria Kidnapping in the 1990s Living people Missing person cases in Austria Writers from Vienna