Allan Hall (1) (1957–)

As usual I picked my next read entirely on a whim and found myself picking up this book. I'm not sure when or where I got it from but it looks pretty new so it was probably fairly recent. I really enjoyed 3,096 Days by Natascha Kampusch and I hoped this book would give similar insights into another heinous crime.

The book starts with a look into the formative years of Josef Fritzl and Austria's involvement in the Nazification of Europe around the time of WWII. I found this section fairly interesting and it does shine some light on how the Austrian character has developed since those times. It did all feel a little 'clever after the fact' though and it did draw some fairly broad stereotypes.

The remainder of the book details what is believed to have occurred during the 24 years that Elizabeth Fritzl was kept captive by her father. There is no other way to describe this as pretty harrowing to read, especially where the young children are involved. As is often the case in these circumstances there were many missed occasions where his crime could have been discovered and it doesn't paint the Austrian legal system in a very good light. There were some revelations which I was unaware of. For example Josef Fritzl was jailed for rape when he was 32 but only served 18 months after which his record was hidden.

The final sections of the book deal with the aftermath and recovery process which the family is still under going. If anything it shows the triumph of the human spirit but it is also a hard read. I can't imagine what life must have been like for them for even a second and its clear that the mental scars will exist in them for ever.

The author finished off by trying to portray Fritzl as a product of Austria and it's Nazi past. While this is an interesting theory and no doubt has some merit I felt it was too simplistic. Austrian authorities no doubt failed to protect the family from Josef Fritzl but saying that society is to blame is a leap too far for me. There also seems to be motive by the author to portray Austria as a country which still supports the Nazi ideal. This is a theory that should have been left for another book, one which would be equally fascinating.

In the end the book felt like it was rushed and it contained far too many insights from anyone who would talk to the author. Whilst I appreciate that there is a thirst for knowledge about the case it probably would have been wiser to wait until the case was concluded before writing this book.… (more)