In 1984, 18-year-old Elizabeth Fritzle disappeared from her home in Amstead in Austria.

Her father, Joseph, convinced everybody that she had run away to join a cult, but 24 years later the truth would be revealed and it would

horrify the world. This is monsters. the you're going to be here.

You're in the way.

You know?

And you're going to and you're going to Joseph Fritzil was born on April 9th, 1935 in Amstead in Austria to Joseph Senior and Maria Nening.

Joseph Senior's last name and almost everything about him is unknown.

Maria wasn't married when she became pregnant,

and when her son was born she gave him her mother's maiden name.

The one detail that is known about Joseph Sr. was that he was an abusive alcoholic who left the family when the boy was only four years old.

Joseph had a troubled childhood and was known to have violent tendencies from a young age.

That was likely on account of the fact that his mother showed him no love or affection throughout his childhood.

Another notable event that began when Joseph was four years old was World War II.

That's when Joseph's senior left to fight for the Nazis and he never returned.

Amstead was unfortunately situated where trains going to both Germany and Italy intersected

so the city was a major target of Allied bombing campaigns.

After the war ended, the Russians occupied the town and were pretty much left unchecked.

Murder and sexual assault cases skyrocketed and food was scarce.

Maria began punishing her son much more severely.

Where she would slap him before, she used her closed fist now and even kicked him with her boot. He was also sometimes tied to his bed or forced to sleep outside.

Joseph spent much of his free time tinkering with projects and eventually became known as the boy who could fix things.

As teenagers, the boys of Amstett and had little chance of meeting girls.

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