Many, perhaps, have heard about this terrible and at the same time amazing story that took place in a quiet and prosperous Austria. The young girl was held captive by the maniac for eight years! In 2008, after the happy release of the girl, the whole world became aware of the story of Natasha Kampush. A photo of the victim of the abduction, its captive, as well as a detailed description of this story, is further 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 region, Donaustadt.
The girl was born on February 17, 1988 in a complete family. Father - Ludwig Koch, owner of a small bakery, mother - Brigitte Searney. However, soon, when Natasha was five years old, her parents separated.
Before her abduction, Natasha Kampush was the most ordinary child - she went to an ordinary elementary school, after classes she attended Alt Vinn kindergarten. However, after the abduction of the girl in the press, notes often began to appear that Natasha’s childhood was not entirely prosperous. And some individuals even claimed that the mother of the child was allegedly involved in the abduction. By the way, the Austrian police worked on this version as well. Brigitte Searney herself completely refuted all these statements and accusations against her.
Natasha Kampush herself in her memoirs later writes that her mother loved her, but she was very strict. The girl in childhood had almost no friends, so she often felt lonely.
Natasha Kampush: the beginning of a nightmare
Natasha’s parents divorced, and his father went to live in Hungary. Just on the eve of the abduction, the girl spent the winter holidays with her father. Returning home, Kampush was preparing for school.
The story of the abduction of Natasha Kampush as a whole is very typical. A ten-year-old girl - an ordinary, slightly plump child - leaves for school in the morning. However, she didn’t return home in the evening. Finding out that the daughter was absent at school, the mother immediately went to the police.
Almost immediately, a witness was found - another girl of 12 years old. According to her testimony, the abduction of Natasha Kampush happened in broad daylight, right on the street. Two unknown men forced the missing girl into a white van (later it turns out that the kidnapper was still alone).
Vienna police immediately set about searching. Having convinced the press that a white minibus is the only clue to the solution, detectives began to actively work out other versions. In particular, they checked the girl’s father and his entourage in Hungary separately.
In parallel with this, the search groups in the district checked all cars that fit the description of the witness. It is curious that the van of the abductor himself was one of them. However, the man who claimed to use the van to transport building materials did not arouse suspicion from the police.
On the whole, the story of Natasha Kampush is tragic, incredible, but with a good ending. After all, the girl, having been imprisoned by a maniac, vowed 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 Vienna in 1962 in an ordinary family.
The future kidnapper Natasha Kampush studied mediocre, had good behavior. However, some mental abnormalities in the boy began to be observed already in childhood. He was unsociable, avoided communication (as, however, Natasha Kampush), read a lot. At 13, he made a homemade gun and began to have fun by shooting birds and stray dogs on the streets.
After school and a year of study at the technical school, Priklopil got a job as a simple worker in the Siemens company. Moreover, his colleagues never noticed anything strange behind him. Later, he changed jobs, working as a technician in an Austrian telephone network. There he worked until 1991.
After investigating this high-profile case, psychologist Minefred Crumple noted that it was precisely in the early 90s that Priklopil thought for the first time about the abduction of a child. Natasha Kampush became the victim of the maniac. You can see the photo of the kidnapper of Wolfgang Priklopil below.
8 years in captivity
It should be noted that at 10, Natasha Kampush was a rather educated and smart child. Finding herself in a minibus, she immediately realized that the maniac had abducted her. However, the girl did not scream and did not resist. She remembered one of the television programs about the abductions, 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 miserable and unhappy.
The van with the kidnapped girl was driving for about half an hour. Wolfgang Priklopil brought her to his small house in Strasshof an der Nordbahn, in Lower Austria.
The room in which the girl found herself was tiny and without windows. Here Natasha Kampush was supposed to spend about 8 years. The cellar in which the child was kept, as it turns out later, was soundproof. And the entrance to it Priklopil carefully masked.
Once in his "prison" and realizing that there was no place to wait for help, the little girl decided to act reasonably and calmly. She purposely tried to seem dumber than she really was, immediately recognized the authority and authority of Priklopil. Either Natasha did this consciously, or intuitively, it is not known for sure. However, this behavior turned out to be true: the kidnapper generally treated the girl as well as his child.
Natasha Kampush spent almost seven years in this little room, which was furnished like an ordinary children's room. It had a bed, shelves, several lockers for clothes, a TV and a fan. Wolfgang Priklopil paid due attention to the girl’s education, bringing her books, magazines and making her listen to classical music.
Only in 2005 Priklopil allowed young Natasha to walk in the garden near the house and even leave him 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.
The escape
Kampush repeatedly thought of running away. Also, the girl had ideas to kill Priklopil. The kidnapper himself constantly kept saying 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 phoned a client on the announcement of the sale of the car. He stepped aside, and Natasha was able to escape unnoticed by jumping over the fence. A few minutes later she knocked on 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 health condition was satisfactory. A scar on her body, as well as a DNA test, helped identify the girl. Police found that this is the girl who was abducted in 1998. It was Natasha Kampush.
The photo after Natasha’s escape, when she, covered with a blanket, was taken out of the police station, flew around the world. Over the eight years of her imprisonment, Natasha Kampush grew by 15 centimeters and gained only 3 kilograms of weight!
After hearing the girl’s testimony, the police immediately rushed to arrest 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 just like that. The phrase “they will never catch me alive” Natasha heard from him more than once.
Life after liberation
Natasha Kampush, after being released from eight-year captivity, gave several interviews. She transferred all the money from this to needy women in Africa and Mexico.
After her happy liberation, the girl began to actively engage in charity and the struggle for animal rights. She also transferred 25 thousand euros to the victim of another maniac, who spent 24 years in the basement. In 2007, Kampush created her own website, and in 2008 she even hosted her show on television.
It is curious that after the death of Priklopil, Natasha bought his house, and now he belongs to her.
Natasha Kampush and the Stockholm Syndrome
Assumptions have repeatedly appeared in the press that Natasha Kampush suffers from the so-called Stockholm syndrome. It is known that the death of Priklopil, despite the fact that it was he who was responsible for her troubles, very upset her, she even put a candle in him in the church. In addition, in her statements about her captor there is even some gratitude and sympathy. In particular, Natasha once said the following: "I was able to avoid many dangerous things: I did not start smoking, drinking, and did not get in touch with bad company."
Many also speculate 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, in 2010 she published an autobiographical book about herself.
The book is based on the diary of Natasha Kampush. Work on its creation lasted several months. In writing the book, Natasha was assisted by journalists - Corinna Milborn and Heike Gronemayer. The book, released under the title "3096 days, " was included in the list of the most commercially successful works of the year.
The story of Natasha Kampush is also shown in the feature film of the same name. The picture of the German director Sherry Horman was released in 2013.
