“I am not a monster”

Posted by Marc Hodak on May 8, 2008 under Scandal | Read the First Comment

This from a recent BBC report

Mr Fritzl reportedly criticised media-coverage of his case as “totally one-sided”, and added that he was “not a monster”.

I don’t doubt that the reporting has been one-sided, given my research into how the media exploits scandals. But how one-sided is the statement that, “He has, however, admitted holding Elisabeth captive and repeatedly raping her.” Over 24 years. And what is the other side of his story, the side that points out his humanity? Referring to his captive daughter/grandaughter’s severe illness that required hospitalization:

“Without me [she] would not be alive anymore… I was the one who made sure that she was taken to a hospital,” Mr Fritzl said.

“I could have killed all of them – then nothing would have happened. No-one would have ever known about it,” he added.

I don’t know if “monster” is the right word, but in this case I would consider that a fine semantic distinction, not a fundamental issue of media bias.

Fritzl’s attempt at defending his humanity strongly reminded me of the following quote attributed to another man captured just a few miles from Fritzl’s home:

My name is Franz Ziereis, born 1903 in Munich, where my mother and brothers and sisters are still living. I, myself, am not a wicked man…

In the same note, here is his description of the prison that he commanded.

The inmates had to haul stones until they collapsed, then they were shot and their record was annotated “Trying to escape”. On 30 April 33, inmates of the camp office were ordered to assemble the court yard. There they were shot like wild animals by SS Oberscharfuehrer Niedermeyer and the Gestapoagent Polaska. Altogether, as far as I know, 65,000 inmates were murdered in Mauthausen. In most cases, I myself took part in the executions.

The theology of evil is a difficult, some might argue loaded, philosophical issue. But the psychology of evil is straightforward: apparently, nobody believes that they are a wicked person.