Community cracks isolation

A society of isolation can bring about frightening circumstances.

In the recent Elisabeth Fritzl case, her family and neighborhood’s unquestioning privacy kept a lid on 24 years of captivity. When all stories and theories are finally explored in the Fritzl case, it will still leave us with that gut-wrenching question: how did this happen?

No one questioned Josef Fritzl about the three children that mysteriously arrived on his doorstep in Amstetten. Authorities believed him when he said they had been sent there by his runaway daughter. By miming a benevolent grandfather, he was able to trick the government, his neighbors and even his own wife. Only when one of his illegitimate grandchildren fell ill and needed public medical care was the closely-guarded secret blown wide open.

Neighbors who lived within shouting distance of Fritzl’s dungeon were confounded and disturbed by the news. They couldn’t seem to believe that such reprehensible acts were going on so close to their own homes. But then again, how well did they know the Fritzl family?

This case raises the question of social isolation. One household’s separation from the outside world contributed to the length and severity of Elisabeth and her children’s captivity. They were kept in total isolation, with no sunlight, little room to move and the sparsest of amenities. The psychological oppression must have been comparable to the physical abuse. That one man could perpetrate a torturous mini-regime in the midst of an upscale neighborhood is perhaps the most frightening fact in this whole case.

It is not his neighbors’ fault that Fritzl held four people in prison, nor is it their fault that they didn’t inquire into his personal life and habits. It’s also not the fault of Austria, although it would be easy to try to blame a country reputed for its sexual weirdness. When I was driving through Austria and Switzerland, I stopped at a roadside mall. Inside was a humongous sex toy and leather costume store, complete with throbbing techno music and frighteningly large molded devices. I wouldn’t have thought twice about it were it not for the children’s clothing and sporting goods store right next door to it.

Whether or not national perversion plays a part in the private lives of twisted criminals like Fritzl, it still makes one wonder whether people’s increasing secrecy aids situations like this. When neighbors and friends are in true proximity to one another’s lives, it decreases the amount of dark secrets one can hide.

I want to criticize my own life. I can’t tell you the name of one of my immediate neighbors. I don’t suspect them of having a dungeon, nor should they suspect me. But I believe that the more connected we are to one another, the less possibility there is for sick travesties like the Fritzl case to happen. A caring friend asking questions limits the isolation of a private personal life, and isolation is where perversion and cruelty breed most easily.

So I implore you to invite your neighbors over. Have a barbecue. Don’t go around witch-hunting for kidnapping cases, because that is only a developed symptom of society’s isolation sickness. Be more connected, and know your neighbor’s needs. Whether it lessens somebody’s secrets or merely helps you lead a more fulfilling and connected life, the benefit of a close community should be felt by all.