The Chilling Details of Elisabeth Fritzl Being Held Captive for 24 Years

A Life Of Intimidation

Elisabeth’s older sisters, above, had no idea about her secret or her kidnapping.

As it turned out, not everyone was oblivious to the harm that Josef inflicted on Elisabeth. Shortly after the sexual abuse began when she was 12, Elisabeth confessed to her closest older brother, Harald, what was going on. In a video testimony that was shown to the court during the trial, Harald confessed that while he did know about Elisabeth’s sexual abuse, he didn’t say anything because “there was little he could do,” Telegraph reports. Harald said, “As Elisabeth’s older brother she trusted me and told me what went on,” elaborating by telling of how their father would perform sex acts on himself in front of her and made her look at pornography. Harald’s unwillingness to stand up for his little sister stemmed from his fear of his father, who once brutally beat Harald so hard, he broke Harald’s nose.