Life Goes On

As time went on, Josef and his family went on with their normal lives. Rosemarie just accepted the idea that Elisabeth had run off, possibly never to be seen again. But Josef knew better, and he would go down to the basement almost every day, supposedly so he could work on blueprints for machines that he would make and sell. Some days, he would even spend the night. And when Rosemarie or others attempted to go down to the cellar, Josef forbid them to go anywhere near it. Strangely enough, no one broke his rules and no one thought that his request was odd.

The Underground Horror

Liesl was 18 years old when her father lured her into the basement under false pretenses. Josef must have been afraid at first that someone would find out, or that somehow Elisabeth would be able to escape. He kept her chains on which tethered her close to the column. Then, as time went on, he changed her chains to a leash, allowing her more freedom to move around the basement. Many wondered why Elisabeth never tried to escape, but Josef was said to threaten her daily that he’d shut off the gas and electricity. And around 5 years into her imprisonment, the unthinkable happened, Elisabeth got pregnant with her first child.