Dungeon Damsel_ Natascha Kampusch

[Guest guest]

VERLAGSGRUPPE NEWS/AUSTRIA

Natascha Kampusch, 18, was abducted, at age 10, by

Wolfgang Priklopil on her way to school in the

Austrian town of Strasshof in 1998.

 

 

VERLAGSGRUPPE NEWS/AUSTRIA

Natascha Kampusch, 18, said in her first interview

since escaping capture that throughout eight years of

'despair' she never gave up hope of escaping her

kidnapper.

 

Natascha Kampusch is seen in a 1998 police handout.

 

REUTERS/HEINZ-PETER BADER

The cover of NEWS magazine showing Natascha Kampusch.

 

Education fund set up for Kampusch

In return for exclusive photos and a newspaper and

magazine interview, Natascha Kampusch is believed to

have received compensation that includes having her

education and an apartment paid for.

 

She is also believed to have been paid between 250,000

and 300,000 euros (about $350,000 to S425,000

Canadian). And Austrian broadcaster ORF has agreed to

sell its interview to other media, with proceeds going

to Kampusch, The Guardian reports.

 

Kampusch has her own public relations agent, Dietmar

Ecker, and has received more than 300 interview

requests from around the world.

 

Kampusch is also likely to gain about $1 million from

the criminal injuries compensation board. She also has

a claim on the house owned by Priklopil and his two

cars, the newspaper said.

 

My life in the dungeon

Sep. 7, 2006. 02:26 PM

 

Ever since Natascha Kampusch escaped from a living

hell, the world has waited to read her story. Held

captive for eight unimaginable years before bolting to

freedom two weeks ago, the 18-year-old Austrian

woman's ordeal is told here, in heartbreaking detail,

for the first time. The Star has exclusive Canadian

rights to the interview she gave to the Austrian

weekly newsmagazine NEWS.

 

In the interview, she talks about her escape, her life

in what she called the dungeon and the suicide of her

kidnapper, Wolfgang Priklopil.

 

NEWS: What feelings overcome you when you think back

to the past eight years?

 

Kampusch: I kept asking myself why that had to happen

to me. Why me, among the many millions of people? I

always think: I certainly didn't come into the world

to be imprisoned and to have my life ruined. I am in

despair over this injustice. I have always felt like a

poor chicken in a hen house. You must have seen my

dungeon on television and in the media so you know how

small it was. It was enough to drive you to despair.

 

NEWS: Were you never able to leave this dungeon?

 

Kampusch: Yes, I was. I was upstairs every day and did

something (chores) with him. Some ordinary small

matter. But immediately afterwards, I was sent down

again. To sleep. To live. If he had to leave during

the day. I always had to go down to the dungeon.

 

NEWS: That must certainly have been worse than a

prison.

 

Kampusch: Certainly. It was particularly bad when a

visitor or his mother would come on the weekend.

 

NEWS: And for the whole weekend you stayed in this

small, narrow room?

 

Kampusch: Yes, but as time goes by, you simply get

used to it. I quite like the idea of being alone now.

I had the choice of being alone or being in his

company. And these alternatives are not very

exhilarating. But I don't want to say anything more

about that. You shouldn't talk to me very much about

Mr. Priklopil, because, after all, he's no longer able

to defend himself. So there wouldn't be any point in

our going into this any further. Poor Mrs. Priklopil

certainly wouldn't want the public to read things

about her son in the newspaper, things that are

nobody's business ? except perhaps the police. I don't

find it very nice to complain about someone who's

dead, especially because of his mother.

 

NEWS: Your wish shall be respected. I want to talk to

you about something that very much concerns you ? and

only you: your escape. Was that spontaneous or was it

planned?

 

Kampusch: As early as the age of 12 or thereabouts, I

had already dreamt of, at 15 ? or at some point, when

I was strong enough to do so ? to break out of my

prison. But I kept trying to work out the right time.

But I could not risk anything, least of all an escape

attempt. He was very paranoid and was chronically

suspicious. A failed attempt would have meant the risk

of never being able to come out of my dungeon. I had

to gradually gain his trust.

 

NEWS: You already thought of escaping when you were

12?

 

Kampusch: I had already promised myself that, starting

at that age. My present self promised me that. I

promised my future self that I would never give up the

thought of escape.

 

NEWS: You totally believed in yourself?

 

Kampusch: Yes, certainly. It was also very frustrating

for me when I learned that people were looking for me

with a dredger in the gravel pits. They were looking

for my body. And I despaired when I got the feeling

that I, as someone alive, had already been written

off. That was hopelessness: I was convinced that

nobody else would ever look for me and I would

therefore never be found again. In the beginning,

though, I was still confident that perhaps the police

or somebody else would find me, that perhaps somebody

saw the culprit and connected him with my

disappearance. Or that some clue would surface or some

accomplice would say something.

 

NEWS: Accomplices? Are there any?

 

Kampusch: That's not yet known for sure, but I don't

think there were any. From what I know at this point,

there were simply no accomplices.

 

NEWS: How did you cope with this loneliness?

 

Kampusch: I wasn't lonely. I had hope and believed in

a future. Sometime. I should now say something

concerning my mother. Many reproach her for not being

with me now and me not being with her. But she already

visited me. That has nothing to do with being

heartless ? we also understand each other. We don't

need to live together to know that we belong together.

During all that time, I always thought of my family.

For them, the situation was worse than for me. They

thought I was dead. But I knew that they were alive

and were dying of worry for me. During that time, I

was happy to be able to fall back on memories of my

childhood spent in freedom. One would do my mother an

injustice if one were to insinuate anything bad about

her. I love her and she loves me.

 

NEWS: If one had to spend years in this hole, what

thoughts go through your head?

 

Kampusch: I also had bad thoughts. Sometimes I dreamt

of chopping off his head if I had had an axe. Of

course, I immediately scrapped that, because I can't

stand the sight of blood and I never want to kill a

person. But that shows you how the brain torments

itself when it seeks a solution. I kept looking then

for logistical solutions. First the escape itself and

then what should happen thereafter. Should I simply

run on the streets of Strasshof, scream, go to the

neighbours? It even occurred to me that I would become

world famous after my escape and I thought of what I

would have to do so that the media would not

immediately run after me so that I could instead enjoy

the moments of my freedom alone for a while.

 

NEWS: But this vision has not been fulfilled?

 

Kampusch: Yes, that's how it's been. For this case,

I've even written down how many interviews I will give

and how much time I will have to sacrifice for this.

So I have allowed myself to think about some things

that used to occupy me.

 

NEWS: And the actual escape ? did you have a plan?

 

Kampusch: No, that was totally spontaneous. I ran out

from behind the garden gate and I became dizzy. For

the first time, I felt how weak I really was.

Nevertheless, it happened: All in all, everything went

well for me on the day of the escape. Psychologically,

physically ? and no heart problems. I ran, because I

saw that he was on the phone. In panic, I ran into the

allotment garden and talked to people, in vain,

because they had no mobile phones with them. They just

shrugged their shoulders and carried on. So I went to

different allotment gardens by just jumping over the

fences ? in panic, like in an action movie. You have

to imagine it: puff, puff, puff, and then I saw a

window open where someone was pottering about in the

kitchen and I spoke to this woman and said she should

call the police.

 

NEWS: And they came immediately?

 

Kampusch: Yes, but I wish the woman had let me use the

telephone instead, then I could have reached the right

division at the police. It wasn't great to have the

police make me look silly before the photographers,

with a blanket over my head. However, the police did

ask me whether I wanted a blanket. I feared the worst.

 

 

NEWS: All this was planned?

 

Kampusch: No, not planned. But I have already thought

about it. There is a difference in planning something

or already having a foreboding, so to speak. That's

something different from planning something. There are

computer programs for simulation. I foresaw the future

but I didn't plan it.

 

NEWS: Going back to the escape. So you were with the

police ...

 

Kampusch: ... and the woman who called them was still

there. The officers kept asking me my name ? and I

wanted this woman to finally go back into the house

because I was afraid that if he noticed my escape, he

would kill her.

 

NEWS: Had he (Priklopil) ever threatened you before?

 

Kampusch: Yes, but I was not afraid of that. I am

freedom-loving, and for me, death means the ultimate

freedom. The release from him. He always kept saying

that first he would kill the neighbours if I asked

them for help, then he would kill me, and then he

would kill himself.

 

NEWS: That indeed happened?

 

Kampusch: Yes, and he indirectly made murderers not

just of me and Mr. H., who brought him to the train

station, but also the engine driver. Because I knew

very well that he would kill himself. I knew of his

death in advance. Right at the time of my escape, I

just knew that he would kill himself. I told that to

the police, but when they found the car, he had

already thrown himself in front of the train.

 

NEWS: When did you learn of this?

 

Kampusch: The next day at the police station. The

officers wanted to keep that from me.

 

NEWS: Were you sorry that he killed himself?

 

Kampusch: Certainly. I had also prepared him for my

escape for months. And I promised him that he could

live, even in prison, because it's not so bad there.

Only now have I learned that a maximum of 10 years in

prison comes with such a crime. Previously, I thought

that would bring 20 years.

 

NEWS: The minister of justice wants to change that to

20 years.

 

Kampusch: That's good. I certainly don't like the 10

years. I prophesied 20 years for him at any rate and

consoled him with the thought that, these days, even

people in their sixties are still in pretty good

shape.

 

NEWS: So for you, his suicide was ...?

 

Kampusch: ... simply a waste. No one should kill

himself. He could have given me, and particularly the

police officers, so much more information. Now they

will have to reconstruct very complex facts without

him. But let's not talk about Mr. Priklopil anymore.

 

NEWS: Do you get information about the findings of the

police?

 

Kampusch: Yes, of course ? when I ask for them. I get

everything. Even the autopsy report.

 

NEWS: May I ask you something about your loneliness?

 

Kampusch: Yes. Of course, I've already missed the

social life. I needed people, animals. I was lonely,

because I had neither. But I didn't have the feeling

of loneliness because I had more time to occupy myself

with myself. I knew how to use my time.

 

NEWS: With what?

 

Kampusch: With reading and work. I helped him build

his house.

 

NEWS: You helped build?

 

Kampusch: Yes.

 

NEWS: You perceived the dungeon as a prison,

nevertheless?

 

Kampusch: I was imprisoned. I have never understood

being imprisoned without having done anything.

Normally, after all, only criminals are imprisoned.

 

NEWS: How did you cope with it? Did you never quarrel

with the fate that did all this to you?

 

Kampusch: No. Not that way! I may have asked myself

what I did, and that was immediately after the

kidnapping. Whether I had perhaps done something

against God. I don't know. I was really in despair ?

very furious and despairing. I developed

claustrophobia from the tiny room, and it was really

terrible. I was terribly worried about my family; what

they were thinking of and what anxieties they had to

get through. And I also didn't know what would happen

to me, whether they would kill me, what they would do

to me, because at the start I was assuming several

perpetrators. At the start, I was also really afraid

of death.

 

NEWS: Are you still afraid?

 

Kampusch: Maybe it'll come back.

 

NEWS: Do you believe in God?

 

Kampusch: Well, that's very ambivalent: yes, a little.

 

 

NEWS: Did you also pray?

 

Kampusch: Yes, I did. Afterwards I no longer prayed.

Moreover, the criminal also prayed. So that's just not

possible. I thought to myself, even Fidel Castro is

praying.

 

NEWS: You talked about a dog, which you didn't have

all these years.

 

Kampusch: Not a dog ? I missed my cats terribly. And

my grandparents. I always felt that I would never see

them or my beloved cats again. My paternal grandmother

and my maternal grandfather have since died. And many

other relatives, my great-aunts.

 

NEWS: How is your relationship with your parents?

 

Kampusch: Very good. Yes, I love my parents. Someone

started a rumour that there was a quarrel. There isn't

any. Furthermore, I have so much to do that I wouldn't

have any time at all for my parents. We'll have an

eternity afterwards.

 

NEWS: How are you now? Do you still have headaches?

 

Kampusch: No, no headaches. But I am not very well

right now: My eyes hurt, I cough continuously, and

that's just unsuitable particularly during an

interview. I hope that, when the (people from) TV

come, I won't keel over.

 

NEWS: Thank you for taking the time for this interview

nevertheless.

 

Kampusch: You asked me previously about my plans. I

would like to catch up with my education. High school,

perhaps university.

 

NEWS: What course would you like to study?

 

Kampusch: No idea. Something one can do easily and

quickly.

 

NEWS: These days, nothing goes easily and quickly any

more, believe me. University is also getting more

difficult.

 

Kampusch: Actually, everything interests me, and I

would have to live forever in order to study

everything. Right now, I'm reading the media law. But

complementary subjects also interest me ? as someone

said: the esoteric subjects.

 

NEWS: That's something that our Finance Minister says.

Are you interested in politics?

 

Kampusch: Yes, that too ? but that would never fulfill

me.

 

NEWS: What specific things will you do in the near

future?

 

Kampusch: I told my mother that we should go on a

cruise. I don't know where to ? but I would like that.

I also told her that I would like to take the train to

Berlin -- just because it's like teleportation. You

take the train here and all of a sudden you come out

in Berlin. I am actually only interested in the trip

going there.

 

NEWS: The whole of Austria is already at your feet.

 

Kampusch: Yes. But I would also like to see London. Or

New York, but these security requirements drive me

crazy. But I am aware that big trips are not yet for

now. I would catch terrible diseases on these.

 

NEWS: Can you imagine meeting former friends at some

point?

 

Kampusch: Yes, I do. A friend from my kindergarten

days already contacted me, and I will certainly meet

her. Yes, I will meet friends or people in general. I

look forward to that. I have received so many letters

from people who are sympathetic to my fate.

 

NEWS: Will you answer all these letters and the other

mail?

 

Kampusch: Yes. I have received so many letters that I

am thinking of setting up a room for them ? shelves

for the many letters.

 

NEWS: And tell us what is particularly important to

you personally?

 

Kampusch: I am planning two projects. One for women in

Mexico who were taken from their workplace, kidnapped,

tortured in the most brutal manner, and raped. I want

to do what I can to make sure that that never happens

again. And I want to help people starving in Africa,

because I know from my own experience what it is like

to be hungry. And how much it degrades people. We suck

on fat-free candies and eat diabetic fare ? but the

people there are starving. The most important thing,

however: I would like to help everyone who has gone

through what I have gone through.

 

NEWS: How do you like your new life here at the AKH

(Vienna General Hospital)?

 

Kampusch: Oh, OK, I guess.

 

NEWS: Would you be willing to say something about your

doctors and caregivers?

 

Kampusch: Yes, of course. (Psychiatrist) Dr. (Max)

Friedrich is rather OK. He is very intelligent and

always knows just what I mean. My lawyers (Gabriel

Lansky, Gerald Ganzger) and my media consultant

(Dietmar Ecker) do their utmost to support me. I have

already accepted them all and they have probably

accepted me, too. They're all pretty cool. At least

most of the time.

 

NEWS: What do you mean by that?

 

Kampusch: There was a very minor clash between my

lawyer, Dr. Lansky, and Professor Friedrich. One

wanted me to leave the (hospital) ? and this is

further to your first question ? while the other

wanted me to stay there longer. I had to intervene and

just try to make sure that this controversy would die

down. ... This squabble doesn't help the therapy at

all. Dr. Lansky would rather have me outside. Dr.

Friedrich would rather have me inside. For now, I am

inside ? and am happy about the friendship with

Professor Friedrich.

 

NEWS: Who will be taking care of you in the future?

 

Kampusch: I have a therapist whose name I don't want

to mention. She is terrified by any kind of media.

With her, I can ? and this is the absolute truth ?

always lie on the couch. A real cliché: the therapist

and the patient on the couch.

 

NEWS: How do you feel about your new freedom?

 

Kampusch: Well, apart from the fact that I immediately

caught a cold and started sniffling, I am living quite

normally. I have quickly gotten back into social life.

It's amazing how quickly that went. I am now staying

and living with other people ? and have no problem

with this.

 

NEWS: Here at the hospital you meet young people who

are being treated?

 

Kampusch: I have been able to cope quickly. This was

not difficult if only because I can identify with many

things that I have experienced and seen here. There

are people at risk of suicide and anorexia patients.

And I can get along very well with all of them because

I can put myself in their shoes.

 

NEWS: How can you understand anorexics so well?

 

Kampusch: Because anorexics must always be forced to

eat. And during my captivity, I myself at times also

weighed very little.

 

NEWS: Do you want to talk about this " captivity? "

 

Kampusch: I am very freedom-loving. I am imbued with

the idea of freedom. That says it all.

 

NEWS: Now you have your freedom. Your future is far

more than just freedom. There are visions, plans,

wishes. What are your plans?

 

Kampusch: Yes, what indeed are my plans? Probably all

sorts of things. Anybody with my past will at any rate

plan the most obvious thing: I want to be vaccinated

against all sorts of things ? first of all, against

the flu. As you can see, the sniffles have really

gotten to me, which wouldn't have happened if I had

been vaccinated against it. So, that is just one

example for my future.

 

NEWS: And work wise?

 

Kampusch: I am still completely open. I can imagine

anything, from psychology to journalism to law. I have

also always wanted to be an actress, because I have

always been interested in the arts.

 

NEWS: Would you perhaps consider writing a book?

 

Kampusch: That too, maybe. But I am not yet sure

whether I would ever write a book about it.

 

NEWS: Now, seeing how bad your cold is, but without

wishing to pry too much, the question is: were you

actually never sick in the last eight years?

 

Kampusch: Yes, of course ? but I didn't have to give

any interviews at that time (laughs). So that wasn't

so bad. After all, for a good part of my life I wasn't

among people who could have infected me.

 

NEWS: Do you think that you were infected here at the

hospital?

 

Kampusch: Quite likely. Or at the very least, this

terrible air-conditioning is to blame.

 

NEWS: And otherwise you were never sick?

 

Kampusch: I was. At one point I developed

cardiovascular problems. That wasn't so great.

 

NEWS: Tell me what symptoms you specifically had then?

 

 

Kampusch: All sorts of things: tachycardia, heart

flutter, rhythm disorders, in the sense that it would

stop and then pump again. I would get dizzy; I

couldn't see anything anymore, for example, everything

was blurred. That was also probably due to lack of

food all the time.

 

NEWS: And with all these conditions, you never had a

doctor?

 

Kampusch: How was I supposed to have a doctor in my

dungeon? I know that this came about because I was

given too little to eat. Many people today suffer from

heart disease. This is probably simply because these

people had too little to eat. And now we are talking

about something that deeply concerns me: I would like

to establish a foundation that helps people who get

very little to eat.

 

NEWS: Did I understand you correctly: you were never

treated for your heart problems?

 

Kampusch: I never received treatment for it, he

continued to make me angry and molest me, and he

continued to make me haul buckets of soil.

 

NEWS: By " he " you mean ...

 

Kampusch: ... the criminal.

 

NEWS: In this regard, is there anything you don't want

to talk about?

 

Kampusch: My heart problems hardly bother me now, and

I have the feeling that the reader would not be

interested in my or anyone else's heart problems.

 

NEWS: Okay, I just want to know for myself how you

deal with such a burden. Do you want to talk about

other illnesses? Is there still a heart problem?

 

Kampusch: I don't know yet. My doctors will first have

to run tests. But today, I also had considerable heart

palpitations. That's probably because there are many

journalists.

 

Copyright by Alfred Worm/Verlagsgruppe NEWS/Austria

 

Copyright Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.