been murdered by a serial killer in Germany. To my recollection, hardly a month went by during my primary school years that the media didn’t report yet another abducted, raped or murdered girl. The news programmes spared almost no detail describing the dramatic search operations and police investigations. I saw sniffer dogs in forests and divers who combed lakes and ponds for the bodies of the missing girls. Again and again I listened to the horrific stories of the family members: how the girls had disappeared while playing outdoors or simply failed to come home from school; howtheir parents had desperately searched for them until they received the terrible news that they would never see their children alive again.
The reports throughout the media at the time were so pervasive that we discussed them in school as well. The teachers explained to us how we could protect ourselves from attacks. We watched films where girls were molested by their older brothers, or where boys learned to say ‘No!’ to their grabby fathers. And our teachers reiterated the warnings that had been hammered into us children repeatedly at home: ‘Never go anywhere with strangers! Never get into a strange car. Never accept sweets from a stranger. And cross to the other side of the street if something seems strange to you.’
When I look at the list of cases that occurred during those years, I’m as shaken as I was back then:
– Yvonne (twelve years old) was beaten to death in July 1995 on Lake Pinnow (Brandenburg) because she resisted the man trying to rape her.
– Annette (fifteen years old), from Mardorf on Lake Steinhude, was found naked, sexually molested and murdered in 1995 in a cornfield. The perpetrator was not caught.
– Maria (seven years old) was abducted, molested and thrown into a pond in Haldensleben (Sachsen-Anhalt) in November 1995.
– Elmedina (six years old) was abducted, molested and suffocated in February 1996 in Siegen.
– Claudia (eleven years old) was abducted, molested and burned to death in Grevenbroich in May 1996.
– Ulrike (thirteen years old) never returned from an outing on a pony-drawn carriage on 11 June 1996. Her body was found two years later.
– Ramona (ten years old) disappeared without atrace from a shopping centre on 15 August 1996 in Jena. Her body was found in January 1997 near Eisenach.
– Natalie (seven years old) was abducted, molested and murdered by a 29-year-old man on 20 September 1996 in Epfach in Upper Bavaria on her way to school.
– Kim (ten years old), from Varel in Frisia, was abducted, molested and murdered in January 1997.
– Anne-Katrin (eight years old) was found beaten to death on 9 June 1997 near her parents’ house in Seebeck in Brandenburg.
– Loren (nine years old) was molested and murdered in the basement of her parents’ house in Prenzlau by a 20-year-old man in July 1997.
– Jennifer (eleven years old) was lured by her uncle into his car, molested and strangled on 13 January 1998 in Versmold near Gütersloh.
– Carla (twelve years old) was attacked on her way to school on 22 January 1998 in Wilhermsdorf near Fürth, molested and thrown unconscious into a pond. She died five days later in a coma.
The cases involving Jennifer and Carla hit me particularly hard. Jennifer’s uncle confessed after his arrest that he wanted to sexually molest the girl in his car. When she resisted, he strangled her and hid her body in the woods. The reports really got under my skin. The psychologists interviewed on TV advised us back then not to resist the attackers so as not to risk being killed. Even more horrific were the TV reports about Carla’s murder. I can still see the reporters in my mind’s eye; I can picture them standing in front of the pond in Wilhermsdorf, explaining that the police could tell from the churned-up earth just how much the girl had resisted. The funeral service was broadcast on television. I sat in front ofmy TV with eyes wide open in fear. Only one
The reports throughout the media at the time were so pervasive that we discussed them in school as well. The teachers explained to us how we could protect ourselves from attacks. We watched films where girls were molested by their older brothers, or where boys learned to say ‘No!’ to their grabby fathers. And our teachers reiterated the warnings that had been hammered into us children repeatedly at home: ‘Never go anywhere with strangers! Never get into a strange car. Never accept sweets from a stranger. And cross to the other side of the street if something seems strange to you.’
When I look at the list of cases that occurred during those years, I’m as shaken as I was back then:
– Yvonne (twelve years old) was beaten to death in July 1995 on Lake Pinnow (Brandenburg) because she resisted the man trying to rape her.
– Annette (fifteen years old), from Mardorf on Lake Steinhude, was found naked, sexually molested and murdered in 1995 in a cornfield. The perpetrator was not caught.
– Maria (seven years old) was abducted, molested and thrown into a pond in Haldensleben (Sachsen-Anhalt) in November 1995.
– Elmedina (six years old) was abducted, molested and suffocated in February 1996 in Siegen.
– Claudia (eleven years old) was abducted, molested and burned to death in Grevenbroich in May 1996.
– Ulrike (thirteen years old) never returned from an outing on a pony-drawn carriage on 11 June 1996. Her body was found two years later.
– Ramona (ten years old) disappeared without atrace from a shopping centre on 15 August 1996 in Jena. Her body was found in January 1997 near Eisenach.
– Natalie (seven years old) was abducted, molested and murdered by a 29-year-old man on 20 September 1996 in Epfach in Upper Bavaria on her way to school.
– Kim (ten years old), from Varel in Frisia, was abducted, molested and murdered in January 1997.
– Anne-Katrin (eight years old) was found beaten to death on 9 June 1997 near her parents’ house in Seebeck in Brandenburg.
– Loren (nine years old) was molested and murdered in the basement of her parents’ house in Prenzlau by a 20-year-old man in July 1997.
– Jennifer (eleven years old) was lured by her uncle into his car, molested and strangled on 13 January 1998 in Versmold near Gütersloh.
– Carla (twelve years old) was attacked on her way to school on 22 January 1998 in Wilhermsdorf near Fürth, molested and thrown unconscious into a pond. She died five days later in a coma.
The cases involving Jennifer and Carla hit me particularly hard. Jennifer’s uncle confessed after his arrest that he wanted to sexually molest the girl in his car. When she resisted, he strangled her and hid her body in the woods. The reports really got under my skin. The psychologists interviewed on TV advised us back then not to resist the attackers so as not to risk being killed. Even more horrific were the TV reports about Carla’s murder. I can still see the reporters in my mind’s eye; I can picture them standing in front of the pond in Wilhermsdorf, explaining that the police could tell from the churned-up earth just how much the girl had resisted. The funeral service was broadcast on television. I sat in front ofmy TV with eyes wide open in fear. Only one
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