Sunday, October 22, 2006

Creepy mystery

The creepy mystery of Kaspar Hauser is not very well-known in this country, but it still fascinates Germany. Was he a con artist? Lost royalty? An amnesiac? Or merely a child who was raised away from all light and life, then thrown out in the world on his own?

His mysterious murder ends his life with the same question mark as it began.

He brings to mind poor Genie, the California girl who was apparently chained to a bathroom for the first 13 years of her life. and has become the oft-used example of what happens when a child is raised feral, with as little human contact as possible. They're not alone, either -- read here about the Ukraine's dog girl. The very thought of it makes me sick.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The story of Genie never fails to shatter my heart. Such an incredibly avoidable tragedy.

Anonymous said...

I've just recently started reading about Kaspar Hauser and have become a little obsessed with it. Very interesting. Especially with the recent DNA tests showing he is related to the royal family.

Genie, however, is the most heartbreaking. I hate how she got returned to her mother and then regressed. It's sooooooo sad. :(

I'm going to go home and hug my kids now.