Saturday, August 11, 2018
The Greatest Fear of All ..
Over the years, I've sometimes wondered about the fate of an 11 year old boy kidnapped by his father without his knowing at the time, that prior to that, the father had already murdered his (the boy's) mother and grandmother.
Only recently, twenty years later, the boy, now a 31-year veterinary doctor, married man, and father of a child - has decided to open up on his traumatic story.
(I got to read only the written version, an exclusive interview; haven't watched yet the doco entitled 'Daddy where are my Mom and my Grandma?' created by the journalist - interviewer).
Both parents were scientists at the prestigious Weizmann Institute of Science in the town of Rechovot; they were not married, but had a court parenthood agreement regarding the boy's living with his mother and being on certain days at his father's place.
The police had no clue about the whereabouts of father and son. It was the kidnapped boy that finally provided the clue.
Whenever left alone in the hotel room in Bern, Switzerland (fugitive father being busy with getting passports) - he tried and succeeded to dial to the phone numbers of his mother/grandmother in Israel; these unanswered phone calls were intercepted by the police and eventually led to the capture of the father.
At the trial, the child, still in trauma and tearful, was brought to give testimony , but he refused to do so in his father's presence; he was terrified and unable to face him. So the father had to be taken out of the room.
The young vet has still good reason to be afraid of his father. The latter (sentenced for life) might find a way to get a temporary leave from prison and try to meet "his boy". So far, his repeated requests for such a leave have been rejected. But... one never knows. The interview, however, ends on an optimistic note.
Somehow, reading between the lines, I got the feeling that the son's greatest fear of all was ...genetics.
We can never predict the right combination of genes that one inherits from mother and father, if at all. As a medical person and son of two scientists, he knows more than we do about that, and I suppose he's, naturally, worried if not for himself, then for his offspring.
They say (jokingly) about money that Money's not all, it's just the One thing. Genetics, they say (seriously), is not the One thing that determines our future; Environment is also a factor and it can influence our genes and traits. True, only no one seems to know the proper formula. (By the way, the father grew up in the best environment one could dream of - in one of the most rich and respectable families in the town of Rechovot).
Labels:
environment,
genes,
genetics,
scientists,
sentenced for life.,
son,
testimony,
traits
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What a terribly sad, tragic story this is. And one can understand (to an extent) how the young man must feel about genetics. That would be a personal fear...something that would play on the mind of someone in his position. I hope he is receiving professional assistance to help him eradicate all his fears.
ReplyDeleteAnd I also hope that the justice system there is tougher than ours here...and the monster of a father is never allowed to walk free. May he rot in jail!
Sadly, the justice system in my country is very, very weak. They should have made the father's life a misery as the body of the boy's mother has never been found; he refuses to disclose the place ( only her car stained with blood was found). Instead, he got some sort of status in jail, teacher of maths to those convicts that wish to study and obtain a degree of some sort.
DeleteI'm forever shaking my head, DUTA, over the injustices, the stupidity. the unfathomable acts I see on the news bulletins and read about in the papers, it's a wonder my head is still attached to my neck!!
DeleteSame with me. I take these things hard. I haven't watched the documentary as I know it's not for 'the faint of heart'.
DeleteDo we know why did the father murder the mother and grandmother?
ReplyDeleteJustice system is weak in my country as well, money plays the role here. We have, for example, a case of a billionaire's son who killed a girl with his car and is still not in jail.
I remember that story about the girl who was kidnapped by a woman as a baby and raised by her not knowing she isn't her mother, and when her real mother found her, the girl refused to leave her 'fake' mother. It was all over the news recently.
I've always thought prisoners should not really get any special treatment in jails, especially murderers, they should dig holes, work in mines, work on farms, roads etc. for free of course :)
I very much agree with your last paragraph, but nowadays, human life has become cheap, very cheap.
DeleteThe father wanted the boy to himself only, and was morbidly jealous of the boy's happiness with his mother and grandmother. At 50, he quit his job to spy on the boy and the two women. According to the boy's testimony,there were quarels about his not paying alimony.
Do you remember when a few years ago that psycho mass murderer Breivik sued the state of Norway because his 'human rights' were broken in jail while he is serving life sentence... that's how ridiculous judicial system sometimes is.
DeleteOf course. His appeal was rejected. By the way, he was sentenced for 21 years of prison, not for life.
DeleteI think about that subject a lot too. I wonder about the parents and children of psychopaths. It's a chilling thought.
ReplyDeleteObviously, the father in this case was a psychopat. It makes us think a lot, but there are no answers. We know so very little about the human mind, genetics, and how to prevent disasters! Chilling, indeed.
DeleteWhat an awful thing for that boy to have to go through.
ReplyDeleteHis life is what we call 'before' and 'after'. However, in this case the 'before' was too short; he was only 11, and the 'after' will go with him till he closes his eyes - with the usual ups and downs of life. The ups being: his profession, wife, and child.
DeleteIt really is amazing he's managed to become a vet. My oh my. He's a survivor.
ReplyDeleteHe is indeed a survivor.
DeleteNot surprising he chose to deal with animals in his daily life. His faith in humans was, no doubt, heavily shaken.
I can't imagine living with the memories and the continual fear and, yes, a child would have some guilty feelings, unfounded and unnecessary. What a story.
ReplyDeleteTrue. It's hard to imagine how he carries on with all those memories, fears, and feelings.
DeleteThey say 'Man is stronger than Steel'. Well, this young man is living proof of this saying.
What a survivor this incredible man is.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing his story here.
All the best Jan
It's not often that we come upon an incredible person. Pity his background story is such an incredibly tragic one.
DeleteBoa tarde, as lembranças vão continuar para toda a vida na cabeça da vitima que hoje é veterinário, certamente que as mesma farão dele um bom homem.
ReplyDeleteFeliz semana,
AG
I agree with your optimistic comment. The memories will go with him, but will make him a good, strong man.
DeleteInteresting story, Duta! We were just talking yesterday about how bad things happen to good people. Bad seeds are abundant in this crazy world today and no parent wants to be bad but in a case like this the father should be in prison and the key thrown away or even worse. Too bad the son will have this on his mind every day for the rest of his life while trying to be a nurturing optimistic parent to his own son. It's almost enough to make one wonder if one should have a child because of this sort of genetic background.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
We have a lot of questions, but only God has all the answers; science doesn't seem to have them. Anyway, we understand very little of how genetics works.
DeleteI am not familiar with this profoundly sad story. Yes, genetics would be a concern but so, too, is free will to live a different life. It sounds as though he is doing all the right things though, this young man, a survivor indeed.
ReplyDeleteThat's my impression too, namely that he's doing "all the right things", so he'll escape the bad genetics.
DeleteWhat a sad story! I can understand his fear though. Thankfully we have a God bigger than genetics.
ReplyDeleteBlessings~
Well said - "God is bigger than genetics". He's bigger than anything; that's why we pray to him asking for help and guidance.
DeleteWhat a sad story! I like how you said it --- God is bigger than genetics.
DeleteThe previous commenter 'A Joyful Chaos' wrote that, and I totally agree with her. I like it that you also like it, because that's the big truth of our existence.
DeleteJumping in here, after reading the post and its a hard topic to read and comment on. I also like how A Joyful Chaos said it, and agree with Sandi and you!! Praise God for anyone who calls on the name of the LORD can be saved!!
DeleteThanks Shayndel for "jumping in" and commenting. We can't escape the truth that there's a higher power than us that decides things. (We call it God, others call it the Universe or Supernatural Power). Praying to God is my way of getting help.
DeleteHello Duta, I think that the very fact that this young man has this worry on his mind shows that he has a caring soul and empathy.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes me angry is that in our judicial system a term of 'life' doesn't mean for the whole of life, just a few years given appeals etc. Whereas victims have received their life sentence.
A very thoughtful post.
So very true! It's only the victim that actually gets her life sentence. The judicial system, in the so called civilized world is a farce, nothing else.
DeleteIt is atornishing to me, that when people do stuff like this they never think about the impact of their actions on say the child or all those left behind in mourning. How does one get to such a desperate and violent act. So so sad! I wish before people were required to get married or have children they were required to take a class that may way people down various roads like role playing to talk about issues that I don't think people should talk about before walking down these roads. I also wish that it was easier for those to get counseling whether it be for marriage or mental illness. There is still so much stigma surrounding these forms of help. Also, price tag also being another issue. Wish insurance picked up more of the tab.
ReplyDeleteYour wishes are logical. Pre- marriage education and counseling could be very beneficial.
DeleteMental cases could also be helped by the right counseling services.
What a sad story. My great grandfather was from Mexico and came to the United States and fell in love with a Caucasian American woman. They married, had several children, one of those children was my paternal grandmother who was born in the United States and was a U.S. Citizen. When the marriage fell apart my great grandfather kidnapped all his children and took them back to Mexico, including my paternal grandmother.
ReplyDeleteShe grew up in Mexico, never knowing that she was an American citizen or that she had family in the United States, she was told her mother died. She married my grandfather and they had my dad and all his siblings.
To make a long story short, when my dad's siblings started the process to become American citizens and come to the U.S. it became known that they were American citizens already and that is how my dad and his siblings are their parents all came to the U.S.A.
People do crazy things and they don't even realize the effect it has on generations to come. I don't know anything about my paternal great grandmother. It is so sad to me that she lived the rest of her life wondering where her children were and how they grew up.
Interesting story, and I'm glad you've shared it on my blog. It's relevant to my post as far as kidnapping is concerned. Kidnapping is an action with grave conequences for all involved. At least, there has been no murder. Thanks, Alicia.
Delete