Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Wicked Wednesday - The Cannibal of Ziębice

This story just goes to show you that sometimes the nicest person you know could be inviting you to dinner - as the main course. 

Karl Denke lived in the town of Munsterberg, Germany in the early 1900s.  And from the historical accounts, he was nice guy.  He helped people.  He attended church.  He was even good to all the little children - earning himself the nickname 'Father Denke' amongst the locals.  He didn't drink or carouse with women.  Plus, he helped the indigent and the homeless and the needy.  What a great guy.

Except...

One night in 1924, an indigent man showed up at the police station covered in blood, claiming the lovely Father Denke had tried to kill him.  When they went to Denke, he said he had attacked the man, but only because the bum attacked him first.  Still, the police needed to look into the case and brought Karl to the station.  The next morning, they found that good ol' Karl had hanged himself.  Still, it was just a bum's word against such a fine, upstanding citizen.

Except...

When they went to Karl's apartment, they found quite the butcher shop Father Denke had going on.  A full-service one with all the tools and equipment necessary to dismember a human body.  And they found one hell of a larder - complete with body parts pickled in jars.  All told, they figured Karl had taken apart and processed at least 40 people in his little shop. 

I'm guessing that's where all the homeless people went after he 'helped' them.

Nice guy, eh?  Kind of makes you wonder what the guy next door is doing at all hours of the night.  And what's that smell?  Wasn't it nice of him to bring you some homemade sausage last week?

Yeah, I'm not hungry anymore either.

3 comments:

  1. Oh gruesome... I agree though, you just never know.

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  2. Ick! Stories like this make it harder to trust *anyone*.

    I was in California when two sweet, little old ladies were discovered to have helped - and killed - a bunch of old men and buried them in the backyard. I thought that was bad, but they weren't half as awful as your story.

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