My Story is part of an effort by investigative Journalist Safe Kids International to raise awareness about an issue of social injustice which is endangering millions of children around the world.
There is an epidemic of Family court judges deliberately disregarding substantial evidence of serious child abuse and granting custody to abusive fathers. This is my Story.
My daughter Elina was abducted to and held prisoner in France when she was four years old. This Story and the suffering of little E. and myself begin in summer 2010 when my former menfriend and father of my child met with extremist Olivier Karrer in Strasburg/France who is a fanatic germanophobic and kidnapped many children from Germany to "save them from growing up under NAZI German guardianship". Since this time French Family Courts ignore all evidence of severe child abuse, unlawful detention, discrimination as a mother and a German, Membership in a criminal Group.
Eli was born in April 2006 in Strasburg/France. I am German, but we lived close to the French border than. I was brought to University clinic in Strasburg 36 weeks pregnant as a medical emergency. When I was brought there I was unconsious. After my daughter was born I returned home to live in Germany. I was never married.
When E. was one year old we broke up. I had suffered too much and could not stay with this man. He is showing many signs of narcisstic personality disorder. He is incapabel of compassion and regret, can be very charming and convincing and his highly manipulative.
After our separation I always tried to soothe my ex-Partner. I knew he was vengeful and would try to hurt me whenever he could. I tried to cooperate in my daughter's best interest. I never wanted to keep her away from her father, because I believed that a child needs both parents even if they don't live together (or even more so). I signed the documents in both countries, Germany and France, to guarentee her father all civil rights to his daughter. I believed it would be nicer for the girl to have a legal status towards her father and I wanted her to know that she was loved and respected by both parents no matter if they were married or not.
We handled the situation without greater incidents until E. was four years old. Her kindergarten teachers in Germany told me that it was inadequate for a four-year-old to change between countries with different languages and cultures. I should bring her to kindergarten in Germany all week and for the weekends to France to spend time with her father.
I tried to talk sense to her father who insulted me as a NAZI when I said I did not want E. to attend pre-school in France. Instead of listening to the teachers he made contact with Olivier Karrer and his CEED - Conseil des Enfants du divorce in Strasburg/France.
After a holiday in France with her father in summer 2010 E. did not return home. I had planned to go to Italy with her to spend our holidays together. By E-Mail her father informed me that he would not bring her back home. She had to stay with him to be kept from growing up in NAZI Germany. He kept her prisoner with a member of CEED, but this I learned much later.
I went to the Police in Germany and France but received no help. French Police cooperated with the abductor. G. (the father) instructed the national Police in France to not give me a phone call after my daughter was found. He wanted me to come to French Family court, because he was sure to get what he wanted in his own country: custody for E. They did not call. I was desperate. Everybody told me I must find myself a lawyer in France. Otherwise I would never see my child again.
I went to Family court in Strasburg/France in October 2010. I believed the case would be treated as a criminal case, but no. The judge did not even tell me where my daughter was and who she had spend the last two months with. Judge Sophie Thomas did not let me speak at all. I was not allowed a translator though it was clear that I had great difficulty with French.
She fixed Elina's home with her violent father.
Why?
Judge Sophie Thomas in Strasburg (who advanced in her career and moved to Paris after this court Hearing) decided, that a child needs both parents and for this reason I must first reconcile with the father with the help of a French Family mediator and plan a common future with him before I may see her again more often than once a month. E. had lived with me before this and felt home and had many friends in our neigbourhood.
I was allowed to see her for a weekend after the abduction and detention for two months. My Little girl was traumatized. She was crying all the time and did not want to let go off me. She begged I should keep her and not bring her back to live with her father and the Karrer family.
I kept her. We lived together again and E. was slowly healing Her father was furious when I wrote to him that E. did not want to come back to him and had bittlerly cried and begged to stay with me.
They came on 22. December 2010, 8;40 a.m. They came by car. My mother was walking little E. to kindergarten. They were joking and laughing on their way when a car came from behind. One masked Person jumped out of the car, snatched E. from the hand of her grandmother and forced her into the car. G. was behind the steering wheel. They drove off, changed cars after 500 meters so the police was looking for the wrong license plate and escaped to the nearby French border. French Police was informed but willingly and ostentatively did nothing to arrest G.
After this I did not see E. for one year (except for one moment after eight months). One year is exactly the time period requested by the Hague's regulations. After one year a child cannot be returned to his home country. So E. was kept hidden for exactly this time period before I could see her again. Again French Family court and police cooperated and allowed E. only after one year to see her mother again.
Today E is eight years old and still living with her perpetrator. All criminal charges against G. are being ignored by French Family Courts.
He has been convicted after three (!) years for kidnapping. His fine was 3000 Euro. An international arrest warrant against G. was ignored by French Family court.