Ruinerwold

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Ruinerwold

Postby cptmarginal » Fri Oct 18, 2019 11:56 pm

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/ ... lt-moonies

The father of a family that spent nearly a decade living in a secret room in a Dutch farmhouse once belonged to the Rev Sun Myung Moon’s controversial Unification church and was trying to found a cult of his own, Dutch media have reported.

The 67-year-old man, who has not been identified by Dutch police but was named by the movement, often known as the Moonies, as Gerrit-Jan van Dorsten, was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of “depriving people of their liberty, harming the health of others and money laundering”, police said in a statement.

They said they were investigating allegations that a “certain belief in faith” lay behind the case. “We have reason to believe the people did not stay on the premises out of free will,” the statement said. “The situation requires a careful approach whereby attention and care is given to the young adults found.”

The five young people, who have said they are siblings and are believed to be aged between 18 and 25, were discovered in the hidden room with the man they said was their father after a sixth, supposedly the oldest brother, arrived at a local bar in a state of confusion and told the owner they urgently needed help.

The tenant of the farmhouse, a 58-year-old Austrian man identified by the church as Josef Brunner, appeared before an examining magistrate on Thursday on similar charges and was ordered to be detained for two weeks. “We are dealing with an exceptional situation,” the police statement said.

The Universal Peace Federation, as the church now calls itself, was founded in 1954 and is famed for its mass weddings. It said in a statement issued in New York that it was “deeply alarmed to hear of the family being held in inhumane conditions on a farmhouse in the Netherlands”.

It said it could confirm that Van Dorsten “was briefly a member of our movement in the mid-1980s” but had left in 1987. He was “known to have mental health issues” and his brother had not heard from him for over 30 years, it said, adding that there were no records indicating Brunner had ever been associated with the movement.

A local TV station, RTV Drenthe, had earlier reported that the Austrian was a member of the church, which was where the two men had met. The broadcaster also reported that the siblings had been moved from a holiday park where they were taken after other guests had seen them performing cult rituals, such as walking in circles.

Three people who say they are also Van Dorsten’s children have come forward to say they left the family eight years ago and had heard no news of the others since. Neighbours told Dutch media they had assumed he had moved to South Korea, where the movement was founded, or died. He did not attend his mother’s funeral, one said.

Willem Koetsier, a church member in Amsterdam, told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper that after van Dorsten had left the movement he had gone to Germany where “we lost sight of him”. He said he believed the father “together with someone else” had since started their own cult.

Van Dorsten was was active in the movement in Germany and Austria and later married an Austrian woman, Koetsier told the paper. “I have heard from older members that he was a very spiritual person and set up a group with his family,” he said. “Sometimes people who are spiritual start their own church or movement. I think this is the case with him. It could be that he thought he had a special mission.”

Brunner’s brother said separately that the Austrian had previously been in a cult after leaving military service, although he did not say which group. “He was in a sect,” the brother told the Kronen Zeitung newspaper. “We’ve had no contact with him for 10 years. I told him to get lost when he wanted me to become his financial guarantor.”


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‘Weird rituals & fantasy language’: Dutch father who held 6 children underground for 9 years was creating own cult
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Re: Dutch Moonies held 6 children underground for 9 years

Postby Jerky » Sat Oct 19, 2019 9:27 pm

I was checking out this case earlier today and there is a lot about it that I don't understand...

For instance, am I missing something, or does it seems as though their confinement was, at least somewhat, voluntary?

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Re: Dutch Moonies held 6 children underground for 9 years

Postby cptmarginal » Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:48 pm

There are a number of curious details, including the Unification Church protesting a little too much and even going so far as to name the father. What is the deal with the Austrian guy, who was first arrested? The references to money laundering and seeking financial guarantors seem like they are part of a bigger story.

Everything in this section of the article raises more questions:

Willem Koetsier, a church member in Amsterdam, told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper that after van Dorsten had left the movement he had gone to Germany where “we lost sight of him”. He said he believed the father “together with someone else” had since started their own cult.

Van Dorsten was was active in the movement in Germany and Austria and later married an Austrian woman, Koetsier told the paper. “I have heard from older members that he was a very spiritual person and set up a group with his family,” he said. “Sometimes people who are spiritual start their own church or movement. I think this is the case with him. It could be that he thought he had a special mission.”

Brunner’s brother said separately that the Austrian had previously been in a cult after leaving military service, although he did not say which group. “He was in a sect,” the brother told the Kronen Zeitung newspaper. “We’ve had no contact with him for 10 years. I told him to get lost when he wanted me to become his financial guarantor.”


Anyway, if the young (now) adults involved range in age from "18 to 25" then 9 years ago they were certainly children. And who knows what family life was like for them before they started living in that secret room? The neighbors assumed that they had moved to South Korea years ago, which implies that people were not seen on the premises from day to day (and also that nobody had reason to believe they had left the Church)
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Re: Dutch Moonies held 6 children underground for 9 years

Postby cptmarginal » Sun Oct 20, 2019 5:28 pm

I have not searched Twitter yet to see if I am the first to uncover this. I found it using a custom Google search. No need to add the link to the PDF file, just in case.

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New York Tribune correspondent in Munich, eh?

A brother named Gerrit van Dorsten, who is a New York Tribune correspondent in Munich, received the revelation that a spirit man was indeed listening to Mrs. Heuer every day. Initially, he wanted nothing to do with revelations or spiritual experiences. Gerrit knew that if a person does not have a strong spirit and maintain the subject position, he or she could be misused by the spirit world.

Our center in Munich is quite close to Father Meyer's former church. Father Meyer's body was buried in the small cemetery of this church. Sometimes Gerrit visited this church and prayed. One particular day he went to this church and was just about to speak when he felt his mouth move, through no will of his own. He tried to stop from speaking because he had no idea what would come out; he was afraid he might speak something bad and he did not want this to happen.

That was the 25th of March. Gerrit heard a voice and wrote down what he heard. In this revelation Father Meyer told him that there are many good Christians in the Munich area but they do not know the Will of God or how to serve Him. They do not know how to realize God's ideal on this earth. Father Meyer emphasized our responsibility to teach them the way to realize God's ideal on the earth. Father Meyer also said that there are many good spirit beings on the earth. There are many good people in the spirit world who were faithful during their physical lifetimes, but that now they need us to fulfill their purpose. He stressed the role of our members and called Unification Church members "sons and daughters of God." He said that even though we may have difficulties, we must continue. It is our responsibility as Unification Church members to teach them; without us, they cannot be taught God's Will. He talked about many other things and at the end he said, "I give this in the name of the eternal father, Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his holy wife, Hak Ja Han."

At the next day's morning service, he read this revelation to the members. Erika Heuer was among those in the congregation. She was very surprised when she heard the words Father Meyer used to end the revelation. She recognized them as the exact ones she used each day of the two years to end her reading of Divine Principle. It confirmed that Father Meyer had indeed listened to her daily readings.

From the day after Father Meyer came to Gerrit, Heung Jin Nim came and shared many things about his life. Heung Jin Nim emphasized, just as Father had, that he had sacrificed his life for us and for Father. He also explained what he is doing now in the spirit world.

Father Meyer said that even though Erika had been teaching him the Principle every day, the time for him to be able to reveal himself was shortened only because of Heung Jin Nim. Without Heung Jin Nim it would have taken many more years for him to come and assist the providence in Germany.


Blast from the past: Black Heung Jin Nim
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Re: Dutch Moonies held 6 children underground for 9 years

Postby Jerky » Sun Oct 20, 2019 5:42 pm

WHOA!

WTF?!

You should probably post your discovery in General, with an explanation of why this is kind of a Big Deal.

I'll go check Twitter to see if anyone else has sussed this out.

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Re: Dutch Moonies held 6 children underground for 9 years

Postby cptmarginal » Fri Oct 25, 2019 8:10 pm

I almost left a tip about that on the Daily Mail hotline, or that of another trashy sensationalist outlet that solicits tips (like the NYPost.)

Investigators revealed Tuesday that they had trouble understanding the family of six — retiree Geet van Dorsten and his five adult children, ages 18 to 25 — when they responded to the out-of-the-way farm in the rural province of Drenethe Sunday, according to the Daily Mail. Parts of their speech were “incomprehensible,” the outlet reported.


I think that the "fantasy language" is very likely to have simply been sub-par Korean, as the language is taught to all children raised in the Church. They talk a lot about the importance of learning Korean. Neighbors assumed that they had emigrated to South Korea.

"Most evil spirits have been beaten", trapped family's father says in 2006 video

By Janene Pieters on October 21, 2019 - 09:25

Gerrit Jan van D., a man found living with six of his children in a hidden space on a farm in Ruinerwold last week, recorded a series of religious videos in 2006. In these videos he speaks of a spiritual war that is not quite over, but that god declared to be 'won'. The Telegraaf discovered these videos and posted excerpts on its site.

"We have gone through a very big war. That war was mainly spiritual and though this war has not entirely ended, still God has announced the end and the victory of the battle in spirit world. The final judgment in spirit world", the bearded man says in the video. "And because this battle is over now and most evil spirits have been beaten and are defeated, today, now we can start with thinking again and pondering over god's ideals."

Van D. also speaks about doing things for your own gain and at the detriment of your family. "You get what you want. But your parents have pain. Maybe your brothers and sisters have pain and misery from what you took for yourself. Is that happiness? Are you happy then?" he said.

According to the Telegraaf, Van D. recorded these videos in his store in Zwatsluis in 2006.

Father Gerrit Jan van D. was found living in a hidden room on a farm in Ruinerwold with six of his children on Monday. The police believe they've been living there in complete isolation from the rest of the world for nine years. The children told the police they are between the ages of 18 and 25. None of them have birth certificates. The family was discovered after one son, a 25-year-old named Jan, got out and made contact with local residents.

On Saturday the Public Prosecutor confirmed that Van D. registered himself as "emigrated" in 2009. Before that the family lived in the municipality of Zwartwaterland for years, first in Hasselt and then in Zwartsluis. A truancy officer for the municipality of Zwartwaterland visited the family in the past and found no reason to report them to the authorities, the mayor said on Friday.

The tenant of the farm in Ruinerwold, Josef B., and Van D. have both been arrested. They are suspected of deprivation of freedom, harming the health of others, and money laundering. B. was arraigned on Thursday and remanded into custody for at least another 14 days.

Van D. also has three other children who fled the family eight years ago, and one more son from a previous marriage, the man's family revealed in a statement.


Suspect's brother not surprised by involvement with family concealed for years

By Janene Pieters on October 17, 2019 - 12:00

The older brother of 58-year-old Austrian man Josef B. is not surprised that his brother was arrested on suspicion of depriving a family of their freedom for nine years on a farm in Ruinerwold, he said to newspaper AD. "Josef has a very strong persuasiveness", brother Franz said to the newspaper.

Josef B. was arrested earlier this week after the police found a father and his six adult children living in a hidden space on the farm B. was renting in Ruinerwold. On Wednesday the Public Prosecutor announced that B. is suspected of depriving people of their physical freedom, and harming the health of others.

Franz describes Josef as greedy, calculating and unpredictable. He hasn't had contact with him in 10 years. When he heard about 'Josef the Austrian' being arrested in connection with a family kept isolated from the world for years, he immediately thought of his brother.

Josef grew up on a family farm with four siblings. "When my father handed over the farm to me, the problems started", Franz said. "When Josef learned that I was in charge of the farm, he immediately demanded that I pay him for his services." That was the first of many fights. "He always wanted money and was always after his own advantage."

Franz sent him away when Josef asked him to stand surety for a bank loan. After drifting around for a while, Josef ended up with an elderly aunt who named him as her heir. He lived with the aunt in a 300 year old house with a lot of land in Pabneukirchen from 1998 to about 2008, Franz said. "Almost as strictly religious as he used to be, he behaved like a pagan then. He bluntly removed an altar decorated by that aunt in her home. After the aunt's death, he first sold the land. The home followed in 2009. A broker arranged everything because Josef was already living in Meppel back then."

According to Franz, Josef B. likely met the father of the family held at his farm in an Austrian cult he joined after his military service in Linz. He met his Dutch friend Gerrit-Jan van D. in that cult in the 90s, Franz said to AD. "Josef regularly visited that friend with his wife and daughters. He had a family with seven or eight children. In 2006 or 2007, Josef left his wife and children behind and went to the Netherlands. His daughters, now adults, tried in vain to get in touch with him in 2017."

The Dutch police are continuing their investigation at the Ruinerwold farmhouse on Buitenhuizerweg. On Thursday forensic investigators are working on creating a digital record of all the inside areas of the home, the police said.


Dutch father in Ruinerwold case went by ‘John Eagles’ online - The man accused of locking away his six adult children in a remote farmhouse for nine years made a series of bizarre posts online.

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Also from that article:

Sources said evidence was found at the spooky tree-shrouded property suggesting the dad had “common cause” with bearded former cult member Brunner.

The adult children - so isolated that some are unable to talk coherently - are now being cared for at a secret location while being assessed by mental health experts and counsellors.


Google Translated: The 25-year-old son of the 'recluse family' from Ruinerwold has been outside the farm more often. De Telegraaf writes that Jan has certainly been to Canada twice in recent years, among other things to work on his aunt's farm.

Google Translated: Police investigate land in Punthorst of an isolated family from Ruinerwold - they showed up with diggers prepared to search underground.

Another article says, in translation:

An unknown amount of money was found in the house. "It is not a matter of a few tens and that is why we are investigating where that money comes from," says the police spokeswoman. Administration and data carriers were found during two house searches in Zwartsluis and Meppel.


What does the translated phrase "administration and data carriers" mean?
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Re: Ruinerwold

Postby cptmarginal » Sun Oct 27, 2019 9:06 pm

Thanks to Elvis, for moving and renaming this thread by my request.
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