Cannibalism: A Short Study Of Extraordinary Incidents
A brief outline of the subsequent incidents of cannibalism, otherwise known as anthropophagy, will prove to the world that there exist individuals who consume other persons, whether habitually or on single cases, even until these days. These details will be narrated together with the motive s, whether definite or not, of the alleged cannibals concerned.
It is said that there are three major types of anthropophagy. These are: 1. Spiritual or Ritualistic Anthropophagy, 2. Survival Anthropophagy 3. Criminal Anthropophagy.
Spiritual or Ritualistic Anthropophagy refers to cannibalism done as an offshoot of common belief that these persons clearly do not consider to be deviant. This type generally dates back to the ancient fighting ceremonies and spiritual rites of natives, such as those in some parts of the Amazon and the old Papua New Guinea.
A more current observance of Spiritual or Ritualistic Cannibalism is connected with cults and their associated practices. First, there is the case of the Mauerova family originating from Czech Republic, wherein the mom, together with her kins and co- "Grail Movement" cult followers allegedly abused her two sons, 10 and 8 years old particularly. There was likewise one more cult in the Philippines, the supposed "Cannibal Gang", which was mixed up in land theft and livestock rustling, and famous for consuming the liver of the preys and ingesting their blood.
Conversely, Survival Cannibalism, by the word itself, represents anthropophagy committed out of extreme hunger and desolation at a time when food is inadequate, i.e. during periods of war, food shortage and aridity or misfortunes and crashes landing in distant areas. This also dates as far back in the primordial times. In truth, anthropophagy was cited in the Old Testament of the Bible. One verse is 2 Kings 6:28-29 involving two mothers who, out of starvation, decided to eat their sons. Scientific evidence illustrates that primitive men like the Neanderthals were cannibals that belong under this type.
Subsequent accounts include the great food shortage experienced by China at the time of the Great Leap Forward under prominent communist organizer Mao Zedong; the tale of the rugby team as well as their families and friends who were heading for Chile aboard the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 that smashed into the Andes Mountains in 1972; the assembly led by George Donner who were going to California via the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1846; and the 1884 English case of R vs Dudley and Stephens concerning the crew members of the Mignonette, a liner that was thrown away in a storm. Conversely, Criminal Cannibalism refers to cannibalism that may be sexually inspired or done out of pure violence. Many of these maneaters were found guilty of murder and served penalty; while the others were found innocent for the reason of lunacy and were just committed to an mental institute.
A contemporary case was that of a 19-year old German named Robert Ackermann who took the life of his roommate in Vienna, Austria and opened him allegedly out of ghastly interest for the human body. When caught in 2007, there was some evidence that he consumed some of the victim's appendages.
Also, there was the Ukrainian Andrei Chikatilo, a serial killer and sexual offender. He was purported to have similarly eaten his victims' sexual organs for sexual delight. He was found out and then put to death on February 14, 1994 in Rostov, Russia. Further, there was Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, a.k.a The Milwaukee Cannibal or The Milwaukee Monster. He was also a mass murderer and rapist. He was equally held to have done sexual acts with corpses and cannibalism. Also in the late 1990's, the African Revolutionary United Front (RUF) insurgents frightened the adversaries and the inhabitants alike by killing, dismembering and cannibalizing their enemies.
In 1981, Japanese Issei Sagawa was put in custody after he murdered his Dutch friend, sexually abused her corpse and consumed some of her limbs. He was committed to a mental home; but surprisingly, he was released just a little in excess of a year and went back to Japan. In the same year, Twenty six year old German Anna Zimmerman, one of the unusual female cannibals, murdered and amputated her mate for revenge. Subsequently, she kept the leftovers and ate them along with her unsuspecting children.
There were also the previous cases of, among many others, Nicolas Claux, Edmund Kemper, and Hamilton Howard "Albert" Fish. Nicolas was said to be a Satanist who took flesh from children's cadavers in a hospital morgue where he worked. On the other hand, Edmund was a serial killer who was allegedly psychologically ill-treated by his mother when he was a kid. Finally, Hamilton, also called The Boogey Man, The Gray Man, The Werewolf of Wysteria and The Brooklyn Vampire, was similarly a successive murderer. He was in addition a child sexual offender and a man-eater. He was sooner or later caught, found guilty and executed by electric chair.
How factual is cannibalism, a person might inquire. The above true-to-life accounts, and many other told and untold stories, all make anthropophagy very true.
It is said that there are three major types of anthropophagy. These are: 1. Spiritual or Ritualistic Anthropophagy, 2. Survival Anthropophagy 3. Criminal Anthropophagy.
Spiritual or Ritualistic Anthropophagy refers to cannibalism done as an offshoot of common belief that these persons clearly do not consider to be deviant. This type generally dates back to the ancient fighting ceremonies and spiritual rites of natives, such as those in some parts of the Amazon and the old Papua New Guinea.
A more current observance of Spiritual or Ritualistic Cannibalism is connected with cults and their associated practices. First, there is the case of the Mauerova family originating from Czech Republic, wherein the mom, together with her kins and co- "Grail Movement" cult followers allegedly abused her two sons, 10 and 8 years old particularly. There was likewise one more cult in the Philippines, the supposed "Cannibal Gang", which was mixed up in land theft and livestock rustling, and famous for consuming the liver of the preys and ingesting their blood.
Conversely, Survival Cannibalism, by the word itself, represents anthropophagy committed out of extreme hunger and desolation at a time when food is inadequate, i.e. during periods of war, food shortage and aridity or misfortunes and crashes landing in distant areas. This also dates as far back in the primordial times. In truth, anthropophagy was cited in the Old Testament of the Bible. One verse is 2 Kings 6:28-29 involving two mothers who, out of starvation, decided to eat their sons. Scientific evidence illustrates that primitive men like the Neanderthals were cannibals that belong under this type.
Subsequent accounts include the great food shortage experienced by China at the time of the Great Leap Forward under prominent communist organizer Mao Zedong; the tale of the rugby team as well as their families and friends who were heading for Chile aboard the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 that smashed into the Andes Mountains in 1972; the assembly led by George Donner who were going to California via the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1846; and the 1884 English case of R vs Dudley and Stephens concerning the crew members of the Mignonette, a liner that was thrown away in a storm. Conversely, Criminal Cannibalism refers to cannibalism that may be sexually inspired or done out of pure violence. Many of these maneaters were found guilty of murder and served penalty; while the others were found innocent for the reason of lunacy and were just committed to an mental institute.
A contemporary case was that of a 19-year old German named Robert Ackermann who took the life of his roommate in Vienna, Austria and opened him allegedly out of ghastly interest for the human body. When caught in 2007, there was some evidence that he consumed some of the victim's appendages.
Also, there was the Ukrainian Andrei Chikatilo, a serial killer and sexual offender. He was purported to have similarly eaten his victims' sexual organs for sexual delight. He was found out and then put to death on February 14, 1994 in Rostov, Russia. Further, there was Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, a.k.a The Milwaukee Cannibal or The Milwaukee Monster. He was also a mass murderer and rapist. He was equally held to have done sexual acts with corpses and cannibalism. Also in the late 1990's, the African Revolutionary United Front (RUF) insurgents frightened the adversaries and the inhabitants alike by killing, dismembering and cannibalizing their enemies.
In 1981, Japanese Issei Sagawa was put in custody after he murdered his Dutch friend, sexually abused her corpse and consumed some of her limbs. He was committed to a mental home; but surprisingly, he was released just a little in excess of a year and went back to Japan. In the same year, Twenty six year old German Anna Zimmerman, one of the unusual female cannibals, murdered and amputated her mate for revenge. Subsequently, she kept the leftovers and ate them along with her unsuspecting children.
There were also the previous cases of, among many others, Nicolas Claux, Edmund Kemper, and Hamilton Howard "Albert" Fish. Nicolas was said to be a Satanist who took flesh from children's cadavers in a hospital morgue where he worked. On the other hand, Edmund was a serial killer who was allegedly psychologically ill-treated by his mother when he was a kid. Finally, Hamilton, also called The Boogey Man, The Gray Man, The Werewolf of Wysteria and The Brooklyn Vampire, was similarly a successive murderer. He was in addition a child sexual offender and a man-eater. He was sooner or later caught, found guilty and executed by electric chair.
How factual is cannibalism, a person might inquire. The above true-to-life accounts, and many other told and untold stories, all make anthropophagy very true.
