neighbor, crossing herself:
«They say things are very bad in Munich… You can’t get bread,» whispered old Greta, and her voice trembled as if from a chill, although it was hot in the heated hut. She looked away from the window, behind which crimson twilight was thickening, as if not daring to face the impending disaster.
«And what will happen next?» asked the neighbor, Frau Schmidt, frightened, nervously fingering the cross on her chest. In her eyes, a primeval fear splashed, as if she felt the approach of something terrible, something she could not explain.
Greta was silent, listening to the silence, broken only by the crackling of firewood in the stove. «Next…» she croaked finally, and her voice sounded ominous, like the croaking of a crow. «Next, it will be worse. Hunger is not the worst thing. Evil… it’s already here. It hides in the shadows, waiting for its hour. And soon it will go hunting. Pray, Frau Schmidt. Pray that it passes us by. But I’m afraid… I’m afraid our prayers will not be heard.»
And on the very edge of the village, half a kilometer from Groben, at the very edge of the ominous Witch’s Forest, stood the Hinterkaifeck farm. It stood out against the background of the neat and well-kept houses of Groben, like a dark spot on a light background. A place that was whispered about behind their backs, a place that was avoided, especially after sunset.
The Hinterkaifeck farm… there were bad rumors about it, that the land there was cursed, that the harvest was never good, and that livestock often died for no apparent reason. As they used to say in Groben, not just evil lived there, but something ancient and powerful, something that was better not to disturb. They said that on moonlit nights, strange lights could be seen above the farm, and terrible howls could be heard from the forest. The Hinterkaifeck farm is a place where the light ends and darkness begins.
Chapter 4
The Farm at the Edge of the Forest
April 4, 1922 – a date that will forever remain branded into the memory of Groben and all of Bavaria. On this day, the peaceful sleep of the village was rudely interrupted by terrible news, sweeping through the surrounding area like a funeral knell. All the inhabitants of the Hinterkaifeck farm, located just a few kilometers from Groben, but in a completely different world from that which reigned in the peaceful village, were found brutally murdered.
The news of this event, passed on in whispers, was overgrown with gruesome details, chilling the soul. At first, they didn’t believe it, they thought it was fiction, scary stories. But when the rumors were confirmed, terror gripped their hearts.
Despite the fact that there had been much larger-scale crimes in the history of Germany, the Hinterkaifeck tragedy stood out for its particular, transcendental darkness. It not only shocked the public, but also touched the most hidden corners of the human soul.
The murders, committed with unimaginable cruelty, seemed to expose the darkest, wildest sides of human nature. The shadow of this evil hung over Groben, poisoning the air with fear and distrust.
Everything – the setting of the lost farm, surrounded by forest, cut off from the world, the chronology of the gruesome events unfolding over several days, the method of killing – blows with a mattock, from which there was no escape, even the fate of the bodies of the dead, left at the scene of the crime and not given to relatives for a long time – is literally imbued with some kind of oppressive hopelessness. As if death itself decided to play a cruel game, putting its darkest scenery on public display.
If Edgar Allan Poe, the master of mystery and horror, had lived in the twentieth century, he would have gladly used this plot for a story in the style of «The Fall of the House of Usher.» The Hinterkaifeck farm would have become his «House of Usher» – a dark, abandoned, cursed place, where terrible things happened under the cover of night. The inhabitants of the farm would be his characters, doomed to perish, and the investigation would be a journey into the depths of human madness. In every word, in every detail, one would feel the atmosphere of growing nightmare, the premonition of inevitable tragedy, and the feeling that evil lurks in the darkest corners of the human soul. But even Poe, perhaps, would not have been able to fully comprehend the mystery of Hinterkaifeck, a mystery that still haunts researchers and stirs the imagination.
In addition to the brutality of the murder itself, what horrified the residents of Groben and the investigation was another, even more disturbing circumstance: the killer, like a ghost, had lived on the Hinterkaifeck farm for months unnoticed. Not just broke into the house, committed the atrocity, and disappeared, but lived there, breathed the same air, ate the same food as his future victims.
This thought haunted the residents of the surrounding villages like a nightmare. It turned out that the monster could be hiding in any guise, be among them, pretending to be an ordinary person.
He, like a shadow, glided through the rooms of the farm, watching every movement of his victims. Studied their habits, their daily routine, their fears. He knew when they went to bed, when they got up, when they went to the field. He was invisible, hearing their every breath, every whisper, every word. He lived their life, but his heart was filled with hatred and malice.
He waited, like a predator lurking in ambush. He waited for the right moment to strike his deadly blow. He hatched his plan, preparing for the most terrible night in the history of Hinterkaifeck. This thought that the killer had been nearby for a long time, in close proximity to the victims, amplified the feeling of horror and helplessness. It turned out that no one was safe. Evil could be lurking around every corner, hiding behind a mask of benevolence, waiting for its hour to strike. This fact was not just frightening, it was paralyzing, instilling in the souls of the residents of Groben a chilling fear that did not let them go for many years.
But first things first, because chaos and confusion will not help to get closer to understanding this terrible story. First of all, it is necessary to reject superficial judgments and generally accepted truths, in order to, like a diver, plunge into this bottomless darkness and try to discern at least faint glimpses of the truth.
It is necessary to forget about the comfort of the familiar world, about safety and predictability, and step by step, word by word, detail by detail, try to understand: how could this happen? How could it happen that in the very heart of the Bavarian hinterland, far from wars and revolutions, a tragedy occurred, comparable in its cruelty only to ancient Greek myths?
How could it happen that in a family of six, loving and caring (or so it seemed), such a monster grew up, or did it penetrate from the outside, remaining unnoticed? How could it happen that the residents surrounding the Hinterkaifeck farm did not feel anything suspicious, did not hear cries for help, did not see signs indicating the impending disaster? How could it happen that the perpetrator, after committing such a terrible atrocity, remained uncaptured, unpunished, disappearing into the unknown?
To answer these questions, it is necessary to return to the past, to explore the life of the Gruber family, to study every aspect of it, from the simplest to the most mysterious.
It is necessary to carefully study the area, to understand the geography of Hinterkaifeck and its surroundings. It is necessary to listen to the testimonies of eyewitnesses, to analyze documents, to read letters and diaries that could shed light on this dark story. Only in this way, step by step, will we be able to approach the truth, understand the motives of the perpetrator, and unravel the mystery that still troubles the minds of people around the world. Only by plunging into darkness will we be able to find at least some glimmer of light.
Many who encounter the Hinterkaifeck case for the first time, or who have been trying to unravel its mystery for a long time, sooner or later, inevitably ask a question that seems simple at first glance, but in fact contains many mysteries: where was this ill-fated farm actually located? Where was this Hinterkaifeck, which has become synonymous with horror and despair?
The question of the location of the former farm, at first glance, may seem insignificant. However, knowing the