Norbert Denef
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Norbert Denef (born May 5, 1949 in
Delitzsch Delitzsch (; Slavic: ''delč'' or ''delcz'' for hill) is a town in Saxony in Germany, 20 km north of Leipzig and 30 km east of Halle (Saale). With 24,850 inhabitants at the end of 2015, it is the largest town in the district of Nordsach ...
, Germany) is a German victim of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church.


Life

Denef was abused in his hometown Delitzsch between the ages of 10 and 16 by a priest, and from 16 to 18 by the parish's organist. The first offender, Alfons Kamphusmann (1924–1998), had been a priest since 1952. He worked in Droyßig, Delitzsch, Nordhausen, Langenweddingen, Hecklingen, Wittenberg Piesteritz and Niedertiefenbach (
Diocese of Limburg The Diocese of Limburg () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Cologne, with metropolitan see being the Archdiocese of Cologne. Its territory encompasses parts of the States ...
). He retired in 1990 and died eight years later. The second offender, an organist and choir leader of the parish, retired and was never sued. Denef lived on quietly, became the technical manager of the
theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...
in Rüsselsheim, a husband and father of two children. He suppressed the memory of his past. The first offender officiated at his wedding. At the age of 40, Denef had a breakdown. After that he had to learn to speak about its history, beginning in November 1993 with his family of origin.''Sexualisierte Gewalt: „Wir sprechen über ein Massenverbrechen“.'' In: gulli.com, 14 March 2011
online
He was offered compensation from the
Diocese of Magdeburg The Diocese of Magdeburg () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church, located in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Its seat is Magdeburg; it is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Paderborn. The diocese was erected out of Paderborn territo ...
in 2003, but refused the obligation to keep secrecy. In 2005 he received 25.000
Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
. Denef is believed to be the first victim in Germany who obtained compensation from the Roman Catholic church for sexual abuse in childhood. In 2007 Denef published an autobiography: ''“Ich wurde sexuell missbraucht”''. He still suffers from the impacts of the crime in his childhood and youth such as depression and
posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...
. Denef submitted a petition at the
German Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the lower house of the German federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic Law for ...
in 2008 to remove the statute of time limitations on child sexual abuse cases to file a lawsuit. It was refused. Denef is appealing the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
now.Barbara Hans: ''Scham fressen Seele auf.'' In: Der Spiegel, 12. Februar 2010
online
In December 2009 Denef visited the parish church St. Marien in Delitzsch, but did not achieve a dialog. He left an open letter at the door of the church. Denef founded the Network of Victims of Sexual Violence, named ''NetzwerkB'' for short, in April 2010 and became its speaker. During the Ecumenical Church Conference in Germany in May 2011, Denef interrupted the abuse debate in front of some thousand visitors. He criticed the podium's members for talking about victims, but not with them.''Das Jahr danach - Die Kirchen und die Vertrauenskrise.'' In: horizonte,
Hessischer Rundfunk (; "Hesse Broadcasting"), shortened to HR (; stylized as hr), is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, A ...
, 12. Februar 2011 (vide
online
Bishop
Stephan Ackermann Stephan Ackermann (born 20 March 1963) is a German bishop. He was elected by the Cathedral Chapter as Bishop of Trier in the Moselle area of Germany in 2009. Early life The son of Helmy and Hermann and the eldest of two children, Ackermann gre ...
, chairman of the German bishop conference, said: ''“I am frightened about the development of the event. The man is right: We speak about institution. I have the feeling that the victims got out of the focus.”'' As a speaker for NetzwerkB Denef protested against the nonparticipation of victims at a series of conferences on sexual child abuse organized by the
Cabinet of Germany The Federal Government (, ; abbr. BReg) is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany and exercises executive power at the federal level. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. The fundamentals o ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in autumn 2010. He complained that there was too much talk and too little was done. In December 2010, members of
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, established in 1989, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization support group of survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their supporters, founded in the United States. Barbara Blaine, a ...
(SNAP), including Denef, demonstrated at a meeting of cardinals in the Vatican against the too-careful treatment of clergyman who abused children. The police ejected them from
Saint Peter's Square St. Peter's Square (, ) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the pope, papal enclave and exclave, enclave in Rome, directly west of the neighborhood (rione) of Borgo (rione of Rome), Borgo. Both t ...
. In 2012 NetzwerkB demonstrated on the
Pariser Platz Pariser Platz () is a square in the historic center of Berlin, Germany, situated by the Brandenburg Gate at the end of Unter den Linden boulevard. The square is named after the French capital of Paris to commemorate the victory of the Sixth ...
concerning the Pope's visit of Germany. On December 6, 2011 Denef spoke at the
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...
congress. The party voted concordantly for abolishing the statutes of legal limitations for child abuse. On June 8, 2012 Norbert Denef started a
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...
, as the SPD was not willing to act to abolish the statutes of legal limitations for child abuse.


denefhoop

In 2016 Denef developed tires from
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
's
Vitruvian Man The ''Vitruvian Man'' (; ) is a drawing by the Italian Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to . Inspired by the writings of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, the drawing depicts a nude man in two superimposed positions ...
in different diameters; the movements with the tires named denefhoop serve the
meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...
as well as the
rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop (rhythmic gymnastics), hoop, ball (rhythmic gymnastics), ball, Clubs (rhythmic gymnastics), clubs, ribbon (rhythmic gymnastics), ...
.denefhoop
/ref>


Works

* ''Ich wurde sexuell missbraucht.'' Starks-Sture, München 2007, . * ''Beschwerde gemäß Artikel 34 der Europäischen Menschenrechtskonvention und Artikel 45 und 47 der Verfahrensordnung des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte gegen die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 24. Februar 2009.''
online
pdf file; 267 kB)


References


External links


NetzwerkB

denefhoop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denef, Norbert 1949 births Living people People from Delitzsch Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Germany Violence against men in Europe