A classic that scares...
- Alexandra
- Aug 2, 2024
- 3 min read
I borrowed this name from the successful Slovak crime podcast Murderous Psyche. Matching title to the topic of this blog.
You have probably never heard of the Ukrainian, now Russian, city of Rostov-on-Don. An infamous city. Terrifying and mysterious at the same time, and for reasons that science, religion, and the occult cannot satisfactorily explain, this bustling river port city has becom the birthplace of an extremely high number of psychopathic serial killers and sadistic rapists. In recent years, more than twenty-nine multiple murderers and rapists have been caught in the area, making Rostov - a city of 1.5 million people - the capital of serial killers in the world. You´ve probably heard of the most famous one.
Andrei Chikatilo, also nicknamed the Butcher of Rostov. A bestial killer and cannibal who took the lives of 56 people. If you are interested in what atrocities this individual committed, you can, for example, watch an HBO movie - Citizen X or read one of his psychological profiles in links below.
I will not describe with the perversions that this individual committed, but rather I will bring you closer to the social and family environment from which he came and possible epigenetic explanations.
In family constellations, we deal with traumas inherited from our ancestors until approximately the seventh generation. The social environment is a big factor in the formation of traumas not only in an individual, but also in an entire generation. Like a garbage dump that is covered with earth and new grass grows on it, we also carry the experiences and experiences of our ancestors, which will become a part of us. Molecular residues stick firmly to our genetic makeup and with them are inherited psychological and behavioral tendencies to certain behaviors. What have the ancestors of this individual been exposed to over the past 200 years (approximately 7 generations) and what molecular "scars" in the DNA have they left for their descendants? We don´t know exactly. However, from the available sources, I can describe what his parents faced a few years before he was born.
Take a deep breath, close your eyes and imagine if it is possible at all....
You are a man. Your job is to take care of your family. But you can't. You are a farmer, but what you grow or preserve will be forcibly taken away from you by the police. You will confront them, you will be shot or dragged away. As a breadwinner and protector of the family, you have failed...
You are a young mother living during the biggest famine in Ukraine. The menu for the whole day is soup made from fallen leaves and, if you´re lucky, a few boiled worms. And one day, your four-year-old son will disappear. You are completely out of your mind, because you are aware of cases of cannibalism in the neighborhood. And the neighbors are cooking...
Almost 4 million people died during the famine in Ukraine in 1931-1934. Police archives contain several descriptions of cases of cannibalism. Whether Chikatilo´s brother was really its victim, or whether his mother was just scaring him, we will never know. However, he cited it as one of the traumatic childhood experiences.
Were you able to imagine something like this? As a mother of a four-year-old son, all kind of emotions went through my mind and body. Hopelessness, an absolute state of terror, anger which escalated into hate.
What emotions did it evoke in you?
Alexandra Alexander
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