Twelve Tribes community: has abused their children in Germany! Now they have come to us . . . .
translated by Question12Tribes team
Jan Dolezal
Oct. 1, 2017
Members of the Twelve Tribes sect, which the local German authorities have investigated for child abuse in 2013 moved from the Federal Republic to the Czech Republic in 2013. According to German officials, there is no Twelve Tribes sect left in Germany. After the German police raid on the Twelve Tribes homes in Klosterzimmern and Wornitz (Germany) in 2013 Twelve Tribes members resorted to the Czech Republic to a farm they own in the Rakovnik region.
Now the former Bavarian Klosterzimmern monastery, which the Twelve Tribes sect had formerly inhabited sits empty because the group left for the Czech Republic in 2013.
The Twelve Tribes sect has chosen the Czech Republic because it can live out what it believes as it wants. The German newspaper also pointed out that the Czech Republic allows its citizens to homeschool children under certain conditions. Also, the Czech authorities allows parents to physically punish their children.
Meanwhile, a German court sent a sect teacher to jail for two years for beating stuttering schoolchildren under her care.
During the trial, the teacher (Marina P.) admitted that she had punished the children during the class. The judge found her guilty of bodily harm and abuse. According to the judge, some children received thrashings up to 8 times a day. One of the victims received 30 lashes due to her stuttering when she read aloud, the judge said. The Augsburg authorities arrested the 56 year old teacher after the judge delivered the verdict. The court moved quickly to incarcerate the 56 year old woman because they feared she (the woman) would escape abroad. The woman’s lawyer said his client will appeal her conviction.
The Twelve Tribes community refuses to send its children to public school and includes physical punishment of children as part of their education. As a result, the Twelve Tribes sect came into serious conflict with German law and then fled the country. It is now based in the Rakovnik and Cheb regions of the Czech Republic.
In Msecke (another part of the community is in Skalna in the Cheb region) in several houses and on a farm outside the village where they raise sheep and grow organic potatoes and other crops. When a farmer’s market is held, they sell their fruits and vegetables there. “Once I bought a small amount of sheep cheese from them,” a local resident told Blesk. He also said, “They make good ice cream.”
A Community member who identified himself as Andre told the reporter and spoke about why they were in the Czech Republic. “We came here because Germany didn’t allow us to function according to our beliefs. We believe that everyone should live and work together, and support each other,” he said. But as soon as the subject of the alleged child abuse came up, he no longer wanted to have fun and said good-bye. He forbade any photography.
The Twelve Tribes community was formed in the United States in the 1970’s and its members allegedly live strictly according to the Bible. In the early 1990’s, 140 members settled in Germany.
In Skalna the Twelve Tribes community maintains friendly relations between the locals and themselves. “We have no problem with them. They are building a bakery, selling fruits and vegetables. They are nice,” confirms the neighborhood woman.
Community Spokesperson says: Education can be strict
They are friendly, hardworking and willing to help everyone. About 60 Twelve Tribes sect members live in Skalna where they bought a big house. Poles, Czechs, Germans and Slovaks live among us. We are not an institution or church. We believe in togetherness. We cook, work and eat together. And we come together to sing and dance,” says one of the members – Ales Heuler (43).
“We make our living and sell organic fruits and vegetables and cheese. But we also do municipal work for the city, we build a bakery,” he adds. The community grows its own food. Near Skalna the Twelve Tribes sect owns a farm with cows, sheep, goats, and horses.
Currently 3 school children live in the group. However, we homeschool them. “And that is why we no longer live in Germany. We think that everyone should have the right to raise their children according to their conscience but this was not possible in Germany. Education can be strict. But we lead them to love, respect, and discipline. Our children are happy and love their parents. They are willing to help everyone and do not hurt anyone.
In Germany, the Twelve Tribes is considered a sect where it became embroiled with the law several times. Mostly the Tribes got into trouble over refusing to send their children to public schools. Instead the sect homeschools its children (according to some reports using inappropriate and disproportionate punishments).
The members of the Twelve Tribes reject both sex education, and the Theory of Evolution which they believe directly contradicts their faith. They live strictly according to the Bible (supposedly). However, the RTL report raised much more fuss. The hidden camera film showed how women physically punished disobedient children on the bare buttocks with a wooden stick.
The German sect is suspected of child abuse: They hid their members in the Czech Republic
Shortly after the televised report, a 100 German policemen invaded the community buildings and removed 40 children from the sect. The crackdown took place in two places – police removed 28 children from the monastery and farm in Klosterzimmern and another 12 were removed from the Twelve Tribes community in Wornitz.
