A brother and sister who fell in love and had four children together are calling for an end to laws banning their disturbing relationship.
Patrick Syuebing was reunited with his younger sister, Susan Karolewski, more than 20 years after he moved into a foster home in the then East Germany when he was attacked by their father.
Six months after he re-discovered his biological family, the then 23-year-old and Susan, who is mentally disabled, started sharing a bedroom after the death of their mother, Ana Marie.
Their illegal pairing has produced four children, two of whom are severely disabled.
In 2001 the pair vowed to change Germany’s laws making sex between siblings illegal, which they took to the Court of Human Rights in 2012.
Patrick served two jail sentences for incest charges in that time.
At the time, Patrick was reported saying: “We do not feel guilty about what has happened between us.
“We want the law which makes incest a crime to be abolished.
“I became head of the family and I had to protect my sister. She is very sensitive but we helped each other during this very difficult period and eventually that relationship became physical.”
Despite already having experienced a normal relationship with a woman, he insists: “We didn’t even know we were doing anything wrong when we started sleeping together. We didn’t think about using a condom. We didn’t know it was illegal to sleep together.
“Our mother would not have approved, but the only ones who should judge us now is us.”
Susan has defended their union, explaining they did not know each other when growing up as her brother moved out at the age of three when their now deceased dad attacked him with a knife.
She added: “We didn’t know each other in childhood, it’s not the same for us.
“We fell in love as adults and our love is real. There is nothing we could do about it. We were both attracted to each other and then nature took over from us. It was that simple.
“What else could we do? We followed our instincts and our hearts.”
Her brother underwent a vasectomy in a bid to change the minds of courts to allow him to live with his sister without the risk of more time in prison.
He added: “There is no reason for them to jail me now.
“I do not want to go back to jail and I know we will never voluntarily leave each other. “If anyone doubts our love they should just see we will not be kept apart.”
Germany’s incest laws were introduced by the Nazis.
