Miami Ghost Chronicles
  • Miami Ghost Chronicles
    • Contact and Support
  • MP Pellicer | Author
  • Eerie News
  • Stranger Than Fiction Blog
  • Paranormal Chit Chat
  • Stories of the Supernatural
    • SOS Season 13 Jan to June 2023
    • SOS Season 12 July - Dec 2022
    • SOS Season 11 Jan - June 2022
    • SOS Season 10 July - Dec 2021
    • SOS Season 9 Jan - June 2021
    • SOS Season 8 July - Dec 2020 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S8
    • SOS Season 7 Jan - June 2020 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S7
    • SOS Season 6 July - Dec 2019 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S6
    • SOS Season 5 Jan - June 2019 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S5
    • SOS Season 4 July - Dec 2018 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S4
    • SOS Season 3 Jan - June 2018 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S3
    • SOS Season 2 July to Dec. 2017 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S2
    • SOS Season 1 Feb - June 2017 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S1
  • Case Files & Investigations
    • Apparitions at the Asylum >
      • Rolling Hills Asylum
      • Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
    • Cemeteries >
      • Pinewood Cemetery
    • Haunted Hotels >
      • Brookdale Lodge
    • Haunted Holy Places >
      • Convent at Chacachacare Island
      • The Legend of St. Ann's Retreat
    • Haunted Prisons >
      • West Virginia Penitentiary
    • Historical Haunts >
      • Bobby Mackey's Music World
      • Drayton Hall Plantation
      • The Myrtles Plantation
    • Paranormal Cases >
      • Cases 2014
      • Cases 2015
      • Investigations I
      • Investigations II
      • Investigations III
      • Investigations IV
      • Investigations V
      • Investigations VI
      • Investigations VII
    • Animal Hauntings
    • Florida Haunted History >
      • Abandoned, Forgotten & Haunted
      • Belleview Biltmore Hotel
      • Biltmore Hotel
      • Coral Castle
      • Jonathan Dickinson State Park
      • The Devil Tree
      • Stranahan House
    • Murder Houses >
      • Kreischer Mansion




TheĀ  Strange LiFE of the Blazek Twins

4/2/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
By M.P. Pellicer | Eerie.News
A hundred years today, April 1, 1922, all the newspapers carried the news of the death of Josefa and Rosa Blazek conjoined Siamese twins who died two days before in Chicago.

PictureBlazek twins as babies with their mother
The doctor treating them said "the death of one sister would result in the immediate death of the other," unless they were separated. Their brother, Frank Blazek refused to permit an operation to separate their bodies. According to Illinois law he was the only adult relative capable of giving consent for the procedure.

Many claimed Frank Blazek was a gold digger who appeared on the scene when his sisters were on death's door, and he hoped to inherit some of their money.

They had been in the hospital for 10 days, because Josefa was  ill with jaundice. She took  a turn for the worse on March 29 when she developed pneumonia in the right lung. Her temperature soared, and then her Rosa took a "sympathetic" turn for the worse, since she was suffering already from bronchitis.

PictureChang and Eng Bunker were the originators of the word "Siamese" twins
The origins of the word "Siamese" was used when two boys born conjoined in 1811, near Bangkok named Chang-Eng were bought by a sea captain to New York in order to exhibit them. With the money they made they bought property in North Carolina, each owning his own farm. They called themselves Chang and Eng Bunker. In 1843, they married two sisters, and alternated between the two homes who were a mile apart. Chang had 10 children and Eng 11. They died in 1874.

PictureJosefa and Rosa Blazek with Frantz the son born to them (later disputed, and thought to be have been adopted)
The twins were born in Skerchov, Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic) on January 20, 1878, to normal parents. Four other children were born to the couple, all normal.

They each had separate respiratory and cardiac systems but only one set of secondary digestive and procreative organs.

Another doctor opined that there would have been no hope of saving Rosa's life even if they were separated. They were joined back to back, but with sufficient "power of movement to turn towards each other."

Rosa was considered more intelligent, and physically more dominant. Josefa was slightly more deformed with her left leg being shorter than her right. 

The twins started to exhibit professionally in Paris. Until then they had only gone to local fairs. They found a manager, and learned to play the xylophone and sing as a way to draw in crowds. They toured Europe during the 1890s, and later became adept at the violin. They would entertain their audience with duets.

Despite their appearance they were sexualized in matters of promotion, and of course this drove conjecture on their sexual appetite and how they managed considering their unusual physique.

When Rosa was 32, she fell in love, and supposedly married a captain in the German army in 1906. He was killed in action in 1917. Josefa never married.

At the turn of the century their popularity waned due to poor management, however in 1909 when Rosa claimed to be pregnant, their names once more made front page news. Rosa's child was born on April 16, 1910. He joined the show as he grew older, as "The Son of Two Mothers".

This titillated the imagination of the public as to how the child was conceived. Originally Rosa refused to name the father of the baby,even though at this time she was married to the German captain with a surname of Dvorak. Some said their manager was the father, and that he paid them 95,000 marks for three years to keep them quiet.


By then Rosa and Josefa had made a fortune by appearing at exhibitions, and had visited the United States, but moved to Chicago in 1920, hoping to break into vaudeville. 

PictureBlazek twins with their family in Europe.
After their death, it was found that they shared one backbone and any attempt to separate the bodies would have resulted in their immediate demise. A radiologist who examined x-rays suspected the real cause of their death was an intestinal obstruction.

Before the month was out, George C. Warner, president of the National Spiritualists' Association announced that death had separated the twins.

During the debate of settling the twin's estate there was a question if either of them could have borne a child. This was spurred by Franzi Blazek's claim on his mother's estate. The doctors that examined the x-ray taken of the twins after their death claimed that there were anatomical reasons for doubting they could have conceived a child. The two women shared the same vagina and anus, but had two separate uterine tracts, however there was no evidence that either one had ever become a mother.

Most of the controversy as to who would inherit the bulk of their estate which was estimated to be about $200,000, especially if Franz was Rosa's natural born son versus adopted, quieted when by May it was established they only left $400. 

One man remembered that they were "like two Mae Wests, joined at the tail bone. One would wiggle, while the other would waggle, and brother could they put on a great show."

Picture
Blazek Twins advertisement of appearance
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Eerie News | Stories of the Mysterious and Unexplained

    M.P. Pellicer

    ​For all the latest news articles and stories about the world of the paranormal and the unexplained.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Donate via Buy Me a Coffee
    Get new posts by email:
    Powered by follow.it
    Tweets by EerieNewsToday


    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022

    Categories

    All
    Abandoned Places
    Afterlife & NDE
    Alien Invasion
    Alien Life Form
    Alien Visitation
    Ancient Customs
    Ancient Disaster
    Ancient Discovery
    Ancient Necropolis
    Ancient Origins
    Animals
    Anthropology
    Archaeology
    Artificial Intelligence
    Atlantis
    Bermuda Triangle
    Biblical Mystery
    Bigfoot
    Blood Rituals
    Burials
    Catholic Church
    Celebrity Deaths
    Celebrity Story
    Cemeteries
    Cemetery Story
    Cold Case
    Cold Cases
    Cold Case Solved
    Colombia
    Crime Lord
    Crime Story
    Cryptid Story
    Cryptozoology
    Cursed Objects
    Cursed Places
    Cursed Tomb
    Cursed Voyage
    Curses
    Curses And Hexes
    Dangerous Places
    Dark Ages
    Dark History
    Dinosaur Discovery
    DNA & Cloning
    Dogman Sighting
    Doll Cemetery
    Drug Lord
    Earthquakes
    Endangered Species
    Endurance
    Exorcisms
    Extinct Animals
    Extinct Wildlife
    Future World
    Ghost Hunting
    Ghosts
    Ghost Story
    Great Lakes Mystery
    Haunted Hotel
    Haunted House
    Haunted Lake
    Haunted Lighthouse
    Haunted Pond
    Haunted Roads
    Haunted Texas
    Hidden Treasure
    Historical Mystery
    History
    Human Cloning
    Human Remains
    Human Sacrifice
    Hypnosis
    Ides Of March
    Invasive Species
    Jane Doe
    Lights In The Sky
    Living In Modern Times
    Lost City
    Lost Treasure
    Mansion Murders
    Maritime Mystery
    Medical Breakthroughs
    Men In Black
    Miami Cold Case
    Missing Person
    Mob Crimes
    Monsters
    Moon
    Murder Mystery
    Murders
    Mysterious Phenomena
    Mystery
    Nautical Mystery
    New Orleans Story
    Occult
    Old Camberwell Cemetery
    Old West Stories
    Outer Space
    Paranormal
    Paranormal News
    Paranormal Podcast
    Paranormal Story
    Peruvian Mummies
    Pop Culture
    Prepping
    Relic
    Rockets
    Science
    Secret Burials
    Serial Killer
    Shackleton
    Siamese Twins
    South America
    Space Exploration
    Spirituality
    Strange Anthropology
    Strange Collectibles
    Strange Discovery
    Strange Earth
    Strange Fairy Tale
    Strange Insects
    Strange Legends
    Strange Memorial
    Strange Obituary
    Strange Places To Die
    Strange Real Estate
    Strange Sighting
    Strange Skies
    Sunken Ships
    Sunken Treasure
    Time Keeping
    Transgender Serial Killer
    True Crime
    Tsunami
    UFO
    Unexplained Disappearances
    Urban Myth
    Vampires
    Weather Anomaly
    Weird Occurences
    Weird Science
    Werewolf Of Camberwell

    RSS Feed

    Fair Use Act Disclaimer - This site is for educational purposes only. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976
    Copyright © 1999-2023 Eleventh Hour LLC. All Rights Reserved ®
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Miami Ghost Chronicles
    • Contact and Support
  • MP Pellicer | Author
  • Eerie News
  • Stranger Than Fiction Blog
  • Paranormal Chit Chat
  • Stories of the Supernatural
    • SOS Season 13 Jan to June 2023
    • SOS Season 12 July - Dec 2022
    • SOS Season 11 Jan - June 2022
    • SOS Season 10 July - Dec 2021
    • SOS Season 9 Jan - June 2021
    • SOS Season 8 July - Dec 2020 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S8
    • SOS Season 7 Jan - June 2020 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S7
    • SOS Season 6 July - Dec 2019 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S6
    • SOS Season 5 Jan - June 2019 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S5
    • SOS Season 4 July - Dec 2018 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S4
    • SOS Season 3 Jan - June 2018 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S3
    • SOS Season 2 July to Dec. 2017 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S2
    • SOS Season 1 Feb - June 2017 >
      • Stories of the Supernatural Podcast S1
  • Case Files & Investigations
    • Apparitions at the Asylum >
      • Rolling Hills Asylum
      • Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
    • Cemeteries >
      • Pinewood Cemetery
    • Haunted Hotels >
      • Brookdale Lodge
    • Haunted Holy Places >
      • Convent at Chacachacare Island
      • The Legend of St. Ann's Retreat
    • Haunted Prisons >
      • West Virginia Penitentiary
    • Historical Haunts >
      • Bobby Mackey's Music World
      • Drayton Hall Plantation
      • The Myrtles Plantation
    • Paranormal Cases >
      • Cases 2014
      • Cases 2015
      • Investigations I
      • Investigations II
      • Investigations III
      • Investigations IV
      • Investigations V
      • Investigations VI
      • Investigations VII
    • Animal Hauntings
    • Florida Haunted History >
      • Abandoned, Forgotten & Haunted
      • Belleview Biltmore Hotel
      • Biltmore Hotel
      • Coral Castle
      • Jonathan Dickinson State Park
      • The Devil Tree
      • Stranahan House
    • Murder Houses >
      • Kreischer Mansion