Thomas Pirot

The Sin Inherited

ZEIT Magazin, 2025

"A Catholic priest leaves behind a house full of records of sexualized violence and abuse. His nephew inherits the crime scene – and tries to find out what happened."
In the summer of 2023, I put on latex gloves and waded knee-deep into mountains of paper, books, photo prints and household textiles in their original packaging. The journalistic investigation had only just begun, and what the reporters found out over the course of two years further undermines my miserable remaining trust in the catholic church, the police and the judiciary.
"In the 19th century, when photography was new, people had the idea that any kind of photography removes parts of the soul. This one really does."

Picture editor: Dorothea Fiedler & Milena Carstens
Writer: Katja Bernady, Johannes Dudziak and Britta Stuff

1/14

The front door to Edmund Dillinger's house in Friedrichsthal with police seals

2/14

Rosaries hang on the door handle of the 2nd floor living room

3/14

Steffen Dillinger in the living room on the ground floor

4/14

Boxes pile up in the kitchen on the 1st floor

5/14

Study room 2nd floor

6/14

One of many pictures of Dillinger in the living room on the 2nd floor

7/14

Steffen Dillinger poses for a portrait in the driveway to the house

8/14

Computer in the corridor on the 2nd floor

9/14

Living room room on the ground floor

10/14

Robes in the corridor on the 1st floor

11/14

Film bag and faulty prints in the living room 1st floor

12/14

Dillinger in photos with fraternity members in the stairwell

13/14

Edmund Dillinger's mother's prosthetic legs in the bedroom on the 1st floor

14/14

Steffen Dillinger sifting through papers in the living room on the ground floor

The Sin Inherited
ZEIT Magazin, 2023

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"A Catholic priest leaves behind a house full of records of sexualized violence and abuse. His nephew inherits the crime scene – and tries to find out what happened." In the summer of 2023, I put on latex gloves and waded knee-deep into mountains of paper, books, photo prints and household textiles in their original packaging. The journalistic investigation had only just begun, and what the reporters found out over the course of two years further undermines my miserable remaining trust in the catholic church, the police and the judiciary.
"In the 19th century, when photography was new, people had the idea that any kind of photography removes parts of the soul. This one really does."

Picture editors: Dorothea Fiedler & Milena Carstens
Writers: Katja Bernady, Johannes Dudziak and Britta Stuff