Big questions here about how they managed to stay off the radar for such a long time given that we have mandatory education and a pretty good system to collect taxes.
I wonder how they ate. 7 adults are a lot to feed. It says they had a vegetable plot and a goat. I don't suspect that would be enough to feed everyone. Someone must have been making trips to town (other than the guy that went to the pub).
The 58-year old who rented the farm was not one of those locked inside, he works as a carpenter and got groceries.
It says they lived on a farm, not a house in town. From the pictures I think you could grow enough food for 7 people to live on. Pretty normal up until the last 100 years or so to live on that much land.
This is the Netherlands, the closest town center is no further than a couple miles away, or a fifteen minute bike ride.
There was a man on Dutch television that lived 500 meters away.
If you're vegetarian, you don't need much land to grow your own food.
I don't find it that surprising, if the children were never registered as living at that address, why would there be any reason for the authorities to take an interest? It doesn't sound like any of them worked, so they didn't owe any taxes. What is more surprising is how the father managed to support them for so many years.
They were all registered. Several investigations are underway. Update: this is now unclear. Lol
All registered but the state don't check if children attend school?