Elizabeth Báthory’s Accomplices
One of the other little known elements of the famous tale of Elizabeth Bathory, was that she was not alone in committing her crimes. The Blood Countess had four known accomplices to her crimes, and some lesser know figures:
Dorottya Szentes, also charmingly referred to as Dorko:
Dorko was one of Bathory’s female accomplices, and was said to have been tortured before she was executed. Although different sources claim that the court officials had planned to torture Dorko, she fainted while she was watching Jó Ilona being tortured, and instead she was thrown into a bonfire, still unconscious, directly after Jó Ilona. She had been one of Elizabeth Bathory’s servants for over five years. Dorottya also served Elizabeth’s daughter Anna, before she married. One text claims:
“Dorkó cut the veins of the arms with scissors; there was so much blood that it was found necessary to throw cinders all around the Countess’ bed, and the latter used to have to change her dress and cuffs.”
Ilona Jó or Jó Ilona:
Ilona had been a servant of the Bathory household for over ten years. Originally, Ilona began service for Elizabeth as a wetnurse for her children with Ferenca, and stayed on in the household. Ilona was tortured before her execution by either having her fingernails ripped out, one at a time with hot pincers, or having her whole fingers ripped off with larger hot iron tongs. Different sources claim she fainted after the fourth was removed. One book says:
“She did not know how many girls had been killed, but said there were a great many. She neither knew their names or where they came from; she had killed about 50 herself.”
János Újváry, Ibis or Fickó:
Fickó, or Iblis was deemed less guilty for some reason than the women, and was instead executed without torture, although he had been an accomplice to Elizabeth Bathory’s crimes for over sixteen years. He was convicted in 1611, and executed on January 7th of the same year, by beheading, before his body was tossed into the bonfire. One source claims that Fickó was a dwarf, and was particularly cruel and vicious. According to another text, he stated during the trial or interrogation:
“I don’t know how many women, but I killed 37 girls; the Mistress had five of them buried in a hole, when the Palatine was in Presbourg; two others in a little garden, beneath the caves; two others in the church at Podolie, at night.”
Katalin Benicka:
According to some sources, Katalin was never actually found guilty of murder. She used to work as a washerwoman in the Bathory household. One source claims that instead, she was found innocent, and then released. Another claims that Katalin was found guilty, but sentenced only to life in prison instead. According to her testaments in the trial, Katalin acted only because she was bullied and threatened by Bathory and the other accomplices. From another text:
“Katá was good-hearted: if she beat the girls, it was against her will; she used secretly to bring food for the imprisoned girls to eat, at great risk to herself.”
Another accomplice that appears in other sources is, Anna Darvulia. She was a mysterious woman allegedly referred to then as the “witch of the Forest” who supposedly influenced Elizabeth in the ways of evil witchcraft, and blood rituals. She supposedly died before Elizabeth was caught. From a related text:
“It was Darvulia who initiated Erzsébet into the cruellest joys, who taught her to watch people dying and the significance of doing so. The Countess, until then, driven by the pleasure of making her servants suffer and bleed, had provided herself with the excuse of punishing some fault or other committed by her victims. But now the blood spilled was spilled for the sake of blood and death executed for death’s sake.”