The tragedy of the world's most popular fives. The Dion sisters were shown to the public from birth. How was the fate of human "exhibits" after life "behind glass"
In the modern world, flaunting children has become almost the norm. Three-year-olds have their own Youtube channels, TikTok accounts and Instagram pages. Moms publish videos on the network about what the children eat, what they play and where they go in their free time. And advanced parents also manage to make money on it. Meanwhile, psychologists warn: excessive publicity can strongly affect the psyche of the child. One of the most striking examples is the Dion fives, which have become the most popular sisters in the world. From birth, the girls were placed in an aviary and made exhibits of the exhibition. Anyone could gaze at the little ones in the human "zoo".
The story of the appearance of fives did not work out from the very beginning. They were born into a very poor family of a Canadian farmer, where by that time five older children were already growing up. During pregnancy, the mother suspected that she was carrying twins or triplets, but in 1934 no one even heard of an ultrasound scan. Therefore, the birth of five babies plunged Elzir Dion into a real shock. A few hours after giving birth, she suffered a severe nervous seizure. The obstetrician who delivered the baby was confident that she would not survive.
Mother after the birth of babies experienced a real shock / open sources
The life of the fives was also in doubt. The girls were born tiny, a little over a kilogram each. Childbirth took place at home, there were no jugs and incubators for premature babies. The little ones were wrapped in old diapers, put in a basket and left near the stove. There was nothing to feed them: due to stress, my mother completely lost her milk. To keep the girls alive, they were given a killer mixture of cow's milk, corn syrup, water and a few drops of rum every two hours.
Tiny girls survived against all odds / open sources
Despite everything, the babies survived and became at that time the only identical fives in Canada. Journalists often visited the farmer, and once the Prime Minister of Ontario, Mitchell Hepburn, even came. Unfortunately, fame and popularity did not support the family too financially. The father was constantly in search of money, and the money "came" to him on its own. Representatives of the Chicago exhibition "A Century of Progress" came to the house and offered to show the little ones there as exhibits.
At first, the father agreed to this wild proposal, but then he tried to cancel the contract. He did not succeed, and the girls were about to be taken away. To protect them, the parents had to transfer custody of their daughters to the Canadian government. The kids were only six months old when they were made wards of the province of Ontario. Guardianship was carried out at the legislative level, and the term of guardianship was assigned up to 18 years. However, saving the daughters from the exhibition, their father drove them into slavery with his own hands. The Canadian authorities were imbued with the attractive idea of making their fives "exhibition exhibits"
Dion kindergarten has become a popular tourist attraction / open sources
Across the street from the girls' home, they built a “glass kindergarten”. It was a large complex with several rooms, a covered gallery and an outdoor playground. The complex was surrounded by wires with wires through which everyone could watch the girls. Several times a day they were taken outside to show people. In addition, the authorities installed one-way screens around the perimeter of the building. On them, visitors could see what the girls were doing in the room.
The whole life of the girls was as in front of the audience in the palm of your hand / open sources
Anette, Cecile, Emily, Marie and Yvonne have lived in their "kindergarten" for 8 years. During this time, according to a quick estimate, more than 3 million people looked at them. human. Fives have become a real highlight of the province of Ontario and an excellent way of earning money for the Canadian authorities. Nobody took money from visitors to “see”, but across the street from the garden there was a whole souvenir shop. Cups, plates, paintings, sweets, books and postcards were produced with the images of girls. A souvenir set of 5 dolls was created in their honor. In addition, the girls advertised fashionable clothes and baby food. In total, the "human zoo" brought more than $ 50 million to the Ontario budget. dollars.
At the age of 9, girls were moved to their parents' house / open sources
When the girls were 9 years old, it was no longer practical to keep them locked up. With noise and fanfare, the Canadian authorities built a separate house for the fives and their parents and put them together. However, neither mother nor father could accept their star daughters. In addition, the sisters themselves, having lived locked up for so many years, turned out to be completely unfit for a “free” life. They could not communicate with anyone, were shy and afraid of strangers. Only in the company of each other did the girls feel calm.
The house for fives was built with money from tourists / open sources
Nevertheless, the sisters lived in the house with their parents until the age of 16. At the same time, the mass excitement around them did not even think to calm down. They were filmed in commercials and on television, each of their "appearances" was accompanied by a crowd of journalists. Even the sisters went to the hairdresser under the sight of cameras. At the same time, the father and mother, who in fact lived on funds from the "fund of fives", were unhappy with their daughters all the time. It seemed to them that they had been cheated when dividing their income, and their father seriously thought that the girls were robbing him.
Father (right) was always dissatisfied with the division of the sisters' income / open sources
It wasn't until the girls turned 18 and the legal guardianship period ended that they finally had the opportunity to get out of this macabre reality show. All five left home, broke off relations with their family and tried to mend their fate. But the imprint of a past life turned out to be so strong, and their psyche so crippled, that their fate was tragic.
The girls tried to start a new life separately / open sources
Immediately after breaking up with her family, one of the sisters, Emily, went to a convent. However, she did not spend even two years there, having died of an epileptic seizure at the age of 20. At the same time, neither in childhood, nor at a young age she had any signs of epilepsy, so the disease can be considered acquired. Marie got married, but did not find happiness in marriage: she died at the age of 30 due to a stroke. Yvonne also tried to become a monk, but could not get along in the monastery: she left there and became a librarian.
Three sisters wrote a book about their absurd childhood / open sources
Cecile and Annette also tried to find partners in life. But the women were never able to break the close bond that developed between them due to their sordid childhood. All their lives they felt attracted to each other, so the sisters did not work out with marriage. They divorced their spouses, moved in and began to live together. The three women together with Yvonne wrote the book "Family Secrets" and are suing the Canadian government for using them for so many years. The sisters managed to win 4 million. dollars in compensation for moral damages. However, they themselves say that it happened too late.
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