Every single day your life just got worse. It wasn't just that you were born to Nazis hiding in South America after the war collapsed, you were raised in a world surrounded by barbed wire. Your friends were taught to spy on you. In the mornings, your elders would give you sedatives. And in the evening your leader would rape you. If you disagreed, there'd be torture. Your neighbors thought your
life was bliss, they envied you. But your life was hell. 20 years later and you'd still be here.
There was no escape. Your government wasn't going to save you; they brought you strangers to kill. You watched as your captors buried the corpses. Eventually, it's what you'd have to do to survive. Because you were born in the Colony of Dignity, and nobody would ever let you forget it. In 1959, a self-professed, God-fearing Nazi by the name of Paul Schäfer was about to face judgment. Not because of horrors during conflict, but because of horrors during peace. For the second time in a decade, he'd been caught sexually assaulting children in the Baptist ministry he'd founded after the war. But he was not going to face his sins head-on. He was a man who ran from them. In his flight, he followed the trail of many post-war Nazis before him, and fled to South America; taking with him hundreds of members of his congregation. A right-wing Chilean government granted him a passport in 1961, giving him and his flock the go-ahead to create a new, supposedly anti-communist society in the hills. It would claim as its foundations the ideals of agricultural pastoralism, Germanic ethics, and Baptist doctrine. But like much of the baptism around the world in the mid 1950's, it was haunted by a vision of apocalypse. His church would form in the mould of the so-called healing revivalism that had swept through post-war America. It remains a massive movement with followers in the millions, but it's likely best known for being the religion of Guyanese death cult leader Jim Jones, and the recently deceased evangelist Billy Graham. In Chile, Schäfer would start again. This time he wouldn't make the mistake of getting caught. With his refined congregation far from the prying eyes of non-believers, he'd take total control. He'd make sure they wouldn't feel so emboldened as to speak with the authorities. Here, he was the authority. But from the outside, his words must have held a strong allure. For Germans in a post-war era, it just must have felt nice to have anything to believe in again. Followers trickled in, setting up lives in what they hoped would become a religious paradise: a place to farm, praise God, and wait out the final judgment. But the colony never quite lived up to that dream. The sheep had put their faith in the wrong shepherd. It wasn't by accident that things here turned sour, it was by design. Because Paul Schäfer was the closest thing this world has to pure evil. With total control over his followers, he began to reform society under a series of strict new rules. Any form of bond not decreed by the church was outlawed. Men and women were not allowed to be friends, let alone partners. Siblings were split apart and forced to deny each other their company. Parents would never see their children again. The community would soon be surrounded in barbed wire. Nobody was to leave without permission. Anyone caught breaking the rules was tortured. But humans are human, no matter how much they believe in God. And a young man and woman will find a way to be together. The inevitable hormones of youth have always been a cause for rebellion. But unlike the Capulets and Montagues, Schäfer learned nothing from seeing star-crossed love. He began to drug and torture those who disagreed with his sexual seclusion. Anyone who showed signs of rebellion, lust, or godlessness was sedated and put through electroshock therapy. Separated from the community until they could learn to act properly. But for those too young for love, life was even worse. Separated from their families, and with nowhere to turn; the children fell prey to the pedophile who ran their world. In a community of just a few hundred people, Schäfer raped dozens of children. Not just kids in the colony either. He convinced poor members of the surrounding Chilean community to come to him for medical help and education. From an outsider's perspective, it must have seemed like it would give them a better future. Colonia Dignidad was wealthy. It had a school, a hospital, food, and modern comforts. They'd have no way of knowing they were placing their children right in the jaws of a beast. But beyond that, beyond everything else that it was, this was a Nazi colony. It was built by Nazis to survive Nazism into a new era. This wasn't just a religious revivalism. It was meant to sustain a belief system that had been stamped out in Europe with blood. Their citizens contained at times some of the worst people Germany had ever produced, including Josef Mengele, a man whose medical torture will go down in history as one of the most despicable forms of atrocity. Schäfer saw his followers as soldiers in the war against communism, and hoarded weapons for the day when they'd have to rise up and fight for fascism. They hoarded everything from pistols to rocket launchers, eventually amassing the largest collection of weapons ever found in Chile. They were not just meant to be agrarian cultists. He had plans that were far more sinister. So with all that horror, perhaps you're thinking why didn't the government stop it? Surely, somebody would have known about all this. And you're right, they did. In 1966, the first person to escape the colony fled to Germany; there he worked tirelessly to bring attention to the abuses taking place. And while the government certainly listened to what he was saying, what they heard was opportunity. Because in 1974 with the strong support of the United States, Augusto Pinochet attacked the elected president of Chile, and took control of the country by force. Those among the public who disagreed with the coup were treated with extreme prejudice. Violence, extrajudicial internment, torture, and ultimately murder were commonplace in Pinochet's Chile. 80,000 political prisoners were held in jails around the country, and thousands would never be heard from again. This was not a government who was going to stamp out Nazis. They supported them. To Pinochet, having a right-wing death cult in the countryside suited his purposes just fine. He wasn't going to shut them down. After all, these were his supporters willing to kill at his request. So he struck a deal with Schäfer. The secret police of Pinochet's regime would bring political prisoners here to interrogate and torture them. And then when they were done, the cult would disappear them. With none of the colonists able to leave the colony, it was a place where the regime could feel assured their secrets would remain secret. All they had to do was look the other way about the Nazism, pedophilia, torture, and sedation. And that didn't seem to bother them at all. After Pinochet fell and Chile returned to democracy, a new light was shined on Colonia Dignidad. As 26 children from the surrounding community came forward with charges of abuse, Schäfer followed the pattern he'd laid down all those years ago in West Germany. In 1997, he fled to Argentina. In his 80's, he must have felt invincible; like he'd gotten away with everything. Yet, after nearly 10 years hiding in a small Argentinean village, the Chilean authorities found him and brought him home. In 2006, he went to prison. I'd say they brought him to justice, but there's no justice for what he did. Sure, he was forced to pay millions to his victims, and died in a cell. But he was a man who claimed to fear God. And even though it isn't my religion, I hope he's right. Because there's no doubt he'd be burning in hell. And now, that I'm getting to the end of this story, I'm starting to realize this isn't what I wanted to say. It's such a massive emotional oddity. It can be hard to remember that this happened to real people, people who are living here right now. They didn't disappear when Schafer went to prison. These are people who had to be deprogrammed, who have to be integrated back into normal society. Cultists are so often just normal people who've been caught up in one man's insanity, indoctrinated into an extreme world. But how do you break free from that, especially once everyone in society knows your trauma? Today, Colonia Dignidad is a changed place. What was once an agricultural prison cut off from the world, has become a tourist haven. They call it Villa Baviera. Step by step over the last 10 years, the people of this village have turned the farms of their oppression into a soil where they can grow. A uniquely tranquil place to come and witness the horrors of another person's past. But it is a recent past. When the doors of the world opened, not everyone walked away. The people here are free to come and go as they've never done before. They can get married, have children, and think for themselves. And for some, that meant running as far away from here as they possibly could. But for others, despite all the traumas of the past, this would always be home. The people running the tours here are mostly ex-colonists. They serve you food in the restaurant, they clean the paddleboats. They replace the toilet paper in your hotel room. Because this was what they knew. If they ran, they'd only be running from themselves. Here, they can slowly change people's minds as to who they are today. Here, they can work towards a different future tomorrow. They're rewriting the story of what it means to be part of this community. Not only to the tourists who come to gawk, but to themselves. That's what they do to survive. I think it's easy to look at a cult like this and think, they deserve punishment. They supported a monster, they gave him power. But it has to be remembered that these weren't a free people. They had to swallow lies that they couldn't dismiss. They're a community drugged, tortured, and held together by barbed wire. If it were up to me, I'd say they've been punished enough. Because they had to live in the Colony of Dignity, and nobody will ever let them forget it. This is Rare Earth.
They made a movie Colonia about it
Seriously folks, if you haven't checked out Rare Earth's Videos, starting with the series in Japan, you are severely missing out. Very well put together, poignant topics, and thoughtful presentation with immaculate camera work. Treat yourself, seriously.
+1 for Rare Earth, one of the best series on youtube
damn, I knew he was doing videos on Chile and the moment I saw the title of this post I knew exactly what was going to be about. It's a hard and dark topic but thanks for showing It.
What the fuck?
This monster ran the colony from the 60s to the 90s. It still exists today. Sad.
"someone us just really really hate giving minorities of color too much welfare or good standing in society"
not me, but some people do, like what we at my work place like to call , nazis
Wow, those guys really don't want to get into heaven.
Damn Peggies
the worst kind of cult