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BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Villa Baviera: Once a place of horror, now a tourist town - with an uncertain future
With sloping red-tiled roofs, trimmed lawns and a shop selling home-baked ginger biscuits, Villa Baviera looks like a quaint German-style village, nestled in the rolling hills of central Chile. But it has a dark known as Colonia Dignidad, it was home to a secretive religious sect founded by a manipulative and abusive leader who collaborated with the dictatorship of Augusto Schäfer, who established the colony in 1961, imposed a regime of harsh punishments and humiliation on the Germans living there. They were separated from their parents and forced to work from a young also sexually abused many of the children. After Gen Pinochet led a coup in 1973, opponents of his military regime were taken to Colonia Dignidad to be tortured in dark basements. Many of these political prisoners were never seen died in prison in 2010, but some of the German residents remained and have turned the former colony into a tourist destination, with a restaurant, hotel, cabins to rent and even a boating the Chilean government is going to expropriate some of its land to commemorate Pinochet's victims there. But the plans have divided Chile, more than 3,000 people were killed and more than 40,000 tortured during the Pinochet regime, which was in power until 1990. Luis Evangelista Aguayo was one of those who was forcibly "disappeared". His sister, Ana Aguayo, sits by the fire in her house in Parral, the nearest town to Colonia Dignidad. "Luis was quiet, he loved swimming. He wanted to create a fairer world," she Aguayo worked as a school inspector, was a member of the teachers' trade union and was active in the Socialist Party. On 12 September 1973, one day after Pinochet overthrew Chile's elected Socialist President, Salvador Allende, police came to Mr Aguayo's house and arrested him. Two days later, he was sent to the local prison, but on 26 September 1973, police arrived and dragged him into a van. His family never saw him Aguayo says a local farmer came to her house to say that he had seen her brother at the German colony. "My mother and father went to Colonia Dignidad but weren't allowed in," she said."They went everywhere looking for him, at police stations, at the courts, but could get no information. My father died of sorrow because he wasn't able to help him. My 96-year-old mother thinks she can hear him calling 'Mama, come and get me'."Mr Aguayo was one of 27 people from Parral believed to have been killed in Colonia Dignidad, according to an ongoing judicial investigation ordered by the Chilean government. The total number of people murdered here is not known, but there is evidence that this was the final destination of many opponents of the Pinochet regime, including Chilean congressman Carlos Lorca and several other Socialist Party leaders. The Chilean justice ministry says investigations suggest hundreds of political detainees were brought Aguayo supports the government's plan to create a site of memory there. "It was a place of horror and appalling crimes. It shouldn't be a place for tourists to shop or dine at a restaurant. It ought to be a place for remembrance, reflection and for educating future generations, so that it never happens again."But the government's expropriation plans have divided opinion in Villa Baviera, where fewer than 100 adults live. Dorothee Munch was born in 1977 in Colonia Dignidad. "We lived in single-sex dormitories like barracks," she recalls. "From a young age, we had to work, cleaning the dishes for the whole community and collecting firewood."The government plans to expropriate 117 hectares of the 4,829-hectare site, including buildings where torture took place, and sites where victims' bodies were exhumed, then burnt and their ashes Munch disagrees with the expropriation plans because they include the centre of the village, encompassing the residents' homes and shared businesses including a restaurant, hotel, bakery, butchers and a dairy. "We lived under a system of fear, we are victims too. We are rebuilding our lives and this will make us victims once more. Perhaps people my age could re-locate, but for the older residents it would be devastating." Erika Tymm arrived in Colonia Dignidad from Germany in 1962, aged two. Separated from her parents, she remembers crying at night for her mother. Like several other people from the colony, she says she was given electric shocks as a child. She also opposes the expropriation plans and wants to stay living in the same place. "I want to be with people who understand what I went through."Chilean Minister for Justice and Human Rights Jaime Gajardo Falcón told the BBC that the government took the decision to expropriate the area in which the main buildings of the ex-colony are concentrated. "These were sites of political detention, of torture, surveillance and training of state agents to commit crimes against humanity." The expropriation decree was published in July. Over the next few months, the state will determine the value of the expropriated assets, he residents and former residents of Villa Baviera have written to the Chilean president expressing their concern about the expropriation plans and asking to be involved in discussions about it. They have hired a public relations firm to handle their relations with the media and a representative of this firm accompanied the BBC on its visit to the the BBC spoke to several other inhabitants and former inhabitants of Colonia Dignidad who support the plan to create a memorial site. Georg Klaube lived in the Colonia Dignidad from 1962 – when he arrived from Germany with his parents aged two – until 2010. Like many boys in Colonia Dignidad, he says he was given electric shocks, forced to take psychotropic drugs and was sexually abused by Schäfer."Every night I was taken to a building, I was stripped naked, they would put a black towel on my face and electric shocks were applied, here, here, here," he says, pointing to his genitals, his throat, his feet and under his arms. "I think we should have a memorial because so much cruelty happened here to both Germans and Chileans. I cannot believe there is now a restaurant in the place where so many children's tears, urine and blood flowed." Mr Klaube is part of a legal action – supported by an association of former and current Colonia Dignidad inhabitants – which claims that the leaders of Villa Baviera are not sharing out the income of the former colony fairly. They want the government to ensure that when the expropriation takes place, the indemnification payment is distributed amongst all residents and former the other victims that support the expropriation plans are former political prisoners who were tortured in Colonia Dignidad, small farmers who were evicted from their land when the German colony was established and Chileans who lived locally and were sexually abused as children by Schä was arrested in 2005 and in 2006 convicted of sexually abusing 25 children, including five counts of child rape. Several of his accomplices were also convicted. Justice Minister Gajardo says it is important to ensure the horrors that happened here are not forgotten. "Atrocious crimes were committed here. Until now it has been private property. Once it is taken over by the state, Chileans will be able to enter freely and it will become a space for memory and reflection to ensure that such crimes are never committed again."
Reuters
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Chile's government to expropriate land tied to Pinochet-era torture
VILLA BAVIERA, July 23 (Reuters) - Chile plans to expropriate a settlement founded by a German cult leader where torture took place during former dictator Augusto Pinochet's military regime as the government takes another step to shine a light on a dark period of the past. The enclave, originally called Colonia Dignidad and renamed Villa Baviera, was founded in 1961 by Paul Schafer, a former Nazi medic turned evangelical preacher who kept the isolated community under tight control and was later jailed for sexually abusing children. During Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship, Colonia Dignidad also bore witness to another kind of abuse: the torture of political prisoners by military forces in a secret prison at the site. Schafer collaborated with Pinochet's secret police and in exchange was shielded for years from prosecution for his own crimes. The dictatorship viewed the secretive, fortified and remote community as an ideal site to detain and torture dissidents away from public view. The government now wants to turn the 290-acre (117-hectare) community into a memorial, Justice Minister Jaime Gajardo said at an event this month. The aim is to make it "a place that allows all Chileans to enter freely to learn about what happened there," Gajardo said. "Nothing justifies violating human rights as they were violated during the military dictatorship." Schafer died in prison in 2010. Several hundred families once lived at the settlement about 350 kilometers (217 mi) south of Santiago. Today the population numbers closer to 100, many of whom are descendants of the original German settlers. Businesses at Villa Baviera, or Bavarian Village, have tried in recent years to attract visitors to the area's picturesque green fields and views of snow-capped mountains. In the expropriation, property owners will be compensated under terms still to be determined by experts, Gajardo said. The government aims to complete the expropriation before President Gabriel Boric leaves office in March. The justice minister said the community consists of about 90 land parcels but did not specify the number of businesses or residents. Dozens of physically and mentally traumatized members of Colonia Dignidad eventually relocated to Germany, and the site's history drew international attention in the 2015 film "Colonia." Plans for the expropriation underscore the challenges for governments in coming to terms with complicated histories in places that have overlapping layers of rights abuses. Chile's National Institute of Human Rights in a recent report, opens new tab said those who were tortured by Pinochet's forces as well as the people who suffered under Schaefer's control were equally victims of Colonia Dignidad. Jose Patricio Schmidt, who grew up in Colonia Dignidad and still lives there, said residents had existed in a bubble, unaware of the dictatorship's abuses. "Schaefer would gather us together to read the Bible in a place about a kilometer from where people were tortured, and we knew nothing," he said in an interview at a memorial site in the community that pays tribute to the torture victims. Tens of thousands of people were arrested and tortured throughout Chile during Pinochet's rule, and 1,469 people were victims of forced disappearance. Some have criticized the government's move to take away property from current Villa Baviera community members, especially those who were themselves victims of abuse. Juergen Szurgeleis in an interview said he tried as a boy to escape forced labor and abuse at Colonia Dignidad. "Is it my fault for being born here?" he said. "And now they want to take away my land and leave me in the street?" Yet a former political prisoner at Colonia Dignidad, Luis Jaque, said he struggles to see how the community, which includes a German restaurant and a hotel catering to tourists, can carry on without recognizing the horrors of the past. "It's not reconcilable, at least not for me," he said.
Japan Times
22-05-2025
- Japan Times
Chile weighs future of charming German village with dark past
With its pristine swimming pool, manicured lawns and lush forest backdrop, Villa Baviera, a German-themed settlement of 122 souls in southern Chile, looks like the perfect holiday getaway. But Colonia Dignidad, as it was previously known, is a byword for horror, as the former home of a brutal cult that was used for torturing and killing dissidents under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Twenty years after the cult leader, former Nazi German soldier Paul Schaefer, was jailed for the sexual abuse and torture of children at the colony, the Chilean state wants to turn it into a memorial for the victims of the country's 1973-1990 dictatorship. In June last year, President Gabriel Boric ordered that 116 hectares of the 4,800-hectare site, an area including the residents' homes, a hotel, a restaurant and several food processing factories, be expropriated to make way for a center of remembrance. But some of the inhabitants, who were separated from their families as children, subjected to forced labor, and in some cases sexually abused, say they are being victimized all over again. 'Heavy burden' Schaefer founded Colonia Dignidad in 1961 as an idyllic German family village — but instead abused, drugged and indoctrinated the few hundred residents and kept them as virtual slaves. The boundaries between abuser and abused were blurred, with the children of Schaefer's sidekicks counting themselves among his victims. Anna Schnellenkamp, the 48-year-old manager of the colony's hotel and restaurant, said she "worked completely free of charge until 2005," the year of Schaefer's arrest. "So much work I broke my back." Several years ago, Schnellenkamp, whose late father, Kurt Schnellenkamp, was jailed for five years for being an accomplice to Schaefer's abuse, finally found happiness. She got married, had a daughter and started to create new, happier memories in the colony, where everyone still communicates in German despite being conversant in Spanish. But she still views the settlement as part of her birthright. "The settlers know every detail, every building, every tree, including where they once suffered and were forced to work," she explained. Potato shed torture cell Around 3,200 people were killed and more than 38,000 people tortured during Chile's brutal dictatorship. An estimated 26 people disappeared in Colonia Dignidad, where a potato shed, now a national monument, was used to torture dozens of kidnapped regime opponents. But on the inside too, abuse was rife. Schaefer was captured in 2005 on charges of sexually abusing dozens of minors over nearly half a century. He died in prison five years later while in preventive custody. His arrest, and those of 20 other accomplices, marked a turning point for the colony, which had been rebranded Villa Baviera a decade previously. Suddenly, residents were free to marry, live with their children, send them to school and earn a paycheck. Some of the settlers returned to Germany. Others remained behind and built a thriving agribusiness and resort, where tourists can sample traditional German fare such as sauerkraut. Some residents feel that Chile, which for decades turned a blind eye to the fate of the enclave's children, now wants to make them pay for the sins of their fathers. "One feels a kind of revenge against us," said Markus Blanck, one of the colony's business directors, whose father was charged as an accomplice of Schaefer's abuse but died before being sentenced. The government argues the expropriations are in the public interest. "There is a national interest here in preserving our country's historical heritage," said Justice Minister Jaime Gajardo, assuring that those expropriated would be properly compensated. European-style memorial While several sites of torture under the Chilean dictatorship have been turned into memorial sites, Gajardo said the memorial at Villa Baviera would be the biggest yet, similar to those created at former Nazi concentration camps in Europe. It is not yet clear whether it will take the form solely of a museum or whether visitors will also be able to roam the site, including Schaefer's house and the infamous potato shed. The clock is ticking down for Boric to make the memorial a reality before his term runs out in March 2026. His government wants to proceed quickly, for fear the project could be buried by a future rightwing government loathe to dwell on the abuses of the Pinochet era.
Arab News
19-05-2025
- Arab News
Chile weighs future of charming German village with dark past
VILLA BAVIERA: With its pristine swimming pool, manicured lawns and lush forest backdrop, Villa Baviera, a German-themed settlement of 122 souls in southern Chile, looks like the perfect holiday getaway. But Colonia Dignidad, as it was previously known, is a byword for horror, as the former home of a brutal cult that was used for torturing and killing dissidents under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Twenty years after the cult leader, former Wehrmacht soldier Paul Schaefer, was jailed for the sexual abuse and torture of children at the colony, the Chilean state wants to turn it into a memorial for the victims of the country's 1973-1990 dictatorship. In June last year, President Gabriel Boric ordered that 116 hectares (287 acres) of the 4,800-hectare site, an area including the residents' homes, a hotel, a restaurant, and several food processing factories, be expropriated to make way for a center of remembrance. But some of the inhabitants, who were separated from their families as children, subjected to forced labor, and in some cases, sexually abused, say they are being victimized all over again. Colonia Dignidad Schaefer founded Colonia Dignidad in 1961 as an idyllic German family village — but instead abused, drugged and indoctrinated the few hundred residents and kept them as virtual slaves. The boundaries between abuser and abused were blurred, with the children of Schaefer's sidekicks counting themselves among his victims. Anna Schnellenkamp, the 48-year-old manager of the colony's hotel and restaurant, said she 'worked completely free of charge until 2005,' the year of Schaefer's arrest. 'So much work I broke my back.' Several years ago Schnellenkamp, whose late father Kurt Schnellenkamp was jailed for five years for being an accomplice to Schaefer's abuse, finally found happiness. She got married, had a daughter and started to create new, happier memories in the colony, where everyone still communicates in German despite being conversant in Spanish. But she still views the settlement as part of her birthright. 'The settlers know every detail, every building, every tree, including where they once suffered and were forced to work,' she explained. Chile's dictatorship Around 3,200 people were killed and more than 38,000 people tortured during Chile's brutal dictatorship. An estimated 26 people disappeared in Colonia Dignidad, where a potato shed, now a national monument, was used to torture dozens of kidnapped regime opponents. But on the inside too, abuse was rife. Schaefer was captured in 2005 on charges of sexually abusing dozens of minors over nearly half a century. He died in prison five years later while in preventive custody. His arrest, and those of 20 other accomplices, marked a turning point for the colony, which had been rebranded Villa Baviera a decade previously. Suddenly, residents were free to marry, live with their children, send them to school and earn a paycheck. Some of the settlers returned to Germany. Others remained behind and built a thriving agribusiness and resort, where tourists can sample traditional German fare, such as sauerkraut. Some residents feel that Chile, which for decades turned a blind eye to the fate of the enclave's children, now wants to make them pay for the sins of their fathers. 'One feels a kind of revenge against us,' said Markus Blanck, one of the colony's business directors, whose father was charged as an accomplice of Schaefer's abuse but died before being sentenced. The government argues that the expropriations are in the public interest. 'There is a national interest here in preserving our country's historical heritage,' Justice Minister Jaime Gajardo told AFP, assuring that those expropriated would be properly compensated. Memorial site While several sites of torture under the Chilean dictatorship have been turned into memorial sites, Gajardo said the memorial at Villa Baviera would be the biggest yet, similar to those created at former Nazi concentration camps in Europe. It is not yet clear whether it will take the form solely of a museum or whether visitors will also be able to roam the site, including Schaefer's house and the infamous potato shed. The clock is ticking down for Boric to make the memorial a reality before his term runs out in March 2026. His government wants to proceed quickly, for fear that the project be buried by a future right-wing government loathe to dwell on the abuses of the Pinochet era.
