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Associated Press

Germany’s president said Tuesday that he regrets his country’s diplomats failed for years to act on human rights violations at a secretive colony of German immigrants in Chile.
Germany recently ordered documents about Colonia Dignidad, or Dignity Colony, from 1986 until 1996 to be unclassified for research purposes. For three decades from 1961, the strange enclave was the site of torture, slavery and child abuse.
“German diplomats didn’t take seriously the human rights violations at a concrete time,” German President Joachim Gauck said at a joint news conference with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.
The leaders met earlier and Gauck said they spoke about “dark chapters” in their countries’ past.
“We hope that the declassifying of these documents will help contribute to knowing the truth about the many disappeared and executed at Colonia Dignidad and its surroundings,” Bachelet said.



The colony was founded by Paul Schaefer, a former medic in the Luftwaffe. After his World War II service, Schaefer became an evangelical preacher. He fled Germany after being accused of molesting boys at the orphanage he ran and began what became home to hundreds of Germans and Chileans in the enclave about 400km southeast of Santiago.
Schaefer also allowed General Augusto Pinochet’s security forces to operate a clandestine prison on the grounds where they tortured and executed dissidents during the 1973-1990 military dictatorship, according to witnesses’ testimony in court documents.
Colony members said married couples were forced to live apart and children were separated from parents. Residents were prevented from leaving. Those who dared to upset Schaefer were subject to electric shocks, high doses of tranquilisers and long periods of isolation.
There were also dozens of allegations of child molestation, leading Schaefer to flee Chile in 1997. He was arrested in neighbouring Argentina in 2005 and extradited to Chile the same year. Schaefer died in prison in 2010, while serving time for abusing about 20 children at the colony.
The enclave’s history was featured in a recent movie starring Emma Watson and Daniel Bruehl.


German president tells of regret over human rights horrors in bizarre colony in Chile

A stone marker in Villa Baviera, formerly known as Colonia Dignidad, in Chile. Photo: EPA

epa05417830 A picture available on 09 July 2016 shows the school of Villa Baviera, formely known as Colonia Dignidad, in Chile, 15 June 2016. The Colonia Dignidad was founded by German Paul Schaefer, 400 kilometers south of Santiago, in 1961. The agricultural commune was formed by German people fleeing from their devastated country after the second World War. During the Chilean dictatorship, the location was used for interrogation and torture of opposition members to the Augusto Pinochet regime. Schaefer fled Colonia Dignidad on 20 May 1997 after being sought by Chilean authorities on child abuse charges, for which he was found guilty in his absence, was later extradited from Argentina in 2005, and died in prison in 2010. In 2007 Colonia Dignidad became a touristic location and was renamed Villa Baviera. EPA/MARIO RUIZ

epa05415738 A picture available on 08 July 2016 shows a vehicle in Villa Baviera, estate of former Colonia Dignidad, near Parral, Linares province, Chile, 15 June 2016. The Colonia Dignidad was founded by German Paul Schaefer, 400 kilometers south of Santiago, in 1961. The agricultural commune was formed by German people fleeing from their devastated country after the second World War. During the Chilean dictatorship, the location was used for interrogation and torture of opposition members to the Augusto Pinochet regime. Schaefer fled Colonia Dignidad on 20 May 1997 after being sought by Chilean authorities on child abuse charges, for which he was found guilty in his absence, was later extradited from Argentina in 2005, and died in prison in 2010. In 2007 Colonia Dignidad became a touristic location and was renamed Villa Baviera. EPA/MARIO RUIZ

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