Established in post-World War II Chile by emigrant Germans, Colonia Dignidad ("Dignity Colony") was an isolated colony of Germans which became notorious for the internment, torture, and murder of dissidents during the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s while under the leadership of German emigrant preacher Paul Schäfer. Colonia Dignidad has been described as a "state within a state". Schäfer and members of the colony were deeply religious and followed the teachings of William Branham. The main legal economic activity of the colony was agriculture; at various periods it also was home to a school, a hospital, two airstrips, a restaurant, and a power station. In 1961, Colonia Dignidad's longest continuous leader, Schäfer, arrived in the colony. Schäfer was a fugitive, accused of child molestation in West Germany. The organization he led in Chile was described, alternatively, as a cult or as a group of "harmless eccentrics". The organization was secretive, and the Colonia was surrounded by barbed wire fences, featured a watchtower and searchlights, and was later reported to contain secret weapon caches. External investigations, including efforts by the Chilean government, uncovered a history of criminal activity in the enclave, including child sexual abuse. Reports from Chile's National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, indicate that a small set of the many individuals abducted by Pinochet's Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional during his rule were held as prisoners at Colonia Dignidad, most of whom were subjected to torture, and often to extrajudicial execution as well. Several members of Colonia's leadership of the time, including Schäfer, were participants in the atrocities. In 1991, the name of the settlement was changed to Villa Baviera. After Schäfer fled to Argentina in 1996 to escape child molestation charges in Chile, control over residents loosened. Residents of the colony are now free to leave, and the site is open for tourism.
Worth the watch because it sheds a beam of light on a very strange corner of Chilean history that would otherwise become a blip on the radar. But after it's all said and done, it also has the ability to reveal something about the viewer. Rather than sitting on the edge of my seat, I became comfortable in its story beats and with its rhythmic editing. I found myself going days between episodes because my attention kept slipping. Propelled by ample vintage video footage from local and national news covering the situation at the time, the documentary also benefits from contemporary interviews. Forget all the click-baity reviews dubbing the series a "German cult doc" - the truth is far more complicated and fascinating than a group of Germans and Chileans living on a commune.
Simon says Colonia Dignidad: Eine deutsche Sekte in Chile (Colonia Dignidad: A Sinister Sect) receives:
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