Once a secretive sect and torture site, Villa Baviera, previously known as Colonia Dignidad, faces a complex future as the Chilean government plans to expropriate land for a commemorative site dedicated to victims of the Pinochet regime. While some residents support the memorial, others fear it could displace their community and erase their own painful histories.
Haunted Legacy: Villa Baviera’s Dark History Casts Shadow Over Tourism
Haunted Legacy: Villa Baviera’s Dark History Casts Shadow Over Tourism
A former cult colony in Chile, Villa Baviera grapples with its troubled legacy of torture and abuse as the government seeks to turn the area into a memorial.
The village is in Chile but its architecture is Bavarian in style. 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 past.
Once 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 Pinochet. Paul 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 age. Schäfer 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 again. Schäfer 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 for rent, and even a boating pond.
Now, the Chilean government is going to expropriate some of its land to commemorate Pinochet's victims there. But the plans have divided opinions. Across Chile, more than 3,000 people were killed and more than 40,000 tortured during the Pinochet regime, which lasted 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 said. Mr. Aguayo worked as a school inspector, was a member of the teachers' trade union, and was active in the Socialist Party.
On September 12, 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 September 26, 1973, police arrived and dragged him into a van. His family never saw him again. Ana Aguayo states a local farmer came to her house to say 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 here.
Ana 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." However, 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. She recalls, "We lived in single-sex dormitories like barracks. From a young age, we had to work, cleaning 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 burned and their ashes deposited.
Ms. 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 relocate, but for the older residents, it would be devastating."
Erika Tymm arrived in Colonia Dignidad from Germany in 1962 at the age of two. Separated from her parents, she remembers crying at night for her mother. Like several others from the colony, she says she was given electric shocks as a child. She also opposes the expropriation plans and wants to continue living there. "I want to be with people who understand what I went through."
Chilean Minister for Justice and Human Rights Jaime Gajardo Falcón stated that the government took the decision to expropriate the area in which the main buildings of the ex-colony are focused. "These were sites of political detention, 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. Seventy-three residents and former residents of Villa Baviera have written to the Chilean president expressing their concern about the expropriation plans and requesting involvement in the discussions. 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 site.
Separately, 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 Colonia Dignidad from 1962 - when he arrived from Germany with his parents at age two - until 2010. He believes a memorial is necessary because "so much cruelty happened here."
Like many boys in Colonia Dignidad, he recalls being given electric shocks, forced to take psychotropic drugs, and sexually abused by Schäfer. "Every night I was taken to a building, stripped naked, a black towel was put on my face, and electric shocks were applied, here, here, here," he says, pointing to various parts of his body. "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 the leaders of Villa Baviera are not sharing the income of the former colony fairly. They want the government to ensure that when the expropriation occurs, the indemnification payment is distributed among all residents and former residents.
Among the other victims supporting the expropriation plans are former political prisoners tortured in Colonia Dignidad, small farmers evicted from their land when the German colony was established, and Chileans who lived locally and were sexually abused as children by Schäfer. Schäfer was arrested in 2005 and in 2006 convicted of sexually abusing 25 children, including five counts of child rape. Several accomplices were also convicted.
Justice Minister Gajardo emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the horrors committed at Colonia Dignidad 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."
Once 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 Pinochet. Paul 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 age. Schäfer 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 again. Schäfer 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 for rent, and even a boating pond.
Now, the Chilean government is going to expropriate some of its land to commemorate Pinochet's victims there. But the plans have divided opinions. Across Chile, more than 3,000 people were killed and more than 40,000 tortured during the Pinochet regime, which lasted 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 said. Mr. Aguayo worked as a school inspector, was a member of the teachers' trade union, and was active in the Socialist Party.
On September 12, 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 September 26, 1973, police arrived and dragged him into a van. His family never saw him again. Ana Aguayo states a local farmer came to her house to say 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 here.
Ana 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." However, 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. She recalls, "We lived in single-sex dormitories like barracks. From a young age, we had to work, cleaning 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 burned and their ashes deposited.
Ms. 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 relocate, but for the older residents, it would be devastating."
Erika Tymm arrived in Colonia Dignidad from Germany in 1962 at the age of two. Separated from her parents, she remembers crying at night for her mother. Like several others from the colony, she says she was given electric shocks as a child. She also opposes the expropriation plans and wants to continue living there. "I want to be with people who understand what I went through."
Chilean Minister for Justice and Human Rights Jaime Gajardo Falcón stated that the government took the decision to expropriate the area in which the main buildings of the ex-colony are focused. "These were sites of political detention, 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. Seventy-three residents and former residents of Villa Baviera have written to the Chilean president expressing their concern about the expropriation plans and requesting involvement in the discussions. 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 site.
Separately, 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 Colonia Dignidad from 1962 - when he arrived from Germany with his parents at age two - until 2010. He believes a memorial is necessary because "so much cruelty happened here."
Like many boys in Colonia Dignidad, he recalls being given electric shocks, forced to take psychotropic drugs, and sexually abused by Schäfer. "Every night I was taken to a building, stripped naked, a black towel was put on my face, and electric shocks were applied, here, here, here," he says, pointing to various parts of his body. "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 the leaders of Villa Baviera are not sharing the income of the former colony fairly. They want the government to ensure that when the expropriation occurs, the indemnification payment is distributed among all residents and former residents.
Among the other victims supporting the expropriation plans are former political prisoners tortured in Colonia Dignidad, small farmers evicted from their land when the German colony was established, and Chileans who lived locally and were sexually abused as children by Schäfer. Schäfer was arrested in 2005 and in 2006 convicted of sexually abusing 25 children, including five counts of child rape. Several accomplices were also convicted.
Justice Minister Gajardo emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the horrors committed at Colonia Dignidad 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."
