Colonia Dignidad (2020-2020)
Premiere:
March 10, 2020
# of Seasons: 1
# of Episodes: 4
Finale:
March 10, 2020
Original Title:
Colonia Dignidad - Aus dem Innern einer deutschen Sekte
Alternate Titles:
Colonia Dignidad: Aus dem Paradies in die Hölle
Colonia Dignidad: Aus der Finsternis
Colonia Dignidad: L'enfer de la terre promise
Colonia Dignidad: La sortie des ténèbres
Colonia Dignidad: une secte allemande au Chili
Colónia Dignidade - No Interior de Uma Seita Alemã
Colónia Dignidade - No Interior de Uma Seita Nazi
Das innere Gefängnis
Genres:
Documentary
Production Companies:
ARTE
Canal 13
LOOKSfilm
Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio de Chile
SWR
Surreal Films
WDR
Countries:
DE
The self-proclaimed preacher Paul Schäfer gathered people around him in post-war Germany. The sect founded a youth home near Cologne. But in 1961 Schäfer had to flee. Many followers followed him to Chile. 350 kilometers south of Santiago, far away from civilization, they begin building the Colonia Dignidad. A supposed model village with workshops, agriculture, livestock breeding was being created. But paradise became hell because slave labor, violence and sexual abuse soon became a part of everyday life. After the military coup in 1973, Schäfer served the new rulers: secret police chief Manuel Contreras and dictator Augusto Pinochet now came and went in the colony, while the opponents of the terrorist regime are tortured and killed in the cellars. Using unpublished archive material and contemporary witness statements, this 4-part documentary miniseries traces the complex, 50-year history of perpetrators, victims, supporters and opponents of this place that became the epitome of evil.