The Dignidad colony: how a pedophile Nazi organized a private concentration camp in Chile

After the end of the Second World War, thousands of Nazis found salvation from justice in Latin America. Chile, with its government loyal to the Third Reich, has become a real "promised land" for war criminals of all stripes. Only here the evil was able to take root and germinate such an ugly formation as the "Dignidad"colony. The full power in this settlement belonged to the sadist and pedophile Paul Schaefer, who for many years absolutely with impunity realized his most terrible fantasies.

By the beginning of the 60s, the flow of Germans fleeing from Europe to Chile had almost dried up, but visitors with a "past" still did not surprise anyone. Therefore, when a forty-year-old German Paul Schaefer arrived in the country in 1961, it did not surprise anyone. Moreover, this emigrant did not belong to the problematic ones. Born in 1921, Schaefer, like most of his peers, visited the war, where he received a couple of awards and lost his left eye.

Schaefer was not a Nazi criminal – he served as a medical service corporal in the Luftwaffe and therefore in Europe his person was hardly interested in "bounty hunters". Why did the German leave his homeland, where he was in no danger? Everything was simple – in Germany, Paul was caught molesting minors.

To be closer to the objects of his unhealthy attraction, Schaefer immediately after the war got a job as a kindergarten teacher at the Evangelical church in the village of Lutzow-Dannenberg, Germany. The pedophile was soon found out and he was forced to go into hiding. In parallel with his interest in children, Paul had another point – he dreamed of creating his own religion, the concept of which was based on hard work and complete renunciation of earthly joys. Unexpected, right?

The runaway teacher found like-minded people from among people much more respected than himself. The first adherents of his faith were businessman Heinz Kuhn, former Luftwaffe pilot Hermann Schmidt, pediatrician Gisela Seewald and pastor Hugo Baar. Together they founded the Christian community "Private Social Mission" near the small town of Ziegburg.

The principle of the mission's work was painfully familiar – its doors were open to all those who were suffering, who had lost faith in people and themselves, who had fallen into the power of drugs and alcohol. There they were provided with shelter and spiritual food, and in return they received money and real estate of these unfortunate people. Soon Schaefer and his accomplices became very rich and they became cramped and uninterested in Germany, where the laws were observed.

A fateful decision was made by a friend of Schaefer – the ambassador of Chile to Germany, Arturo Maschke. The diplomat invited him to his country, promising all the support of the authorities. The rest was a matter of technology – soon the whole dirty gang was over the ocean. There, Paul insinuated himself into the confidence of a wealthy German-born Jew, Rudy Cohen, who helped him acquire the extensive Lavadero estate, located far from cities and major highways.

Soon the villa " Lavadero "was renamed the colony" Dignidad "("Dignity") and the work on organizing the German community began to boil. Dozens of sectarians took part in the construction of the settlement, whom Schaefer lured out of Germany, promising mountains of gold and spiritual enlightenment. Many of them were minors and Paul had his own plans for them.

When the work was completed, Schaefer named his brainchild the Charity and Educational Society "Dignidad". The pedophile posed as a patron of the arts and a teacher. He said that the boys in the colony are provided with shelter, food, free medical care and education. Paul promised the Chilean government to turn the surroundings of the colony into a prosperous region with schools, hospitals and agricultural schools in every village.

In Santiago, they could not get enough of Schaefer and his colony. Soon, the area of the lands of "Dignidad" reached 17 thousand hectares. The territory was surrounded by a fence with barbed wire and set up towers with security. Schaefer told everyone that this was necessary to protect the settlement from encroachments from outside, but in fact the fence was also needed to prevent escapes from the community, in which everything was far from as safe as everyone thought.

Slave labor flourished in the "Dignidad" and the colonists worked 12-14 hours a day for scanty food and poor clothes. Any violations were punishable by beatings and solitary confinement. The head of Schaefer's security service was a former Nazi, Gerhard Muecke, who not only kept order, but also detected dissent among the residents. Muke's team consisted of several dozen heavily armed thugs, many of whom were wanted in several countries at once.

Schaefer himself arranged for himself a real pedophile paradise – the colonist boys became his personal harem, and the pervert could realize the most vile fantasies without fearing for the consequences. Sometimes bad rumors reached high offices in the capital, but the "Dignidad"was beneficial to the government and all signals were ignored.

For his part, Paul Schaefer supplied the officials with fruits, vegetables, milk and meat every week, which were the basis of the colony's economy. The export of agricultural products to distant Germany brought him a good profit. Over time, Schaefer turned into a big businessman who, in addition to the colony, had his own gold mine, a granite quarry, several trawlers and a chain of restaurants.

But Schaefer turned around as widely as possible after Augusto Pinochet came to power in 1973. Even before the coup, the owner of the "Dignidal" sympathized with right-wing extremists. He hid them from the authorities and, they say, set up a workshop for the production of automatic rifles in" Dignidad". Pinochet did not remain in debt and gave Schaefer and his accomplices many privileges.

Paul, in gratitude for the loyalty of the new authorities, began to support the Chilean political intelligence service DINA. In fact, the "Dignidal" has become a concentration camp for people objectionable to the Pinochet regime. People who entered the gates of the colony under the protection of the military police could no longer leave it and became the full property of Schaefer.

The activities of the fugitive pedophile were well known in Germany. However, overseas he was considered an extravagant freak, a sectarian who helped Pinochet fight the communists. But sooner or later, the white streak in Schaefer's life had to end, and this happened in the second half of the 80s.

In 1985, a former resident, a US citizen Boris Weisfeiler, a well – known mathematician, humanist and traveler, disappeared in Chile. He literally disappeared and everyone was well aware that there was no chance of finding him alive. Rumors spread in the country that DEAN's employees brought the American to "Dignidad", where they simply dealt with him. For the first time in many years, the colony and its owner attracted the close attention of foreign special services.

But while Augusto Pinochet was in power, Schaefer was in no danger. A thunderbolt from a clear sky was the change of power – the state in January 1991 was headed by Patricio Aylwin, who did not need a German who discredited himself with dubious deeds, who organized his state with an army inside Chile.

Aylwin, by personal decree, deprived the Dignidad colony of all privileges and, of course, inviolability. In 1996, a police check came to Schaefer. To get to the territory of the colony, it took the support of 300 armed soldiers. But they did not find the owner – Paul Schaefer ran away.

Until May 1997, he was hiding in Chile, and then he crossed the border and tried to evade responsibility in Argentina. The reason for hiding was more than respectful – the 76-year-old Schaefer was accused of molesting 26 boys. Until 2005, the scoundrel managed to lead the police of Argentina by the nose, but he was still arrested and handed over to the authorities of Chile.

Very soon, the owner of the "Dignidad" and 22 of his closest henchmen were brought to court. Paul Schaefer was sentenced to 33 years in prison, but just 5 years later he died in Santiago prison at the age of 89. Despite the fact that the Dignidad colony ceased to exist a quarter of a century ago, most of its secrets remain under the "secret"label

Based on this story, the feature film "The Dignidad Colony "with Emma Watson in the title role was shot in the United States in 2015.