Original subtitles

Hello.

Did we start? Is it recording? No.

Yes?

This is the beautiful swimming pool we are here for.

This is the pool

they are talking about.

It was built for the health and physical exercise of the young,

with no erotic implications.

Without

erotic

motives.

I hope everybody, children and adults,

were able to understand me in German and Spanish.

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES

One, two, five.

The Permanent Vigil Youth.

That was the movement I belonged to.

We would come on weekends and vacations.

Girls had to wear braids,

we couldn't have long hair,

jewelry, or watches.

We are sportsmen

With skill

Always united By friendship

Back then, young people in Chilean society

had to smoke in order to belong to a group.

You had to drink, to get drunk.

So,

cigarettes and alcohol, or wine, what's it called?

To that we say...

No!

To that we say... No!

Cleanliness, punctuality,

respecting other people's time, your posture sitting down.

COLONIA DIGNIDAD'S CHILD VISITOR

Things related to your growth as a person.

I fit into that.

Thank you very much, merci beaucoup,

danke schön, muchas gracias,

and until next time.

I hope in the future,

just as today,

I won't have any complaints.

Give yourselves a round of applause.

Salam alaikum.

Salam alaikum!

The Permanent Vigil Youth.

PERMANENT VIGIL YOUTH

How nice.

We had a great time with the Chilean children.

Recess!

They started to let us go find rose hip

or go on trips.

And the most special thing for us girls

was that we finally were able to have some contact with the boys.

We felt more equality between boys and girls.

COLONIST

And also, we finally started speaking some Spanish.

Not so straight!

No, don't press there.

Children picked…

Speak clearly!

Hard, isn't it?

They picked…

I don't dare.

Schäfer told me… COLONIST

"You are the president of Villa Baviera's youth."

Okay.

They picked…

Here it is.

3,158!

At first, Schäfer was very nice,

I think because he wanted to get closer

or earn my trust.

But I think

he always wanted me to become

that sprinter he wanted,

so he could have the right to have sex with me.

He was so obsessed with me

that at some point he called my mom…

to offer to move my family to the estate,

to build her the house she wanted, with as many stories as she wanted.

Yes, we were a humble family, but we had our own house.

They had risked their lives, they had worked hard

to have their field and their animals.

They would never accept a proposal like that, ever.

We were poor,

and we didn't have

the financial means to buy school supplies and things like that.

Colonia Dignidad offered us an intensive boarding school.

For us, that meant my family didn't have to pay

or buy school supplies

or worry about our clothing, nothing.

My grandmother had to sign a document

transferring my rights…

INTENSIVE BOARDING SCHOOL STUDENT

…to the colony.

Unknowingly.

I couldn't go home for about a year and a half.

I never did.

I was already in secondary school, I must have been 15 years old.

More or less.

I remember clearly we were playing hide and seek.

The windows were open towards the kitchen,

and Schäfer was there with a boy from the intensive boarding school.

He had the boy sitting on his lap,

and his hand was underneath

the boy's pants.

I suppose underneath his underwear.

It was shocking because he was a small boy.

The boy must have been nine or ten years old.

We got together behind the trees.

We talked, we cried.

We had talked about that, but it was...

It was very secretive.

Because we knew there were people

who told Schäfer everything.

There were cameras everywhere.

There were microphones.

We managed to create a brotherhood

of Chilean students that were closer,

and we knew we could talk without betraying each other.

Cristóbal, a boy from the intensive boarding school,

took the first step to bring Schäfer down.

He was very brave.

In 1996,

he wrote a secret letter to his mom

asking for help.

That boy's mother came to Santiago.

She was referred

to the Fifth the Department of Internal Affairs…

CHIEF INVESTIGATOR …where I was in charge.

We took her statement,

and we referred it, with certain precautionary measures,

to the Court of Parral.

Because there were people in that court that regularly went to Villa Baviera.

NOVEMBER, 1996

We entered the place breaking doors.

This way! Police!

This is unfair!

When they came for Paul Schäfer…

We knew they wanted Paul Schäfer.

COLONIST

We put up a defense anyway we could.

We threw ourselves in front of the cars

so they couldn't move forward.

We protected our estate, and Paul Schäfer in particular.

More than our own lives.

The police took Cristóbal to the colony

so he could identify exactly

where he had been abused.

That's Cristóbal.

- That one? - Yes, in the green shirt.

Another purpose

was to find the other kids from the intensive boarding school

and get them out.

He's going in.

They are all devils.

When the Fifth Department came looking for me,

Villa Baviera knew of their plan thanks to their network of contacts.

That same night, they took us to the mountains.

To hide us.

When the helicopters came by,

we had to get on the ground, and they covered us with leaves.

- Jaime. - What?

What are you afraid of, Jaime?

To be taken by the detectives.

Schäfer would tell us, especially me,

"The dogs from the Fifth Department,"

because that's what he called them,

"will arrest you and lock you up in jail."

I never asked why.

But that's what he told us.

They told me, "You have to deny

everything that happened here, until the end."

"Nothing happened here, all is well."

"And you have to deny the extortion. Deny it."

That's him. That's the Police Chief.

The court issued an arrest warrant

authorizing the search for the arrest of Mr. Schäfer.

While we carried on the operation,

there were long weapons aiming at us on the rooftops.

In other words, if we captured Mr. Schäfer,

what was going to happen?

Surely an exchange of gunfire.

They couldn't find Schäfer.

Schäfer had ordered

to start fires in different places.

COLONIST

The bells rang, we heard the announcement, "They're coming."

We all jumped from our beds.

We had everything ready. And right then, the fires started.

At that time, the Police were constantly coming into Colonia Dignidad.

- Get out! - Sir, please!

- Out! - Sir.

Go.

I'm not a criminal! Where's the arrest warrant?

Who authorized you?

- Don't move. Hands on your head. - Help!

This is a crime!

A crime!

But Schäfer always managed to escape.

We are a little disappointed because we didn't get

the result everybody expected.

POLICE CHIEF

But the only way to move forward is to step up our efforts

to bring Mr. Schäfer to justice.

Get him.

God is with us

And we are with Him

Victory Will be ours

"Give my regards to everyone, to all the aunts and uncles,

and tell the children we miss them very much."

"I hope…"

There were assemblies where everybody cried,

and Günter Schaffrik read fake letters.

"With love,

your friend, always."

He was hiding in a container underground.

He had screens that allowed him to see what was happening above.

And a little water.

- She's waiting at the door, no? - Yes.

- By herself? - By herself.

Good. She's brave.

And we have to offer her

to drive her and the child.

So he won't be taken away by the Police.

Correct.

…go get him.

Ma'am, come in.

Hello, ma'am. Good afternoon.

Come in.

- We have met already. - Yes.

- Take a seat. - Thank you.

Tell me. How can I help you?

I'm here to get Jaime.

Yes.

- I am his mother. - Yes.

My son wants to come with me. And I want to take him.

My mom was definitely going to get me.

She went looking for me with the Police.

And why are you coming with the Police?

Because I asked them

if they could drive me.

Or is it because you thought

that we wouldn't give him to you without backup?

I come... I don't want any trouble.

I don't want any trouble with you or anyone else, I want...

I want to live by myself, quietly, with my son, and that's it.

All right.

Is it true you filed a complaint at the court?

No, I didn't. It was his grandmother.

I don't want any trouble.

- I just want... - The grandmother filed a complaint?

- She did, his grandmother, not me. - But...

I don't want him to stay with anybody. I want him with me.

Look, his grandmother has no right...

- I want to take my son peacefully. - Right.

I want to take… She tried to stay calm.

None of my kids.

- Yes. - We want to live in peace.

We do too.

If his grandmother messed up, we don't have to talk about that.

- No. - To help my kids.

Yes.

He's giving them to her.

The documents. Keep them.

Well,

I…

Goodbye, and it's over

I say goodbye for now

Since I have to leave…

Yes, they told me they had a song for me.

I don't breathe anymore…

It's horrible how they played with people's minds.

Terrible.

…glacial cold Then I will come back

Everybody, shake his hand.

- Bye. - Bye.

Bye.

I cried and cried, and I didn't know why.

- Bye. - Bye.

I cried all the way from Villa Baviera

to San Gregorio, where my mother lived.

And I kept crying afterwards.

The five families that have reported kidnappings and sexual abuse

live about 20 km from the sect, just past the border of the region.

The harassment and the threats continue,

according to Rosa Verdugo, the last mother that filed a complaint against Schäfer.

There are many mothers that don't want to see what's happening there.

How can they not see it?

How can they not realize

that their children are suffering in there?

It's not just us.

There are more children. I know there are more children affected.

Then,

at some point, we would see

cars with German men we knew

watching what we did,

where we went, who we were with.

They were watching my house.

And they took me.

They took me somewhere, and they told me...

I don't even know where.

I know there was a dark house.

They told me, "You have to say this, they will interview you."

Did you testify in court? What did you say happened?

TELEVISIÓN UC INTERVIEW

That the uncles up there had raped me.

- And that is a lie? - Yes, it's a lie.

Nothing strange happened to you in Colonia Dignidad?

Something that bothered you?

No.

The only thing you remember from there

is that you had a good time,

or were there times when you felt bad for some reason?

No.

Were you ever mad at any of the uncles?

No.

- No? - No.

You've never been upset about anything they did to you?

No.

Why did you say you were raped?

Because the Fifth Department forced me to do it.

And they also tricked me with money,

with chocolate, with food, with everything.

They tricked me.

Jaime revoked his testimony against Schäfer.

In court, they had 12 lawyers at the time.

Twelve.

Even the public started to doubt, and people said,

"Oh, no. These kids are lying. Look at them."

The trial against Schäfer was on the verge of failure.

- Here... - Look!

In spite of democracy, the military kept their power,

and they remained good friends with the colony.

Look at the sky!

- The sky. - Look!

There isn't another case in Chilean criminal justice

where so many resources have been used

within the law

to try to undermine Police procedure.

Members of Chilean society

began to discredit the proceeding.

SENATOR

Dear friends

and members of Villa Baviera.

Unnecessary violence has been used,

people who have a right to live in peace have been intimidated,

as well as the right to respect their dignity.

All this, due to a complaint by a minor

against an elderly man who's almost 80 years old,

who suffers partial loss of vision.

Hernán Larraín.

Instead of supporting us, he always supported Colonia Dignidad.

Now, he's the Minister of Justice and Human Rights.

I want to point out

that, once again, we will not accept

the abuse of power that's been committed.

In my case, I was the spokesman for the Chilean youth

and several times, of youth as a whole.

The one who could write a speech,

who could read it to the media.

I was useful to the system.

I was about 16 years old.

In four years, he never had me alone. He was never able to have me alone. Ever.

It was always a cat and mouse game.

Where the cat is more powerful, stronger,

but often the mouse is smarter,

it can avoid it somehow.

But

I remember one time

Günter Schaffrik told me...

He told me, "Go to the uncle's room."

Schäfer would tell me and other boys,

the first one he saw, because we all did it...

"Bring him to me."

He had a shower in his bedroom.

"Get him some clean clothes so he can change."

"He needs to be cleaned up."

And I did it.

I really felt there that I couldn't

handle the situation.

I brought him to Schäfer.

I brought him to Schäfer.

A real nightmare began.

All night long.

And he insisted all night long that I slept with him.

That I touched him.

He tried to touch me,

to take my pajamas off.

He would sleep for a while,

then he would say something in German,

in Spanish, he would yell.

But he was always trying to put his hand on my body.

All night long.

I didn't sleep at all.

In the morning, when he woke up,

I remember he started to get upset, really mad.

And he told me, "Don't you like me? Do I disgust you?"

And I told him, "Yes, you disgust me."

I took my backpack, and I left,

I went out the back of Schäfer's room.

I arrived where all the Chilean and German boys were having breakfast.

When I opened the door, I felt an inquisitive look from everyone,

like, "Oh, him too. He was the one from last night." Something like that.

And that's how it was.

At that moment, I swore I would get revenge.

Tobias Müller

was very lively, very cheerful.

Pull it out.

He was permissive, if you will.

A bit of a transgressor,

as far as one could be in Colonia Dignidad.

Tobias went over to the turbine,

which was kind of the pool we had.

And I remember clearly, he kept quiet,

he got really red and nervous.

And with his voice trembling he told me

that he had been raped by Schäfer,

that he had been beaten many times.

"I don't want to stay here."

Two, three!

And I told him,

"Tobi, you know there will be a celebration

for the Permanent Vigil anniversary."

"That's when we have to leave."

His first answer was no.

"No, you're crazy. They'll kill us, they'll catch us, they'll find us."

And at night, in the dormitory,

he came and told me, "Yes, okay."

That is The day of the Lord

That is

The day of the Lord

That is

The day of the Lord

JULY 26, 1997

That July 26, I remember well,

Tobias told me

he was in charge of the bathrooms.

He told me, "You tell me when."

And he came up with a very good idea,

which was to take the communication radios

from the security guards.

…now you will see it

in the following poem by the young

Salo Luna.

We knew it was almost a matter of life or death.

If we got caught, Tobias would probably die

because he had recent information

on the location of the bunker where Schäfer was hiding.

Time

Is running fast And unceasingly

Streams that get lost…

We carried knives because we knew we had to defend ourselves.

Like the birds That fly through the sky

Not knowing Where they will arrive

6 YEARS OF VIGIL - DAY AND NIGHT

And then I pretended to be nauseated.

I went to the bathroom,

and I told Tobias, "Now."

And we started crouching down,

almost like soldiers, to move forward.

We stepped over thorns, we tore our skin.

I remember it was getting dark. I remember very well.

I remember we ran,

and suddenly, on the communication radio…

My name or my last name came up all the time,

"Der Mond."

And I heard something like, "Ist nicht."

Like I wasn't there.

"You have to go, you all have to go."

And the party was over.

We looked at each other in the dark of the night.

I knew I was going to have to run 17 kilometers.

And we started to run.

We ran until we got to my house, in Paso Ancho.

My older brother went to look for a car

to leave my house as soon as possible,

because we knew they would get there sooner or later.

And we went to Santa María Manquehue,

to the German ambassador's residence.

At some point, the ambassador told me,

"You have seen the great pressure there is here,

the pressure from the media."

"You two may be in danger

because the colony is still well connected, etc."

He told me, "The German government invites you to Germany."

Excuse me.

I was so happy, and now…

THE NICE BOY NEXT DOOR

It was living proof, in the flesh, named Tobias Müller,

who dared to report it in Talca.

He dared to go to Germany, meet his family,

and file a complaint there as well.

How do I feel?

Very good. Very happy.

The worst is over. The hardest days.

The last days were stressful,

with the journalists and the trips.

That sense that something could still happen or go wrong.

But we made it through.

When we realized Tobias was gone,

that he had left with Salo.

When Schäfer found out, he said,

"This is the end of me."

Then, they called me

and asked me if I was ready to go to Argentina with them.

PAUL SCHÄFER'S BODYGUARD

And

he went to Argentina with a small suitcase.

Full of dollars. Away from here.

When I found out Schäfer had left,

I silently rejoiced.

COLONIST And I thought,

"Maybe we'll get some more freedom here."

Dignidad

Dignidad

Until the last moment, Dignidad

Dignidad

Dignidad

I will always be with you, Dignidad

Every night, we would cry and pray for Paul Schäfer.

We didn't even think about us or about starting a new life.

It was really difficult for us.

We couldn't think for ourselves. And realizing that...

At every little step we took,

we tried to be faithful to what we had learned,

we tried not to stray an inch from the path,

to go on faithfully without slipping up.

Yes.

We went to the mountains with the children.

We put up the tents and settled down.

We had never been this close together.

And then, as if it were a game,

we asked them to call us Mom and Dad.

COLONIST

We laughed a lot. The children laughed a lot.

We were Uncle Willi and Aunt Edeltraud.

It was liberating that it could be funny.

Until slowly, it became normal

for them to call us Mom and Dad.

And everything was basically

much easier… COLONIST

…because we were outside of the colony.

We simply had to decide not to go back.

I knew that was the last step to not coming back ever again.

I returned from Germany to Chile to my parents' house.

Sometimes there were protests one block from my house.

People from the colony yelling, "Traitor."

But I was lucky enough that my neighbors,

all my neighbors,

supported me.

Twelve or 13 neighbors came with axes,

with scythes, which are agricultural tools,

and they stood with us,

willing to do whatever it took.

Sir…

Schäfer had already bought an estate in Argentina.

And again started plans to build another youth center on his property

near Buenos Aires.

The police didn't find him for seven years.

I often wondered if they would catch us,

but Schäfer told us once…

WANTED …that God had told him,

"They will not see me or catch me."

The criminal was located in Argentina

by the detectives, the Chilean Police.

But, as it happened,

I retired, and the others lost interest.

But the information was there.

Hernán Fernández, the lawyer for the abused Chilean children,

and journalist Carola Fuentes found a clue in Argentina.

I WAS THERE

It caught our attention from the air

because we found some things in that field

that reminded us of what happened in Villa Baviera.

A big house, some sheds,

where we supposed there could be

anything from weapons to, I don't know,

an airplane or something for him to escape.

We managed to locate, in a risky chase…

LAWYER

…Paul Schäfer's bodyguard team in Chivilcoy.

Schäfer had told us what we had to tell people.

We couldn't say we came from Chile,

so they couldn't trace us.

And he trusted me. Yes.

Call him.

So I can meet him.

Make an excuse.

Hello, good afternoon, how are you?

Hello. A new supervisor?

No… A friend.

Where are you from?

From here.

No, from...

- You're German. - Yes.

- Do you speak German? - I speak German.

I speak a little German.

Okay. What's your name?

Friedhelm.

Friedhelm?

Friedhelm.

We were able to contact

the judicial authorities

that opened a criminal case

and issued the warrants for the search

and arrest of Paul Schäfer in March 2005.

Thirty Argentinian policemen are ready to enter the house

in the hope that they find

the most wanted man in recent times.

MARCH 10, 2005

Police!

Where? Where is he?

- Paul! - Schäfer!

The witnesses!

Drop it.

- Did you find him? - Yes.

Careful.

I WAS THERE

What treatment are you receiving?

What are these for?

So you don't try to misbehave, Paul.

Easy.

- You can't do that. - Easy. Get him.

For the press. Are you sorry? Paul Schäfer, are you sorry?

- Please... - Easy.

They're getting him in.

I felt a satisfaction

and a joy

that are hard to describe.

Finally,

this pederast, this animal, this beast is going to pay.

He's going to pay.

Son of a bitch.

Yes, I came here too.

I followed every step of his arrest,

how they took him from Argentina and brought him

to jail in Chile.

We have to go down.

Once Schäfer was arrested

for sexual abuse, he was sentenced to 20 years.

However, his crimes against humanity

were not addressed in the trial.

I saw men

And they search at dusk and dawn

They search for what they cannot find

In love, honor, and happiness

And they return, weighted down by sin

And unsatisfied Yes.

MALESSA WORKSHOP LTD.

Willi Malessa

received from the new management of Villa Baviera

around one hundred thousand dollars…

to keep his mouth shut.

However, he talked anyway.

I told them, "I'm ready

to testify about everything

as long as what I say doesn't end up in the news."

"Because I'm sure

I could be in danger,

and I could end up being shot

at any street corner."

Willi told them, "I want those people

that are looking for their disappeared loved ones

to at least know that."

When we entered,

it was my first time in this place.

JUAN MAINO'S SISTER

And the PDI was already here,

the investigative Police,

taking all the engines out.

Until now, there was no tangible evidence.

These are the two engines found

under the grounds of the former Colonia Dignidad.

They belonged to two vehicles.

The second one belonged to the same vehicle used by Juan Maino,

a photographer arrested by the DINA in May 1976,

who remains missing.

My first impulse was

to hug an engine.

A poor consolation, but a consolation at least.

Willi also said,

"I will go to jail if I have to."

"I'm prepared."

The judge, almost out of gratitude,

offered him impunity

for his cooperation with justice.

The most beautiful moment?

Well...

Here in the colony?

The most beautiful moment…

That's my husband.

One moment.

You are receiving a call from a prison compound.

Honey.

- Hi, darling. - My darling.

Are you alone?

No, the camera crew is here in the kitchen.

GERHARD MÜCKE'S WIFE

They are asking me questions.

My husband

was never asked by the justice system, “Did you do this?”

They just put him in jail.

Around noon, 79-year-old Gerhard Mücke

turned himself in.

He will have to live in a cell for the next 11 years.

You know?

That was a sect.

COLONIA DIGNIDAD'S LEADERSHIP MEMBER

There's no other way to understand it.

He ordered everything,

and everyone was always with him.

So,

I haven't done the things I'm accused of.

But, unfortunately, our lawyers did not defend us properly.

I can't endure this.

Kurt Schnellenkamp, who is 85 years old,

will spend five years in jail.

I thanked God

for taking me to prison.

If I have caused harm,

I want to apologize a hundred times over.

COLONIA DIGNIDAD'S FINANCIAL DIRECTOR

I was such a brute, really. I wanted everything to work.

But I lost sight of the people,

and that was my biggest mistake.

Günter Schaffrik showed up afterwards,

sentenced to 11 years in jail.

I am a victim.

It never crossed my mind

to harm a child.

I treated them with love.

We were victims.

Yes, great.

I am free, but on probation.

And…

We can live together, be together, and that is

great.

My name is Erika,

and I came to Chile when I was two years old.

I lived all my life here in Villa Baviera.

Here, in our estate, the DINA tortured

political Chileans to make them talk, inform on other groups, I don't know.

Down here, on the right, where you see blue roofs and walls,

that's the poultry farm.

Right now, we have 65,000 laying hens,

so there are 50,000 eggs per day, sometimes more.

The hens eat only our food,

from our fields,

and pure water from the mountains, from an additional well.

If a positive article came out about tourism,

they would publish five negative ones, opposing it.

They considered it inappropriate for us to promote tourism here…

where so many bad things had happened.

I organized Oktoberfest at the request of the visitors,

to give them a big welcome.

VILLA BAVIERA'S TOURISM DIRECTOR

And they loved it.

They thought it was authentic.

But I got a lot of criticism for that, and we've stopped doing it for now.

I have one beer and one steak.

Anke! It's ready.

What am I now? What?

What am I now?

PAUL SCHÄFER'S VOICE

A sadistic uncle, right?

No.

No?

I take delight in the helplessness of others, right?

- No. - No.

No.

I feel a sadistic and diabolic pleasure to see others embarrassed.

In the end, he was the tío permanente.

- In the end. "The eternal uncle." - "The eternal uncle."

Like the eternal God.

And he always asked us questions,

he would tell us, "You don't know who I am."

Or, "You will end up going crazy with me."

And that's what happened. We all ended up crazy.

We are talking about these things

because you must realize

if I come from God or the devil.

Here I am.

Judge everything I say.

I hope this is all on tape.

So that I can answer for what I say for all eternity.

Find someone else…

to yell at you.

I'm leaving.

PAUL SCHÄFER DIED ON APRIL 24, 2010

IN THE SANTIAGO PRISON HOSPITAL