Colonia Dignidad
Did the establishment of Colonia Dignidad have positive or negative impacts on Chilean society?
It will be argued that the objectives for the establishment of Colonia Dignidad led to long-term impacts that were not morally justifiable.
Amidgst a beautiful scenic view of farmlands and forests in the foothills of the Andean Mountains, was the home to almost 230 German immigrants. They were part of the congregation, who in 1961, followed an Evangelical preacher called Paul Schaefer to settle here. Within two years, this ‘dignity colony’ was given the name Colonia Dignidad. The habitats increased in numbers as a result of adopting local children from under privileged families. The land area started with 4400 acres and his …show more content…
But in this community in Chile, he held tight control and prohibited any type of interaction among themselves, threatening them that it would be a sin and that they would be …show more content…
In 2006, at Santiago, Bruce Falconer from the American Scholar spoke with a psychiatrist called Dr. Neils Biedermann. This doctor joined hands with the German Embassy and visited regularly to Colonia Dignidad to study the metal state of the residents. He said , “‘Everything was done to further the religion. Like in any sect, the colonos had a spiritual leader in Paul Schaefer, to whom they formed a strong attachment. There was a complex network of emotional connections in the Colonia. It was not a concentration camp system in which prisoners tend to think of themselves as individuals. It was a community, and the children suffered most of all.’” The pilgrims may have come to Chile for their religion, but once there they became prey to a brutal and relentless cult of personality. “‘The older colonos punished the younger ones under orders from Schaefer,’” Biedermann continued. “‘They were also the ones who were supposed to educate them. This involved keeping them away from their families, keeping them active all day, and principally keeping them obedient and disciplined. They did whatever they needed to do, including psychopharmacology and electroshock.’”
He did not encourage birth of children. There were hardly about 60 children born over the 35 years of his regime
Did the establishment of Colonia Dignidad have positive or negative impacts on Chilean society?
It will be argued that the objectives for the establishment of Colonia Dignidad led to long-term impacts that were not morally justifiable.
Amidgst a beautiful scenic view of farmlands and forests in the foothills of the Andean Mountains, was the home to almost 230 German immigrants. They were part of the congregation, who in 1961, followed an Evangelical preacher called Paul Schaefer to settle here. Within two years, this ‘dignity colony’ was given the name Colonia Dignidad. The habitats increased in numbers as a result of adopting local children from under privileged families. The land area started with 4400 acres and his …show more content…
But in this community in Chile, he held tight control and prohibited any type of interaction among themselves, threatening them that it would be a sin and that they would be …show more content…
In 2006, at Santiago, Bruce Falconer from the American Scholar spoke with a psychiatrist called Dr. Neils Biedermann. This doctor joined hands with the German Embassy and visited regularly to Colonia Dignidad to study the metal state of the residents. He said , “‘Everything was done to further the religion. Like in any sect, the colonos had a spiritual leader in Paul Schaefer, to whom they formed a strong attachment. There was a complex network of emotional connections in the Colonia. It was not a concentration camp system in which prisoners tend to think of themselves as individuals. It was a community, and the children suffered most of all.’” The pilgrims may have come to Chile for their religion, but once there they became prey to a brutal and relentless cult of personality. “‘The older colonos punished the younger ones under orders from Schaefer,’” Biedermann continued. “‘They were also the ones who were supposed to educate them. This involved keeping them away from their families, keeping them active all day, and principally keeping them obedient and disciplined. They did whatever they needed to do, including psychopharmacology and electroshock.’”
He did not encourage birth of children. There were hardly about 60 children born over the 35 years of his regime