Colonia Dignidad

Ziółkowski, Grzegorz. Performing (In)Dignity: The Performative Realm of Colonia Dignidad, a German Enclave in Chile (book, to be published in English by Routledge)

Abstract: The book maps, explores and interprets the performative realm of what has come to be known as Colonia Dignidad (Dignity Colony), a pseudo-religious community that originated in the Federal Republic of Germany in the mid-1950s and operated in Chile from 1961. For decades, its sealed-off compound was the scene of a variety of crimes and human rights violations perpetrated systematically and with impunity. The volume seeks to answer the question of how far the successful cultivation of an image of a hard-working and orderly community focusing on charity work contributed to the congregation’s staying power. It also reflects on the role of the performative actions of the colony’s opponents in shattering this façade.

The publication frames the subject conceptually and outlines the history of the group, placing it in multiple contexts. At its core, the book provides analyses and interpretations of diverse celebrations, gymnastic displays, music concerts and theatrical performances which were used as an element of the group’s diverse PR activities. In addition, the publication investigates the multiple impersonations performed by the community’s manipulative leader, Paul Schäfer (1921–2010), and examines the enclave’s adaptive skills, which allowed it to effectively choreograph its image under changing political circumstances and ultimately create a touristic Bavarian village at the foot of the Andes rather than the Alps. Furthermore, the book includes studies of numerous protest actions staged against the group, as well as those orchestrated by Schäfer and his confidantes to secure the continued existence of their criminal structure. All of the investigations are conducted against a complex backdrop which intertwines cultural, economic, historical, political, religious, and social aspects. The publication also includes a comprehensive timeline of the Colony of Dignity and a list of key sources on the subject.

Of interest to scholars and students in fields ranging from performance to history, human rights, memory studies, politics, religion, and trauma studies, Performing (In)Dignity: The Performative Realm of ‘Colonia Dignidad’, a German Enclave in Chile offers a unique perspective on an important episode of contemporary history that belongs to the complex web of relations between the ‘Global North’ and ‘Global South’.

Ziółkowski, Grzegorz. Colonia Dignidad: protesty, uroczystości, występy. Od „Marszu na rzecz praw człowieka” (1990) do ceremonii upamiętniającej Detenidos Desaparecidos (2006) (book, to be published in Polish in OA)

Streszczenie: Książka ta poświęcona została publicznej części performatywnej strefy „Kolonii ‘Godność’” (Colonia Dignidad) – niemieckiej totalitarnej społeczności wyznaniowej i kierującej nią zorganizowanej grupy przestępczej, działającej w Chile od 1961 roku – w kilkunastoletnim okresie nazywanym ‘transformacją demokratyczną’, jaki nastąpił po zakończeniu dyktatury cywilno-wojskowej (1973–1990). Publikacja przedstawia opis oraz pogłębioną analizę i interpretację tego obszaru, biorąc pod uwagę czas i miejsce widowisk, ich wykonawców i odbiorców, funkcje i gatunki, elementy składowe i repertuar, estetykę, a także ich konsekwencje. Umieszczając badania w kontekstach historycznym, kulturowym, politycznym, religijnym i społecznym, książka ta stawia sobie za cel udzielenie odpowiedzi na pytanie dotyczące roli publicznych działań performatywnych „Kolonii”, stanowiących element jej rozbudowanych poczynań propagandowych, w umożliwieniu dalszego trwania tej totalitarnej grupy w stopniowo zmieniającej się rzeczywistości politycznej.

Abstract: This book is devoted to the public aspect of the performative realm of ‘Colonia Dignidad’ (Dignity Colony) – a German totalitarian religious community and the organised criminal group that ran it, operating in Chile from 1961 – during the period of over a decade known as the ‘democratic transition’, which followed the end of the civil-military dictatorship (1973–1990). This publication presents descriptions, in-depth analyses and interpretations of this field, taking into account the time and place of the performances, their performers and audiences, functions and genres, constituent elements and repertoire, aesthetics, as well as their consequences. By situating the research within historical, cultural, political, religious and social contexts, this book aims to answer the question regarding the role of the Colony’s public performances – which formed part of its extensive propaganda efforts – in enabling the continued existence of this totalitarian group within a gradually changing political reality.

Ziółkowski, Grzegorz. «Colonia Dignidad: actuaciones, celebraciones, protestas. Desde la Caminata por los Derechos Humanos (1990) hasta la ceremonia en memoria de los Detenidos Desaparecidos (2006)» (book, to be published in Spanish)

Resumen: Este libro está dedicado a la parte pública de la zona performativa de Colonia Dignidad, una comunidad religiosa totalitaria alemana y un grupo delictivo organizado que la dirige, que operó en Chile desde 1961. El libro se centra en el periodo de más de una década denominado «transformación democrática», que tuvo lugar tras el fin de la dictadura cívico-militar (1973-1990). La publicación ofrece una descripción, así como un análisis e interpretación en profundidad de este ámbito, teniendo en cuenta la época y el lugar de los espectáculos, sus intérpretes y público, sus funciones y géneros, sus componentes y repertorio, su estética, así como sus consecuencias. Al situar la investigación en los contextos histórico, cultural, político, religioso y social, este libro se propone responder a la pregunta sobre el papel que desempeñaron las actuaciones públicas de Colonia, como parte de su amplia campaña propagandística, a la hora de permitir la supervivencia de este grupo totalitario en una realidad política en constante cambio.

Ziółkowski, Grzegorz. Colonia Dignidad: Timeline (book, to be published in English in OA)

Ziółkowski, Grzegorz. “The Staged Drowning of Santa Claus as a Foreshadowing of the Horror in Colonia Dignidad, a German Enclave in Chile” (article in preparation)

Ziółkowski, Grzegorz. “Solidarity-in-action: Chilean protest performance of funa beyond borders” (article in preparation)

Ziółkowski, Grzegorz. “Documentary Filmmakers Confront Trauma: An Interview with Marianne Hougen-Moraga and Estephan Wagner.” Journal of Scandinavian Cinema, vol. 11, no. 3, 2021, pp. 267–282. https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jsca_00052_7; https://doi.org/10.1386/jsca_00052_7. (Pre-project publication)

• Field research at the following memorial sites in: Santiago de Chile (Casa Memoria José Domingo Cañas, Cementerio General, Cementerio Católico de Maipú, Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi, Edificio Diego Portales, Londres 38 Espacio de Memorias); Talca (Lugar de Memoria Adriana Bórquez Adriazola); Valparaíso (Cementerio no. 3, Monumento a los Detenidos Desaparecidos y Ejecutados Políticos por la Dictadura Militar).

• Field research in the following places directly related to the history of Colonia Dignidad: Casino Familiar, restaurant of the former Colonia Dignidad (near Bulnes); house at 817 Campos de Deportes Avenue (Santiago de Chile); house at 512 Román Díaz Street (Santiago de Chile); house at 262 Ignacio Carrera Pinto Street (Parral); Parque de Recuerdo Cordillera (Santiago de Chile); Colonia Dignidad (so-called ‘Villa Baviera’) and its surroundings (Commune of Parral).

• Consultations with the following human rights activists and experts: Paulina Acevedo Arenas (Casa Memoria José Domingo Cañas, Santiago de Chile), María Luisa Ortiz Rojas (Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos, MMDH, Santiago de Chile), José Manuel Rodríguez Leal (MMDH, Santiago de Chile), Jorge Soto Gutiérrez (Agrupación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos-Maule, Talca), Myrna Troncoso Muñoz (AFDD-Maule, Talca)

• Consultations with the following academics: Dr. Giulio Ferretto Salinas (Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso), Prof. Elizabeth Lira (Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago de Chile).

• Consultations with the following human rights lawyers: Karen Cea Pérez (Asociación por la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos Colonia Dignidad, AMCD, Santiago de Chile), Mane Garces (AMCD, Santiago de Chile), Hernán Fernández Rojas (Santiago de Chile), Winfred Hempel Malessa (Santiago de Chile).

• Archival research at: Archivo Nacional de la Administración (ARNAD, Santiago de Chile), Biblioteca Eduardo Budge y Fondo Histórico Patrimonial Pontifica Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV, Valparaíso), Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos (MMDH, Santiago de Chile).

• Conversations with the following former settlers (known as colonas and colonos) of Colonia Dignidad: Rafael Alexis Labrín, Astrid Tymm de Lindemann, Harald Lindemann, Sergio Campos, Iris Leiva Arévalo de Campos, Dietlinde Gert, Jürgen Szurgelies.

• Conversations with the following artists who created works inspired by the history of Colonia Dignidad: Edison Cájas (theatre and TV theatre, Santiago de Chile), Daniela Contreras López (theatre and TV theatre, Santiago de Chilec. Orlando Lübbert (film, Santiago de Chile), Mariana Najmanovich Sirota (visual arts, Santiago de Chile).

• Conversations with the following other artists: Claudio Santana Bórquez (Performer Persona Project, Valparaíso), Jesús Urqueta Cazaudehore (Teatro Ictus, Santiago de Chile).

The research visit included consultations with Dr. Evelyn Hevia Jordán (Freie Universität Berlin).

The research visit included consultations with Dr. Evelyn Hevia Jordán (Freie Universität Berlin) and Dr. Jan Stehle (Forschungs- und Dokumentationszentrum Chile-Lateinamerika, Berlin).

• Field research at the following memorial sites in: La Serena (Memorial de los Detenidos Desaparecidos y Ejecutados Políticos); Parral (Cementerio Parroquial San José); Santiago de Chile (Cementerio General, Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi, Cuartel Borgoño de la Central Nacional de Informaciones, Estadio Nacional Memoria Nacional, Ex Centro de Detención Clínica Santa Lucía, Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende).

• Field research in the following places directly related to the history of Colonia Dignidad: Colonia Dignidad (so-called ‘Villa Baviera’) and its surroundings (Commune of Parral).

• Consultations with the following human rights activists and lawyers: María Castillo (Santiago de Chile), Luis Alexis Urra Candia (Asociación por los Derechos Humanos, Parral), Hernán Fernández Rojas (Santiago de Chile).

• Archival research at: Archivo Nacional de la Administración (ARNAD, Santiago de Chile), Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos (MMDH, Santiago de Chile).

• Conversations with the following artists who created works inspired by the history of Colonia Dignidad: Edison Cájas (theatre and TV theatre, Santiago de Chile), Daniela Contreras López (theatre and TV theatre, Santiago de Chile), Gabriela Salazar (theatre, Santiago de Chile).

• Conversations with other artists: Benjamín Rivas (Teatro en Casa, Santiago de Chile).

The research visit included archival research at the archive of the Hamburg Institute for Social Research (Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung).

The research visit included a visit to the National Socialism Documentation Centre (EL-DE Haus) in Cologne and a field trip to Heide, Hennef-Heisterschloss, Siegburg, and Troisdorf.

The research visit included consultations with Margarita Romero Méndez and Miguel Ángel Rebolledo (Asociación por la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos Colonia Dignidad, AMCD, Santiago de Chile)

The research visit included visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.

Guest lecture: “Solidarity in Action: The Aftermath of Self-Immolation as Exemplified by the Protest of Sebastián Acevedo (Chile, 1983)”

Guest lecture was delivered in a special conference carriage of the Liberation (Wyzwolenie) Festival Train travelling from Warsaw to Gdańsk as as part of the Lamentations (Lamentacje) Theatre Festival organised by the Polish Theatre in Warsaw and the Grotowski Institute in Wrocław, 15 April 2025.

Abstract: On 11 November 1983, Chilean worker Sebastián Acevedo Becerra set himself on fire in Concepción, demanding the release of his daughter and son, who had been abducted more than two days earlier by the CNI, Augusto Pinochet’s notorious intelligence service. Although Acevedo was acting on behalf of his children, his desperate act became a symbol of the suffering of all those whose loved ones disappeared without trace during the Chilean civil-military dictatorship (1973–90). Shortly after this dramatic event, a group of activists added his name to the name of the pacifist Movement Against Torture (Movimiento Contra la Tortura), which they had founded in August 1983. The self-immolation also inspired the creation of the Women’s Movement for Life (Movimiento Mujeres por la Vida). By the end of the dictatorship, both organisations carried out dozens of peaceful and pro-democracy protests, expressing their opposition to the military junta’s brutality and solidarity with the detained disappeared (detenidos-desaparecidos), their families and friends. The lecture reflects on the aftermath of self-immolation as the most radical form of protest and asks questions about the effectiveness of such actions.

Paper: “El mapa del ámbito performativo de la Colonia Dignidad” (The Map of the Performative Realm of Colonia Dignidad)

Workshop: Colonia Dignidad abordaje histórico y cultural: testimonios y otras fuentes para la creación de medios digitales y exposiciones (Colonia Dignidad – historical and cultural reappraisal: testimonies and other sources for the development of digital media and exhibitions; Colonia Dignidad – historische und kulturelle Aufarbeitung: Zeugnisse und andere Quellen für die Entwicklung von digitalen Medien und Ausstellungen), the Lateinamerika Institut, Freie Universität Berlin (Institute for Latin American Studies, Free University of Berlin, FUB), Germany, 27 June 2025.

The event aimed to discuss the historical and cultural approach to the Colony of Dignity in the context of the project “Interactive memories of Colonia Dignidad. A Chilean-German cooperation for historical and cultural reappraisal (iECD)” (Interaktive Erinnerungen an die Colonia Dignidad. Eine chilenisch-deutsche Kooperation zur historischen und kulturellen Aufarbeitung (iECD)) and create a space for an academic exchange between experts in this area.

At the invitation of Prof. Stefan Rinke, director of the Lateinamerika Institut (FUB), and Dr. Evelyn Hevia Jordán (FUB).

Resumen: La ponencia comenzará con una breve introducción al concepto multidimensional de «performance», que originó en los estudios teatrales anglosajones y se ha consolidado en muchos idiomas, entre ellos el alemán y el español. A continuación, se ofrecerá una visión general del ámbito performativo de Colonia Dignidad, ilustrada con material iconográfico y breves grabaciones audiovisuales. Esta parte central se dividirá en dos secciones principales: en la primera, se identificarán y comentarán brevemente siete tipos diferentes de performances de la Colonia y, a continuación, se superpondrá un calendario a estas diferentes áreas. La periodización se corresponde a los cinco periodos identificados por Jan Stehle en su publicación seminal Der Fall Colonia Dignidad (2021), recientemente traducida al castellano (2025). Por último, se intentará responder a la pregunta clave planteada por Evelyn Hevia Jordán en 2023: «¿Cómo todo esto fue posible?». Es una pregunta que debería hacerse cualquiera que se haya abordado seriamente el tema de la Colonia Dignidad. En resumen, se llegará a la siguiente conclusión: la Colonia Dignidad fue (y la llamada «Villa Baviera» sigue siendo) un ejemplo exitoso de fraude y mistificación performativa.

Paper: “Carnival elements as licensed transgression in Colonia Dignidad, a sinister German enclave in Chile”

Conference: Performing Carnival: Ekstasis, Subversion, Metamorphosis, The International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR), Cologne (Köln), Germany, 9–13 June 2025. Website.

Abstract: Performative practices were an integral part of the complex activities of Colonia Dignidad, a pseudo-religious community that originated in North Rhine-Westphalia and operated in Chile from the early 1960s. For decades, it systematically committed numerous crimes and violated human rights. Through various public performances, including acrobatic displays and music concerts, the colony’s manipulative leader, Paul Schäfer, and his inner circle successfully cultivated the image of an orderly group focused on charity work, undoubtedly one of the key factors which enabled the group’s longevity and staying power. However, the community’s performative activities were directed not only outwards but also inwards. The latter in some cases resorted to the carnival tradition with its poetics of abundance, surprise and transgression, as well as astonishing metamorphoses, elaborate disguises and an upside-down world. This may seem paradoxical in a place where rank-and-file settlers suffered pervasive oppression, were subjected to constant surveillance, and were brought into line with beatings, electroshocks and psychotropic drugs. The paper will argue that transgressive elements in the colony’s inner performances were in fact licensed by those in power, and by allowing them to occur, group and individual energies were controlled in yet another way. This argument will be illustrated by two examples set in a historical context: an early performance of a demonstrative drowning of Santa Claus in the Perquilauquén river (1962?); and a performance (previously unmentioned in the literature on the subject) staged by young female colonists impersonating the area’s indigenous inhabitants, the Mapuche, shortly after Schäfer’s escape to Argentina (1997?).

Paper: “Solidarity-in-action: Chilean protest performance of funa beyond borders”

Conference: Milestones and Markers, Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA), Warwick, UK, 27–29 August 2025.

Abstract: In the face of many contemporary challenges, ranging from the destabilization of moral values in politics, through deregulated technological development, to ecological threats, it seems appropriate to bring to the fore the idea of solidarity, which can manifest itself in many different forms, including performative ones. Before this idea became the driving force behind the trade union movement in Poland in the early 1980s, it was embodied in Chile in response to state violence during Pinochet’s civil-military dictatorship (1973–90). After the transition to democracy, progressive Chileans developed a grassroots performative practice called funa to counter the lack of justice in the process of reckoning with the murderous regime. Funa is an action of the collective public shaming of the perpetrators of politicized violence in those criminal cases where the justice system has failed. The verb ‘funar’ means to ‘disclose’ or ‘expose’ in Chileno (Chilean-Spanish) and originates from Mapudungún (the language of the Indigenous Mapuche), where it designates something that rots. The paper analyses those funas which went beyond the borders of Latin America and were carried out in Germany between 2006 and 2023 as a call for justice and a celebration of solidarity. These actions embraced not only the traditional paraphernalia of protest performances, but also many cultural forms, including the traditional Chilean cueca (pair dance), danced alone to condemn the Pinochet dictatorship’s enforced disappearance strategy. All actions being analysed were aimed against the impunity of the two fugitive top echelons of Colonia Dignidad (Dignity Colony), a pseudo-religious German criminal community which operated in Chile from the early 1960s and played an important role in the regime’s apparatus of repression. The example of those Chileans and Germans who joined forces in these subversive and transgressive acts reaffirms that confronting serious challenges requires teamwork, mutual support and the cultivation of solidarity; it requires solidarity-in-action.

A contribution to the discussion at the conference organised by the Research Institute for Musical Theatre, University of Bayreuth (Forschungsinstitut für Musiktheater, Universität Bayreuth) in collaboration with Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu) at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Oświęcim (Germ. Auschwitz), 26–28 November 2025.