A youth home is inaugurated. Politicians, church representatives and the local press praise the project in Lohmar-Heide as a “model of modern youth work”. There is talk of “clarity, cleanliness and nobleness”. Behind a Christian-social façade, however, structures were being built from which the Colonia Dignidad in Chile would emerge shortly afterwards, the notorious settlement around the German Paul Schäfer, who worked with the henchmen of the Pinochet dictatorship, had them tortured and raped children. But no one could have predicted that in September 1960.
However, says historian Holle Meding, it could have been noticed at the time that something was wrong with this supposed showcase project in Lohmar-Heide near Siegburg. Meding has been studying the history of the youth home for years. Although she herself comes from Siegburg, when she was young she only had vague knowledge that there used to be “this cult house” somewhere nearby, says the 30-year-old researcher. In 2016, she completed a semester abroad in Chile as part of her Latin American studies at the University of Cologne. She also wanted to use this stay to visit the Colonia Dignidad in the south of the country. And so she suddenly came face to face with people who had been kidnapped to Chile as children and young people by the cult leader Paul Schäfer. “When I told you that I was from Siegburg, we quickly started talking.”
Meding returned to Germany with recordings of hours of conversations with contemporary witnesses. “These stories, some of which were incredibly cruel, overwhelmed me as a 20-year-old,” says Meding. But one thing was clear to her. “When the Colonia Dignidad complex was being processed, which had already begun, the emigration from Germany and the history surrounding the Heide youth home were mostly skipped.” Meding got to work, combed through archives and made contacts.
To explain how this obscure home came to be founded, Meding starts with the post-war years marked by “destruction, loss and disorientation”. “At that time, many people sought support in religious communities.” An environment in which the lay preacher Paul Schäfer, who comes from Troisdorf near Bonn, has become increasingly influential. With charisma he addressed young people and their families and organized camps and Bible studies. Contemporary witnesses reported to the historian about uplifting singing and music-making circles.
In 1956, Schäfer founded the “Private Sociale Mission” in Lohmar-Heide, an association that officially pursued charitable goals: looking after needy young people, recreational opportunities and social assistance. Many supporters invested money and manpower in building the project. Meding found old image brochures and films that showed hard-working, happy young people. But when the cameras were off, Schäfer demanded absolute obedience. Anyone who expressed doubts or distanced themselves from the group was denounced. At the same time, growing financial dependencies arose. Members were pressured to hand over significant portions of their assets to the community.
Despite all efforts to seal oneself off from the outside world, rumors were already circulating back then, says Meding. In Gronau, where Schäfer did youth work for a while, it was said that he had divided the community with his sectarian activities. In Gartow, Lower Saxony, there was talk that he had sexually assaulted children at a youth camp who visited him in his caravan.
But the press, which reported enthusiastically about the opening of the youth center in 1960, dismissed any criticism as prejudice. And the local authorities, who discovered irregularities in the permits for the placement of individual children, were fobbed off with flimsy excuses. That only changed when a boy reported to the criminal police in Gronau in January 1961 that he had been abused by shepherds during his vacation in a youth home. Now an investigation has been carried out. On February 21, 1961, the Siegburg district court issued an arrest warrant.
But Schäfer was already in Chile. He had suspected that things would be difficult for him in Germany and spent a year and a half scouting out where he could continue his machinations unmolested. Around 300 people emigrated to his Colonia Dignidad in Chile between 1961 and 1963. Many of them are children – without parents. “Their parents were told different stories,” reports Meding. “One of them was that we were going on a choir retreat to Denmark.” They signed permanent care permits in good faith. And parents who subsequently tried to get their children back were blackmailed by Schäfer with so-called pastoral counseling sessions that he had held with them and even had them signed. Meding reports on the case of a family in which a father confessed in such a confession that he had abused his daughter. Schäfer threatened to report him.
Holle Meding still maintains contact with some of her informants today. Some returned to Germany. “They live in precarious conditions and, in old age, rely on earning money by driving taxis,” she reports. The attempt to arrange talks with WELT AM SONNTAG fails. The burden is too great for those affected to talk about their traumatic experiences again.
