The Survivors: Colonia Dignidad

Aired 2022-09-29

Colonia Dignidad, the most sinister cult in Latin America, was dismantled years ago. During the COVID-19 crisis, its former settlers report that the old system has returned. Meanwhile, the Survivors tell us about the cult’s dark beginnings: the kidnappings of numerous children in Germany and the excuse of assisting the orphans after the earthquake in Chile that gave rise to a real slave camp.

Aired 2022-09-29

Just as not all the Survivors have lived their stories the same way, not all of the colony's victims grew up in the fortress that was the enclave. The Chilean victims from the region also have a story to tell, a story linked to power and the political spider web from a time of horror that is still echoing in their lives and the Chilean nation.

Aired 2022-09-29

With the arrival of democracy, the colony needs to protect itself to survive. Through the weaponization of charity, it uses the Chilean locals as its own army against the investigators from the new government. The settlers are forced to take part in a media circus, along with hundreds of children who arrive in the colony to become part of a Permanent Boarding School. But Schäfer has other plans.

Aired 2022-09-29

How could something like this have gone on for so long? The exchange of favors, diplomacy and the use of personal information weaved a web of connections that granted the colony total impunity to conceal its crimes, as well as the power to get rid of its enemies. Nevertheless, one child's testimony opens the doors of the enclave and unleashes a fierce clash.

Aired 2022-09-29

The search for Schäfer continues. At the colony, a struggle for power ensues. The system crumbles when the settlers start experiencing the outside world and learn to live in freedom. But to this day, their path is strenuous, and the former Colonia Dignidad territory is the center of disputes that shake the lives of all Survivors. What are the remnants of this horror?