Chile after Pinochet: The search for the disappeared | DW Documentary

Chile after Pinochet: The search for the disappeared | DW Documentary

[Music] for 50 years Juan Eduardo roas Vasquez has been searching for his father and older brother I still have some hope that my brother is alive during the penet dictatorship an unknown number of Chileans were tortured and murdered in the notorious Colonia dignidad Juan believes it was there that his father met his death I want to know when my father was killed on what day where are his remains then I can finally say goodbye Juan has been resident in Germany for decades he’s traveling to Chile hoping to find out once and for all what happened to his father and brother [Music] [Applause] Juan Eduardo roas Vasquez arrives at Santiago de Chile airport where his family are waiting for [Music] him tragedy has long overshadowed the family Juan’s father and eldest brother were arrested on October the 13th 1973 one month after the coup led by General austo Pinos since then there’s been no no trace of them Lise is the son of Juan’s missing brother where are they reads the sign Juan believes his family will only find peace of mind once their remains have been found Juan hasn’t been to bed in over 30 hours but before he’s able to get some sleep the family want to celebrate his return in 1975 he was permitted to leave for Germany he at least managed to escape Pet’s military dictatorship it’s very it’s very emotional to be here to see my relatives my nephews they’re all part of the family we’ve all suffered from this tragedy Juan talks to his older siblings via video call they live in the south of Chile and can’t be there tonight with the others The Disappearance of Miguel and hilberto brought the family closer together but they need close L is Juan’s eldest nephew I want to know where my father is so I can give him a proper burial my mother died without knowing where her husband was my grandmother died without knowing where my grandpa was I’d like to bury him before I die to visit his grave but we know nothing 50 years and we know nothing all I want is to [Music] know three weeks earlier in Germany Juan is performing a traditional Chilean dance a quier but this isn’t a joyous occasion [Music] 42 demonstrators have gathered in front of a residential building in the city of celd they’re demanding answers the question where are Chile disappeared where are their family members the thousands of people who were abducted by the henchmen of dictator austo P during his 17year Rule and never seen again Juan’s father and older brother have been missing since their arrest in October 1973 in all likelihood they were tortured and murdered on the grounds of the self-proclaimed colony of dignity a sect founded by German immigrants the Chilean secret police operated a torture Center there the demonstration is taking place outside the home of harmut hop a former leader of Colonia dignidad they want to see him brought to Justice and are convinced that he knows where their murdered relatives were buried we’re suffering but there’s a cure for our suffering we still have hope that we can be cured but for that we need the truth don’t think anyone can imagine what it’s like how it feels how my soul weeps every [Music] day but harmut hop maintains his silence refusing to talk to the protesters or venture out of his home in 2011 hop po was sentenced to 5 years in prison in Chile for aiding and abetting the abuse of children but he managed to flee to Germany and has lived here ever since largely left alone harmut hop was one of the closest confidants of Powell schaer the founder of Colonia dignidad H Mr hop as pal schaer’s right-hand man you have key information that could help solve the crimes of Colonia dignidad you have tormented the surviv and relatives of the victims long enough speak up at last and break your silence hop silence strengthens Swan’s resolve to travel to Chile and find out what he can about the fate of his father and brother his journey will also take him to Colonia dignidad itself don’t L Enrique was the first member of the Chilean criminal police to properly investigate the German sect he could be an interesting source for Juan they’ve met before but have never had an in-depth conversation Lise is a well-known figure in Chile he was once one of President Salvador ende’s bodyguards on the day of the P coup the day aende died he was with him the president came and shook hands with each of us and said gracias then we went outside with our hands behind our heads as we’ve been ordered and suddenly the president was at the end of the line he went into the salon with his Kalashnikov closed the door and we heard well I heard two or three shots but before that I heard the words aende will not surrender godamn it then I heard the shots that’s how I remember it my colleague Garo went to open the door and said to me the doctor has killed himself Juan’s brother and father had been put in prison in a small police station near the city of paral in the MAA region Luis Enriquez seel has conducted extensive investigations into Colonia dignidad as well as the Chilean secret police Dina Dina had a station in paral and a base in Colonia dignidad so where else would they have been taken a lot of people in the paral prison were picked up from there and we don’t know where they were taken the most common theory is that they were buried in Colonia Juan is relieved that the former police investigator agrees his theory is plausible the important thing for me personally is to know the truth I’m not doing this because I want to punish anyone that’s up to the courts my priority is my family I want to know when my father was killed on what day where are his remains so that I can finally say goodbye l Mona the presidential Palace in Santiago Chile Gabrielle boric representing a left-wing Alliance has been in office since March 2022 many families of Chile disappeared have High Hopes in him with the Chilean state yet to really confront the trauma of its past in front of the palace posters of individuals who were forcibly disappeared during the military dictatorship a place of remembrance and mourning for their relatives for Juan’s family and many others coming to terms with their loss is impossible the roas family album is incomplete in the last 50 years Louis has had no more photos of his grandfather Miguel and his father hilberto to add to it his uncle ju remembers I think I’m about 6 or seven years old in this one this is us outside our house the house where the military and the carabineros came hilberto roas seen here with baby Lis was 28 when he was arrested he was a member of the Communist party after the pin coup this was tantamount to a death sentence Louise only rarely looks at the family album I’ve lived with this pain all of my life whenever I see a photo it reminds me that he’s gone and I feel the pain all over again not just for me for my whole family because we don’t know where he is it’s a pain we’ve carried with us all our lives a photo can bring up a lot of feelings and affect you deeply tomorrow Juan will be heading south Luise will join him in a few days time together they plan to go to Colonia dignidad which has since been renamed via baviera Spanish for Villa Bavaria Hanan is nervous about visiting the place where his father and brother were probably tortured hilberto would have been 79 I still have some hope that my brother is alive I have older siblings who are still alive it’s possible that my brother is there in the German Colony they brainwashed people so that they no longer knew who they were maybe he’s still in there somewhere we don’t [Music] know the next morning Juan is in Linares 300 km away his brother Serio was imprisoned Behind These Walls he’d been a member of President a and’s popular Unity party unlike his older brother and father he was released 3 years later in prison Serio worked as a shoe maker Juan still a teenager at the time brought him materials and food almost every day he I had to sign in at the gate there was always a big queue outside I would always be trembling I was so scared I didn’t know if I’d get out again once I was in that fear was always with Meo immigrated to Germany soon after his release but died relatively young he never spoke about prison but Juan knew it had been a terrible experience I a man who’d been imprisoned there with him told me they were beaten they were forced to drink urine I hadn’t known any of that until he told me 50 years after the military coup it remains a harrowing memory to many Chileans a memorial event in the city of chian six former pupils of this High School were executed shortly after Pet’s bloody coup eight other students were arrested and never seen again their for former classmates and teachers are unveiling a plaque in their [Applause] memory Juan is one of the guests of honor talking to the relatives of others who were forcibly disappeared provid some comfort he doesn’t understand why there is still no Memorial on the site of the former Colonia dignidad I feel that’s important there’d be somewhere we could go at the moment I don’t have anywhere where I can say goodbye and that’s what we [Music] need Quan spontaneously performs a quier the traditional Chilean dance which he uses to express his determination to pursue the truth [Music] [Applause] Colonia dignidad now called via baviera was founded in 1961 by a German preacher pow schaer it was a pseudo religious sect the colony was heavily guarded it was a living hell for many who lived there and for the members of Chile’s opposition who were tortured here over a period of 35 years schaer raped dozens possibly hundreds of boys in his house when he was finally convicted his victims Unleashed years of pent up rage on his reinforced glass bedroom window apart from a small cleck of leaders most of the 300 or so residents of Colonia dignidad were essentially slaves children were separated from their parents and put to work every day among them was H shafri we never had a minute to ourselves everything was in the group we never got a hug from our parents and could never talk to them we were completely slaved over the years there have been plans to erect memorials to the residents who suffered at Colonia dignidad and the Chileans who were tortured and murdered there but to date nothing has happened neither the German nor the Chilean government has ever followed through for years these two groups of victims had no contact with one another at some point there were organized meetings bringing them together a development that was welcomed by haral Linderman a former resident of Colonia now a friendship has developed we’ve recognized their suffering and they’ve recognized ours we are all victims before they saw us as colonos we’ lived there for 40 years they didn’t believe we didn’t know what was happening we were perpetrators we had blood on our hands that’s what they screamed at us but that’s over now we embraced one another want armed in 2 days time Juan will arrive here with his family to renew demands for a memorial Anna schelen Camp’s father was a close Confidant of power schaer Court schelen Camp was one of the worst of Colonia dignidad perpetrators he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and has since died Anna is on her way to the so-called potato Cellar it was used by the Chilean secret police Dina as a torture chamber before Anna was born the K wed done from 1973 the Sellar was made available to Dina and the Chilean state to the military it pains us to this day that this happened here on our grounds that people were brought here and tortured as the children of qut Schnell and Camp Anna and her siblings had privileges they were allowed to study for examp example but unlike many former colonos Anna schelen camp recognizes the suffering of the relatives of the Chilean disappeared I always say if it were my family my husband my child I would probably dedicate my whole life to finding out what happened for many of the children who lived in Colonia dignidad the place they dreaded most was the noas Ken house German for new hospital here they were routinely beaten with bamboo rods and power cables they were given electric shocks to their genitals practices that PO schaer found sexually arousing it wasn’t just boys there were girls too I’ve talked to one of the girls who was horribly tortured she told me her story what happened here in this house it was just despicable many of the victims still live here they don’t dare leave they too have no place that commemorates their suffering after their arrest Juan’s father and brother were supposed to appear in court here in paral but that never happened the last known location of Miguel and hilberto was the police station in ctio Colonia dignidad was close by Juan is sure that’s where his relatives were murdered he plans to go there tomorrow the next morning it’s raining heavily Juan and his nephew Luise have to hurry the dirt road that leads to the remote via baviera the former Colonia dignidad is becoming increasingly dangerous but they’re determined to get [Music] there you never give up hope that you’ll find out something we’ve been looking for so long and I’ve never had an answer hopefully we’ll finally get one today I’ve been here so many times and it’s always the same nothing happens and we leave empty-handed I hope this time we’ll get some answers to all of our [Music] questions along with other relatives of the Disappeared they’re going into the potato Cellar much to their disappointment their guide can’t answer the central question where are their loved [Music] ones none of the older generation who lived here people who might still have important information are present Patricio who is guiding the group was taken away from his mother and forcibly adopted by Colonia dignidad as a child but he’s too young to know anything that can help Juan and his relatives they’re frustrated it would be good to have the support of the people who still live here including the older ones who were still here as I’ve said before the truth is liberating it helps it would reassure us but this woman from nearby paral completely rejects any cooperation with the former colonos we don’t want to Shar Memorial with the settlers they’re the ones who caused this suffering not just to my family but to all the other relatives of the victims too of course we don’t want a shared Memorial they caused us so much suffering they killed people and we don’t want to share anything with them we’re here as part of a struggle it remains a struggle we want to know where our relatives are hard as it is for him here Juan is more conciliatory if I could I would talk to all of you we should communicate I’m looking for my father and my brother I’m just looking for information what the justice system does with it that’s not my concern Lise wants to get out of the cellar as quickly as possible the atmosphere in here is terrible I need to get out of here this place has a horrible energy you can tell that bad things happened here the day in the former Colonia dignidad ends in disappointment for Juan but he’s undeterred he still believes he can find out more I think it would be possible to learn something here there are people who have information but we have to get to a point where they can talk back in the capital Santiago de Chile this weekend marks the anniversary of pin’s coup at 10:00 the families of the Disappeared set off on their traditional March 1 minute later the police fire water cannons [Music] younger Generations are not prepared to forget the past and move on and the police response is a reminder of dark [Applause] [Music] times a day later the demonstrations pass off peacefully [Applause] those water cannons that were used yesterday I didn’t understand that we’re not here to be violent we just want to remind people of what happened we want people to know especially the younger generation who don’t necessarily have enough information they should know what happened in Chile in 1973 even Juan is surprised at how many other relatives he meets today the state has officially recognized 1,460 disappeared people from the pinet era but there are believed to be many many more president Gabriel boric is attending the memorial service Juan would have liked to dance for all of Chile on this high-profile stage today but it wasn’t to be he has High Hopes in the leftwing leader we can’t say it’s all over and dealt with but this is a new beginning and we can finally look forward and with the support of our president I believe we will manage to establish the truth in front of the palace camera teams are Keen to talk to Juan and take his picture he dances his quier for one last time on this journey he’s found no new traces of his father and brother but Juan is not giving up [Music] [Applause]

Under Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship, thousands of Chileans disappeared without a trace, including the father and brother of Juan Eduardo Rojas-Vásquez. His quest to find out what happened to them led him to the Colonia Dignidad.

For 50 years, Juan Eduardo Rojas-Vásquez has been trying to find out what happened to his father and older brother. In September 1973, General Augusto Pinochet seized power in Chile in a violent coup. One month later, Juan’s father and brother were arrested and never seen again. The family lived near the Colonia Dignidad, home to a pseudo-religious German sect founded by Paul Schäfer, who was later convicted of child sex abuse. He allowed the Chilean secret police to set up a detention and torture center on the grounds of the colony. Juan is convinced that his father and brother were murdered there, their bodies burned and buried. His father had been in a dispute with the landowner for whom he worked, while his brother was a member of the Communist Party – which was likely his death sentence. Now resident in Germany, Juan travels back to Chile in search of the truth about their disappearance.

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