The old adage of truth being stranger than fiction is so often true. And we as avid viewers of drama are somehow even more attracted to a storyline that is based on real-life events. UK broadcasters have recently delivered a number of excellent dramas based on despicable historical figures – Jimmy Savile and Peter Sutcliffe, for example. Less well-known to the UK audience is Paul Schäfer, a German-Chilean Christian minister and leader of Colonia Dignidad – a strict religious commune in Chile, South America. But Schäfer’s crimes, which include everything from weapon smuggling to murder and the raping of children, are beyond even the darkest of imaginations. Remarkably, he evaded justice until 2005, when he was eventually found hiding in Buenos Aires.
If you want to avoid all spoilers, stop reading this article now.
Dignity is based on story of Leo Ramírez (Marcel Rodriguez), a former member of the colony and now a public prosecutor, who is tasked with bringing Schäfer (superbly portrayed by Götz Otto) to justice following reports of abuse against children at the commune. But when officials turn up, they are met with resistance from a section of the local community who rely on the commune to provide the only hospital facilities for miles. And when they do manage to break into the heavily guarded area, Schäfer is nowhere to be found. Is he in hiding, or has he left, as the remaining officials at Colonia Dignidad suggest?
Ramírez has many unpleasant personal memories of his time at the commune – including one particularly harrowing episode when he and his brother were caught spying on the girls at Colonia Dignidad. He is reluctant to share much with his police colleagues, though, preferring to keep his personal traumas to himself. But soon he realises he’s being targeted by the locals. He’s being followed wherever he goes (including nearly being driven off the road), he’s nearly run-over whilst out jogging, and when someone leaves a video-cassette tape on his windshield, it’s clear he’s being spied on too.
The action skips back and forth between Leo is a young boy at the colony, and the late 90s when he returns as a grown man to investigate the crimes of Schäfer. It’s odd to hear German being spoken in Chile, but that’s what happened. Colonia Dignidad was set up after WW2 by emigrant German settlers – it was a state within a state. Schäfer had fled West Germany in 1961, where he had already been accused of child abuse, and soon established himself as the leader of the colony.
This isn’t an easy watch. It’s dark, unpleasant and sinister in the extreme. But it’s fascinating viewing. What makes it so absorbing is that this actually happened. This was a real colony, and the main characters were real people. Okay, so I’m sure some dramatisation has occurred as inevitably happens with true-crime drama, but the basic storyline is based on fact. And that makes Dignity utterly compelling.
Walter Presents: ‘Dignity’ launches on Channel 4 on 12th November 2023 at 11pm. The full boxset is available on Walter Presents via C4 streaming on 10th November 2024.
