Claudia Larraguíbel

A harsh yet fascinating non-fiction novel that is absolutely indispensable

In the early 1960s, a group of German immigrants settled in a village in inland Chile and founded Colonia Dignidad. For decades they presented themselves as an idyllic agricultural commune, until the testimony of certain runaway colonists revealed the horrors experienced within their walls. The colony’s founder, former Nazi medic and officer Paul Schäfer, systematically abused the boys and girls living there and collaborated with the Pinochet regime, placing the colony at its disposal for arms trafficking and as a torture centre for dissidents.

After conducting a lengthy investigation and interviewing numerous colonists who survived these horrors, Chilean writer Lola Larra (pseudonym of Claudia Larraguíbel) tells the story of the colony, starting with the mysterious death of a young boy.

«A non-fiction novel about the survival of the Nazi spirit in Chile.» Jorge Carrión

«How do we tell the world what we were able to tolerate? How do we take responsibility? Do we have to take responsibility? With sensitivity, distance, humor and lucidity, Claudia Larraguibel tries to answer all those questions and in the attempt she leaves us this terrific book.» Nona Fernández

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