The presentation of the book "San Manuel De Parral" will take place at the Officina dell 'Autonomia of the Fondazione Museo storico del Trentino on Tuesday 1 October 2024.
A tragic story that questions everyone's conscience. In the book, two stories are intertwined. First of all, the disastrous experience of hundreds of Trentino and Abruzzo emigrants who, in the post-war period, were selected by the Italian government to participate in agricultural projects in Chile. The second, even darker, narrates how in the same territory where the dreams of Italians were broken (colony of San Manuel de Parral), the Colonia Dignidad came to life in the sixties where, under the leadership of the former Nazi Paul Schäffer (1921-2010), all kinds of violence took place. The investigation, conducted on the basis of testimonies and archival documentation, thus poses more than a question about the ethical and moral responsibility of those who have allowed a story with such tragic contours to be consummated.
