Paul Schäfer

==German sect==
Following World War II in 1945, Schäfer served as a young people's leader in the [[Evangelical Free Church]]. He was removed from his position there after rumors arose that he was molesting young boys.<ref name="falc"/> He then set out as an itinerant preacher and singer, traveling around Germany and preaching. During the 1950s, Schäfer became a follower and promoter of the teachings of American preacher, [[William M. Branham]], one of the founders of the post-World War II [[Healing Revival|healing revival]] who was also an influence on [[Jim Jones]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-chile-sect/insight-german-sect-victims-seek-escape-from-chilean-nightmare-past-idUSBRE8480MN20120509|title=Insight: German sect victims seek escape from Chilean nightmare past|author=Brown, Stephen|date=May 7, 2012|publisher=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><ref name = "sdu">[http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=67352 Colonia Dignidad and Jonestown] by John Collins, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple, San Diego State University</ref> Schäfer had been following the ministry of Branham from Germany, and was very excited when Branham made a personal visit to Germany in 1955. Schäfer  and other members of his church served as William Branham's personal security detail on his 1955 European tour.<ref>{{cite book|title=La Secta Perfecta|author=Basso, Carlos|date=4 October 2022 |isbn=9789566063650|publisher=PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE GRUPO EDITORIAL|language=Spanish|page=8}}</ref> Branham advocated "a strict adherence to the Bible, a woman's duty to obey her husband and apocalyptic visions, such as [[Los Angeles]] sinking beneath the ocean."<ref name="Reuters&nbsp;—German sect victims seek escape from Chilean nightmare past">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-chile-sect-idUSBRE8480MN20120509|title=Insight: German sect victims seek escape from Chilean nightmare past|date=9 May 2012|publisher=[[Reuters]]|access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref> Branham held multiple revival campaigns across Europe and Germany during the early 1950s. Schäfer became a friend of Branham who promoted a return to "a more pristine time" of religious and racial purity.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Dark History of Colonia Dignidad|publisher=The Nation|author=Stavans, Ilan|date=March 24, 2022|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/sinister-sect-colonia-dignidad/|accessdate=2022-06-09}}</ref> 
[[File:Rev._William_M._Branham_in_Kansas_City,_1947.jpg|thumb|right|During the 1950s, Paul Schäfer became a follower of the teachings of [[William Branham]] (pictured in 1947).|alt=William Branham, a middle aged man holding a bible]]

"Strong ties were forged" between Schäfer, William Branham, and Ewald Frank during Branham's time in Germany.<ref>{{cite book|title=La Secta Perfecta|author=Basso, Carlos|date=4 October 2022 |isbn=9789566063650|publisher=PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE GRUPO EDITORIAL|language=Spanish|page=53}}</ref> Schäfer "was completely fascinated" by Branham, "not only because of his supposed healings, but because behind the latter rain doctrine, the axis of what Branham preached, there was a totalitarian, misogynistic and apocalyptic message, perfect to brainwash all those who were willing to follow him."<ref>{{cite book|title=La Secta Perfecta|author=Basso, Carlos|date=4 October 2022 |isbn=9789566063650|publisher=PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE GRUPO EDITORIAL|language=Spanish|page=11}}</ref> William Branham's second sermon during his visit to Karlsruhe, Germany, left a deep impression on Schäfer. The sermon was about the [[Pool of Bethesda]], and in it Branham strongly taught that all illness and all sin are actually demons entrenched in the people's bodies. Schäfer claimed to experience a healing in the meeting, and thereafter began to preach very strongly that all sin and illness was the result of demonic possession.<ref>{{cite book|title=La Secta Perfecta|author=Basso, Carlos|date=4 October 2022 |isbn=9789566063650|publisher=PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE GRUPO EDITORIAL|language=Spanish|page=11}}</ref> 

Following the 1955 meetings with Branham, Schäfer began to put more of William Branham's doctrines into practice in his group, and began to insist to his followers that they were the "only faithful ones" to William Branham's teachings.<ref>{{cite book|title=La Secta Perfecta|author=Basso, Carlos|date=4 October 2022 |isbn=9789566063650|publisher=PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE GRUPO EDITORIAL|language=Spanish|page=8}}</ref>

By 1952 Schäfer had gathered a number of followers and in 1953 set up a children's home and orphanage. Schäfer's early followers were predominantly made up of war widows and their children who were refugees from [[Soviet]] occupied [[East Prussia]]. In 1959, he created the Private Sociale Mission, purportedly a charitable organization. That same year, Schäfer was charged with sexually abusing two young boys. Schäfer was charged and a warrant issued for his arrest by local authorities in Germany. Schäfer fled the children's home in Siegburg, [[West Germany]] with some of his followers to the Middle East to relocate his congregation. He came into contact with the Chilean ambassador to Germany, who invited him to Chile.<ref name="falc"/>