Young women of Villa Baviera

While we were waiting near the guest house, two young women agreed to pose for a picture (two in the middle). They all were telling not very happy stories of years of harsh labor, physical and emotional abuse, and life in complete isolation from the outside world. (Photo by Nina Küster of AI.)

"Mr. Schäfer exerted complete control over the lives, bodies, and minds of his followers, who worked under slavelike conditions and were subdued through manipulation, beatings, electroshocks and drugs, according to the testimonies of colony members." Pascale Bonnefoy, NYT, 2015.