Assaults in the SOS Children's Village: "A system of silence"

The attacks on children by two village mothers took place in the SOS Children's Village in Dießen.

This was confirmed by the facility manager at the time, Erich Schöpflin.

And he says, "I'm more than sorry."

Dießen

- The allegations are serious. Two village mothers from SOS Children's Villages are suspected of causing suffering to children entrusted to them for years. The SOS Children's Village in which the attacks took place is the one in Diessen. Erich Schöpflin confirms this. The 70-year-old headed the facility for almost 14 years from 2002 until his retirement in November 2016 - exactly at the time when the "child welfare-endangering border crossings" occurred, as SOS Children's Villages calls the acts themselves.

"I'm more than sorry, believe me," says Schöpflin in an interview with Starnberg Mercury. “It affects and affects me very much.” What also gives Schöpflin something to think about is the silence that has lasted for years. He himself only found out about the allegations about a year ago, after those affected by violence and abuse turned to SOS Children's Villages and the public prosecutor's office. The association then commissioned the renowned psychologist Professor Heiner Keupp with an independent review. And Keupp then had a conversation with him in December 2020, says Schöpflin.

That a village mother is said to have tied the slippers to a child's feet with adhesive tape, that the children mashed the food they did not like and therefore left on their plate and put them to drink, that children were not allowed to go to the toilet in the morning because this would have bothered the village mother, that if they violated the rules they were banished to a cellar staircase or locked in a dark cellar, that they had to shower together with the village mother and then put some lotion on them - "I didn't know anything about it," says Schöpflin.

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I'm more than sorry, believe me.

Erich Schöpflin was the facility manager of the SOS Children's Village in Dießen from 2002 to 2016

© Ursula Nagl

Schöpflin started in Dießen in 2002 after having worked for the youth welfare of the Diakonie in Baden-Württemberg for more than twenty years. At that time, many village families had more of a life of their own and perceived the village as a whole as a supply station, says Schöpflin. But a lively village life was important to him. He wanted to promote communication with one another and achieve better cooperation. A children's commission and a children's parliament have been introduced over the years, and there is now also a trust educator. At times around 60 children lived together in ten families.

In the two cases that have now become known, however, "apparently a system of silence" worked. “That also has to do with my mistakes,” says Schöpflin. Because apparently his central concern did not work everywhere, namely to protect children from attacks by looking and to counteract situations of overwhelming and helplessness. “I didn't succeed, and it's not an easy finding,” he admits. Schöpflin also says that "luckily" it was only a minority of the village mothers who misbehaved. Both mothers have not worked for SOS for years.

In his role as facility manager, he was dependent on information.

But he was not informed by adults, such as the division managers, employees or specialist services, or by the children themselves.

Even now, with one exception, he has no contact with those involved during the processing, he doesn't even know the young adults, says Schöpflin.

"If I can help to reduce the suffering of the children, I don't turn a blind eye to it," he says.

He has absolutely no problem talking to each other.

Perhaps then he would even get answers to the questions that have preoccupied him since the end of last year, for example why no one had spoken about the incidents and what he could have done differently himself.

“I am aware of my responsibility,” says Schöpflin.

However, he had forbidden himself to actively intervene during the proceedings - especially since he had known Professor Keupp, who was commissioned by SOS, for a long time and valued him to the highest degree.

"I'm grateful that he relentlessly exposed it."