Íngrid Felicitas Olderöck Benhard (1944 – March 17, 2001), better known as "''Woman of The Dogs''", was a Carabineros de Chile

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

who was converted to an agent of the

DINA Dina ( ar, دينا, he, דִּינָה, also spelled Dinah, Dena, Deena) is a female given name. Women * Dina bint Abdul-Hamid (1929–2019), Queen consort of Jordan, first wife of King Hussein * Princess Dina Mired of Jordan (born 1965), Princ ...

(Chilean Secret Police) in 1973. She was responsible for human rights violations during the first years of the military dictatorship of Chile.

Early life

Olderöck was a descendant of Nazi-affiliated Germans - her father came from Hamburg and her mother from Munich. She emigrated to Chile with her parents and sisters. According to Nancy Guzmán, journalist and author of the book ''Ingrid Olderöck: the woman with the dogs'', the future agent was raised in a very

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...

family environment where there was a certain contempt for

Latin culture Latin culture may refer to: *Culture of the Latins, an ancient Italic people ** Culture of ancient Rome, descended from the culture of the Latins * Latin, the language of the Latins, and the lingua franca of Ancient Rome and early medieval Western ...

, considering it less prone to order. Her parents had their children learn using musical instruments, dancing or writing, and they had to speak German only. She stated, while interviewed by Guzmán:

Human rights violations

In October 1973 Olderöck entered the

with the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and participated in the Women's School of the institution, where around 70 women were instructed in the methods of torture as well as repressive tactics against opponents of the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

. According to sources, during the exercise of her functions in the DINA, she learned of the secrets related to the

Project Andrea Project Andrea ( es, Proyecto Andrea) is the code name of an effort by the Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–90), military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet to manufacture sarin gas for use as a weapon against its opponents. The Lo Curro hou ...

, led by the Pinochet military dictatorship to manufacture and apply sarin gas against opponents. In 1974 the

created the first detention centers, among which was the

Venda Sexy The Venda Sexy is an estate near Santiago, Chile that was used as a torture center by the DINA secret police during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Description of the estate The house was divided in two floors and a basement and ...

, where Olderöck would commit torture and rape by using a dog named "Volodya". After her parents died, she had her own sister tortured to get the inheritance.

Attempted assassination

On July 15, 1981 Olderöck was the victim of an attack perpetrated at her home. She was shot in the head by a commando from the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR). Following this incident, she retired from the Carabineros. Olderöck maintained that, though carried out by the MIR, the attack had been planned by Carabineros in retaliation for her

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ar ...

. According to Nancy Guzmán, Olderöck "always insisted that the deceased General

César Mendoza General César Leonidas Mendoza Durán (September 11, 1918 – September 13, 1996) was a member of the Government Junta which ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, representing the country-wide police force, the ''Carabineros de Chile''. M ...

gave the order for her assassination and that it was Major Julio Benimelli who carried it out".

Death

Olderöck died on March 17, 2001 at the age of 57 due to an acute digestive hemorrhage. Her human rights violations thus went unpunished. While alive, she displayed signs of madness caused by the projectile lodged in her head after the attack.

Cultural reference

The story of Olderöck served as inspiration for the

animated short Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

film ''

Beast Beast most often refers to: * Non-human animal * Monster Beast or Beasts may also refer to: Bible * Beast (Revelation), two beasts described in the Book of Revelation Computing and gaming * Beast (card game), English name of historical Fren ...

'', directed by Hugo Covarrubias and released in 2021. The movie was nominated for an Oscar in the " best animated short film" category.

Early life

Human rights violations

Attempted assassination

Death

Cultural reference

Notes

References

Further reading