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Johnstown was a small settlement of immigrant members of the Peoples Temple religious movement. On November 18, 900 people died there after drinking cyanide. This “revolutionary act of suicide” became the most widespread in the 20th century.

Two parrots sit on the fence of Jonestown, the ideological community of the religious organization Peoples Temple, where more than 900 members of the sect committed suicide, 1978.

The history of the emergence of the Peoples Temple sect

The founder of the Peoples Temple, Jim Warren Jones, was born in 1931 in America. The boy was interested in religion from childhood and as a teenager preached on the streets.

At age 24, he founded his own religious group, the Peoples Temple. One of the hallmarks of the organization was its ethnic composition: Jones accepted whites and blacks without distinguishing between them. They were mostly minorities, prostitutes, drug addicts and the poor.

Moving to San Francisco

Due to attacks from Indiana residents, the Peoples Temple moved to San Francisco.

The organization developed, and at the same time the number of dissatisfied relatives of sect members grew. They argued that Jones suppresses the will of people, extorts money by deception and cruelly punishes for the slightest offenses.

New settlement - Johnstown

Once again, Jones decided to move the community and chose Guyana, a small state in Africa, for this purpose.

The place was called Jonestown. There, members of the Peoples Temple were engaged in cleaning and beautifying the territory and growing crops.

Cause of mass suicide

On the eve of the tragedy, American Congressman Leo Ryan arrived in Jonestown to see life in the settlement with his own eyes. Several people have expressed a desire to return to the United States.

During the homecoming, members of the community were attacked, resulting in the death of 5 people, including a congressman.

"Revolutionary act of suicide"

Now Jones did not want to move and found another way out - to commit a “revolutionary act of suicide.”

To do this, members of the sect prepared a grape drink with cyanide and valium. The children drank it first, and then all the other members of the sect. Jones himself was found shot in the head. It was never possible to determine whether it was suicide or murder.

Fate of Jonestown

Only 80 members of the sect managed to escape: some left with the congressman and did not die in the attack, others voluntarily left the settlement, not wanting to commit suicide.

The bodies were transported to the United States and burned in the strictest secrecy. For many years, Johnstown was abandoned, and in the mid-80s it completely burned down.

The tragedy that occurred in late autumn back in 1978 is considered the largest mass suicide of the 20th century.. Then, on November 18, in the small settlement of Johnstown, located in Guyana (a state on the northeastern coast of South America), according to various sources, from 909 to 922 people died. Jonestown was a camp-settlement where followers of the Peoples Temple religious movement who emigrated to the area lived; according to other sources, Jonestown is the name of the community. There is also a version that the camp was named after the leader - “John’s town.”

What happened that November day in a small village in the South American jungle—whether those who died committed collective suicide or were killed—are the questions that most of the world was asking as it learned of the tragedy.

So, a couple of lines about the leader and the religious movement itself, then about the events, according to the official and unofficial version of the Jonestown massacre.

Jim Jones(full name James Warren "Jim" Jones) is an American preacher, religious figure, leader and founder of the Peoples Temple organization. Years of life: May 13, 1931-November 18, 1978.

The boy, born in Indiana, was introduced to religion by his neighbors and his mother, who believed in spirits. Having attended Protestant church meetings in his youth, he worried about the inequality between blacks and whites. Since the councils of existing religious organizations did not support his ideas, Jones decides to create his own church, where “colored” people will have equal rights, where they will not be divided by race and other criteria.

In April 1955, Jim Jones founded a religious organization later renamed Peoples Temple. In 1960, the leader was ordained a priest, and the organization became an official member of the Church of Christ in Indianapolis.

Jones marries Marceline and they adopt several ethnically and racially diverse children. In 1977, they, along with 900 like-minded people, moved to the Jonestown camp, which was founded by members of the organization.

In the 70s, the Peoples Temple grew from a small community of several dozen people (mostly alcoholics, drug addicts, etc. - the organization provided many conditions of detention) to a large group of 20 thousand followers. At that time, the organization had several nursing homes, schools, a printed publication, kindergartens, canteens, etc.

The decision to leave the states was made (according to the official version) in connection with many claims from relatives of the “victims” about zombifying people, extorting money, and applying cruel punishments for deviating from the laws of the community.

According to some reports - due to the change from the Californian climate to an excellent one, Jones's health worsened, he began to see poorly, became less able to work, began taking drugs with a depressant effect on the central nervous system - in the official version he will be called a drug addict and a psychopath, and this period of "deterioration in health will be attributed to "to the final clouding of reason.

In Johnstown, members of the organization worked 11 hours a day, engaged in improving the territory on which a kindergarten, a lumberjack, and a club were built. In the evenings, meetings were held at which issues of faith were discussed. According to the surviving Jonestown residents, the so-called “white nights”—urgent convocations in the middle of the night for services—were not uncommon.

Numerous inspections from outside always ended positively, nothing aroused suspicion, people sincerely laughed, rejoiced, were friends, video and audio materials were preserved that recorded the positive state of the organization’s members. However, the enemies and concerned relatives of the people who went into the jungle did not put up with the “show-off” picture, in their opinion.

Official version of the Jonestown mass suicide

Due to the tense atmosphere regarding the claims of the relatives of the “victims” drawn into the sect (the pressure was provided by the former lawyer of Jones, who switched to the other side, opposite to the previous one), it was decided to send Congressman Leo Ryan to the camp for verification. Journalists and members of organizations traveled with him to Guyana, and the committee arrived at the site on November 17. Everything looked rosy, everyone was happy, but Ryan was secretly given information that several community activists wanted to return to the United States. Realizing that not everything is so simple, the congressman decides to examine the situation in more detail, and finds 16 more willing to leave the camp.

It is believed that it was the moment when several Jonestown residents decided to leave the settlement that was the climax. Jones, previously overwhelmed by depressive, suicidal thoughts, but able to hide all this, “exploded” and brought to life the scenario played out many times at “white nights”. As a few survivors would later say, “suicide rehearsals took place often, Jones prepared for such an outcome and expected it.” He was seriously mentally ill, and his condition was aggravated by taking psychotropic drugs, that is, he was insane and inadequate.

The politician who arrived with the inspection issued a verdict that not everything was fine and the people remaining here were in danger: that is, the camp and the community would soon come to an end. He decides to evacuate those who wished to leave Jonestown, and one of the most devoted activists of the organization flies with them, under the pretext of the need to travel to the United States, which surprised everyone. Having boarded the plane, he opens fire on those who were nearby, wounding three. Jones' armed associates, sent in pursuit, come to the rescue and kill everyone who gets in their way: 5 people, including Ryan, and an NBC journalist who does not turn off the camera and the killing process is filmed.

The main evidence in the case is: testimony of witnesses (surviving members of the sect), posthumous video recording of the murder at the airport, audio of the last service in which Jones said that the congressman was not alive, and the plane pilot would also die soon, since next to him was the person who would kill him, after which the leader of the Peoples Temple suggested that everyone commit a voluntary act of suicide, go into a new reality, and rise to a higher level of existence.

The “main weapon” with which the Jonestown residents died was wine laced with poison and sleeping pills. The children were force-fed, and so were all those who did not want to fulfill the will of the leader. In total, about 918 people died, including 270 children. Some cut the throats of their children, two people - members of the sect - committed suicide while in a neighboring city. Which further casts doubt on everyone who wants to defend Jonestown: it was a voluntary act.

Jones himself and his colleague, Ann Moore, were found shot dead. Which some explained by saying that the leader was afraid to try his potion and they “helped” him.

After the tragedy, the sect was recognized as a destructive cult and banned.

Later, there were eyewitnesses who said that the punishment system in the camp was harsh, that the Jonestown residents worked at gunpoint from guards, were black labor, and were forbidden to communicate with the old world. Some were beaten and raped.

In general, the story, if not for the number of victims, looked banal: one psycho fanatic desperately “codes” the parishioners of his community, takes property, makes puppets out of them, and runs to hide from justice in the jungle. The outcome and the terrible turn of events are due to the fact that Jones completely went crazy. What can I say... beware of sects.

A lot of articles, films, stories screaming only that the sect is to blame for everything - filled the media space of that time. For example, the feature film “Three Days in Jonestown” was like a recreation of the tragedy, but in real life it was a mockery, an insult to the feelings of relatives...

Unofficial version of the Jonestown mass suicide

Unofficial information on an event, as we know, is replete with either shocking or implausible facts, and is almost always more provocative than what we see in the media after processing the services. But in the story about Jones and his organization, it was clear to anyone (or many) that not everything is so simple, the story is dark and ambiguous. In particular, one of the versions is presented in the book “The Death of Jonestown - a CIA Crime” (S.F.Alinin, B.G.Antonov, A.N.Itskov “Legal Literature”, 1987). However, this book is also considered to be another conspiracy theory.

Jones sympathized with the Soviet Union. And he wanted to move with all his like-minded people in the status of political emigrants to his territory (information from letters to the SS ambassador), which he negotiated with the SS. Reason: persecution, oppression by the US government because of Jones’ “dissenting opinion” regarding the latter. Read more.

“Peoples Temple,” according to information obtained from the book, is not a religious organization at all. Jones was an atheist.

“It was a social experiment, akin to the communes of Fourier and Saint-Simon, trying to organize the life of its followers following the example of the Israeli “kibbutzim” - i.e. denial of private ownership of the means of production and “the work of everyone for the benefit of all”, a kind of “patriarchal communism”, as well as the fight for human rights, against racial discrimination, etc. Jones, in fact, having been a preacher in his youth, eventually became disillusioned with religion and became an atheist, moreover, a socialist-Marxist (!), which was no secret to his comrades. Why did he give the appearance of a church to his organization?

First, Jones, being a practical man, took advantage of the tax advantages given to religious organizations by American law.

Secondly, when creating his group, he soberly assessed the situation in the United States - trade unions, intimidated by McCarthyism, became an appendage of the capitalist system, left-wing public organizations were inactive, in addition, their cadres mainly consisted of intellectuals and the “common people” did not join them. Then Jones decided to use the authority of the church; those who came “just to church” under the influence of Jones’ sermons often became a convinced socialist. If the same people were invited to political meetings, they, of course, would not agree to participate in them" (Livejournal)

The social experiment “Peoples Temple” was in confrontation with the US government regarding issues of ethnic equality, civil and other rights, which interfered with those at the helm.

Jones helped left-wing parties and liberal-progressive politicians in elections, persuading like-minded people from the community to make a certain choice.

In the postal address they were called an agricultural settlement:

“Two months before the murder of all members of the commune by American punitive forces, a message signed by the Secretary General was sent to the Soviet ambassador in Georgetown agricultural community "Peoples Temple" Richard D Tropp

His Excellency the Ambassador of the Soviet Union

Georgetown, Guyana"

In addition, even before fleeing to the jungle, Jones was widely involved in charity work in various fields, however, coupled with anti-capitalist agitation, he dressed modestly, was principled, but was not a dictator. All who knew him and who attended the meetings but left them - those of them who were not intimidated and ordered to say “only what is necessary” - expressed opinions completely contrary to those generally known and popular at that time. They said that the “Peoples Temple” did not hold anyone, and leaving the “sect” was not difficult, only few people really wanted it.

And they were united not by the idea of ​​​​belief in a utopian future, drawn by maniacal fanatics:

“The first thousand dissident Americans in the jungles of Guyana were only the head of a huge army of potential political refugees from the United States. ...Such a mass flight from the “capitalist paradise” was not expected by the authorities in Washington, and “extraordinary means” were needed to stop this progressive process... The Jonestown massacre was part of a large set of measures by the US punitive authorities, the purpose of which was to eliminate political protest movements: “Black Panthers”, “Weathermen”, “New Left”, etc. Members of the declared “terrorist” organizations “Black Panthers” and “Weathermen” were killed right on the streets and in apartments, opening fire without warning. Thus, the radical movements of political protest were completely crushed."

(“The Death of Jonestown is a CIA Crime”)

The departure of the community to Guyana was a saving step from the increasing threats and pressure towards Jones and his followers. For the purpose of intimidation, several people from the association were killed; they tried to bribe people and introduce CIA agents into the community under the guise of ordinary citizens. Letters to the ambassador of the Soviet Union from 1978 are replete with facts about attacks by the American government, cries for help, requests for protection of the community.

Guyana was chosen as a “quiet backwater”; for a number of reasons, the location suited many people optimally.

Among the “refugees” were doctors, engineers, agronomists, livestock breeders, agricultural workers, lawyers, seamstresses, accountants, actors, singers, etc., contrary to information and poorly educated citizens in the composition. Using education and skills, people grew high-quality vegetables and fruits, made furniture, treated, taught... Of the 500 inspectors who visited the commune, no one found any violations or criticisms.

The positive response to the request for shelter on the territory of the Soviet Union was received with a bang. People learned Russian using ordered textbooks.

“To resolve practical issues of resettlement, Jones’s visit to the USSR was scheduled at the end of November - beginning of December 1978. On October 25, 1978, a letter of congratulations arrived from the commune on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the October Revolution. However, the tragedy prevented the development of further relations with the Soviet Union.”

(Wikipedia)

But such quick attempts to survive by the opponents of American imperialism did not really please the government, with which they were not friends.

Everything else, which became the culmination of the destruction of the members of the Peoples Temple, is a tangle of mixed events that someone fabricated at their own discretion. The video captured by an NBC journalist shows gunmen, not Jonestown activists. A number of video and audio materials were fabricated, examinations of the corpses were not carried out (and the few that were done look ridiculous), and there were also explanations for the fact that Jones was shot for some reason and did not die from poison.

“All the corpses were burned in the strictest secrecy at Dover Air Force Base.

Despite the fact that absolutely all the facts indicated murder, major US media outlets such as the New York Times and the Associated Press immediately called the tragedy a “mass suicide.” The newspapers, as if on cue, smeared the name of Jones and the colonists in the same expressions. A whole series of books and films are dedicated to this tragedy, to which the CIA had a hand, encouraging the authors of these disinformation materials.

The surviving photo and film materials that captured the faces of the killers and the last moments of the victims were never published. Tape recordings allegedly recording the last hours of Jonestown and where Jones calls everyone to “revolutionary suicide”, which emerged after a long period of time, were most likely fabricated retroactively in US intelligence laboratories.”

(Livejournal)

The extermination of the Jonestown residents itself was organized by the CIA, carried out by a couple of hundred mercenaries; airborne troops were dropped in the vicinity of the camp on the evening of November 18 from planes and helicopters. Having shot the strongest (Jones was killed first - that is why the cause of his death was gunshot wounds), the killers set to work on children, old people and women. They were lined up in rows and forcibly given a cocktail of sleeping pills and poison, injected with poison through syringes, and there is also a version that the mercenaries sprayed toxic substances, since the animals were also dead (the performers were wearing gas masks).

The corpses were intended to be burned, for which they were placed in piles, as evidenced by a photo from a helicopter. And a little later, by the time the journalists arrived, the corpses were scattered again. That is, they decided to simply abandon them. Pathoanatomical examinations shocked with their illiteracy; repeating them became meaningless due to the severe decomposition of the dead in the tropical climate. However, one doctor from Indianapolis, who examined the victims, managed to record traces of potassium cyanide injections made in the back. Later they were burned. All media echoed each other and cultivated the idea of ​​suicide against the backdrop of fanaticism and called for labeling the cult as destructive.

Only one person was convicted in this case: survivor Larry Layton (who shot in the cabin of the plane at the delegation about to leave Guyana).

Alternative versions (information from Wikipedia):

“The tragedy in Jonestown was received ambiguously by the world community and gave rise to many versions of what happened. In particular, the following versions were put forward:

Jim Jones was a renegade FBI agent who participated in a mind control experiment.

Jones, along with his people, was killed by CIA agents on behalf of the US government to prevent the commune from moving to the USSR, where Jones could carry out anti-American propaganda with impunity.

The tragedy was provoked by US government agents who infiltrated the organization in order to increase the US military contingent in Guyana without arousing suspicion, and with these forces to destroy the Soviet missile base on the territory of this state as part of the upcoming atomic war.

Most of the documents related to the investigation of this tragedy were classified."

Be that as it may, only God knows what happened there. But it’s clear that everything is too complicated. On November 18, 1978, Jonestown became the gravesite of almost a thousand people.