Massacre in Jonestown 1978. Mass death of members of the religious community in Jonestown. New Settlement - Jonestown

And in the mid-1980s, it was almost completely destroyed by fire.

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Founding of Jonestown

In the 1970s, publications began to appear in the American press that the "Temple of the Peoples" (founded back in 1955) is a destructive cult that zombifies its adherents. Relatives of members of the "Temple" demanded that the authorities conduct an investigation into the activities of the founder of the "Temple" - Jim Jones. Under these conditions, Jones decided to leave the United States and settle in South America.

In 1974, in the jungles of Guyana, on a leased plot of 3,852 acres (15.59 square kilometers), several members of the Peoples Temple founded a settlement, later named Jonestown, after the head of the movement. In 1977, Jim Jones, along with his followers (more than 900 people) moved to this settlement.

In Jonestown, members of the "Peoples Temple" were engaged in cleaning and ennobling the territory, growing crops. In the village were built: a sawmill, a club, a kindergarten, a nursery. The inhabitants of the village had to work quite a lot (11 hours a day), in the evenings they held meetings or studied.

There are different opinions about the real life of ordinary members of the movement in the village. During the existence of the village, many people visited it, and left mostly positive reviews about the life of the inhabitants of Jonestown. On the tape recordings of the nightly meetings that Jones did, one can hear jokes, laughter, which partly confirmed these reviews. However, some former settlers have said that Jonestown suffered numerous human rights violations, torture, severe corporal punishment for misdeeds, and that Jones and his entourage suffer from drug addiction. The Concerned Relatives movement arose to draw the attention of the public and the US authorities to the situation inside Jonestown, in which the leading role was played by Tim Stone, a former lawyer for the Peoples Temple, who was expelled from there on charges of having links with the CIA.

The leadership of the settlement, feeling the precariousness of their position, decided to establish contacts with the USSR embassy, ​​as a result of which a petition for emigration was submitted, forms of questionnaires and applications for the transition to Soviet citizenship were received. Russian language courses were organized, and by the time Consul Timofeev visited the commune, many could already communicate in this language. Representatives of the commune were even invited to a reception at the embassy, ​​which made an unpleasant impression on US diplomats.

Visit of Leo Ryan

At 18:00 after arriving at the airport, the group began to prepare for departure. At that moment, a truck and a tractor with a trailer drove up to the airport runway, from which armed men jumped out and opened fire to kill. Five minutes later, these people climbed back into the trailer, and the tractor disappeared. Washington Post correspondent Charles Krause said:

Hey look! someone exclaimed, pointing into the distance. A truck and a tractor with a platform were driving across the runway. Meanwhile, three unknown people were approaching the planes. They looked aggressive...But I wasn't too worried because the local police were there...Bob Brown and Steve Sang aimed their cameras at three approaching men who pushed a few Guyanese away...grabbed a rifle from a dumbfounded Guyanese policeman... And then the shooting started. There were screams. I... ran around the tail of the plane, passed the NBC crew filming, and hid behind the wheel... Someone fell on me and rolled... I realized that I was hurt... Another body fell on me and rolled down... Helplessly I lay... Waiting for a shot in the back. The shooters did their job well, finishing off the wounded at close range ... How I got past death, I will never understand ... There was another plane on the runway that was supposed to deliver ... "concerned relatives" and those who left the commune . After the start of the shooting, the plane tried to take off. But in the cabin, Larry Leighton opened fire. He killed Monica Bagby and Vernon Gosney. Then the gun jammed, and Parks was able to knock it out of Layton's hands.

Settler Larry Layton, who joined the departing on the pretext that Jones had gone mad and wanted to kill the expedition members, managed to kill two and wound another before he was disarmed. Of the 30 people, five were killed: Senator Leo Ryan, NBC correspondent Don Harris, NBC cameraman Bob Brown, San Francisco Examiner photographer Greg Robinson, and commune member Patricia Parks. One of the journalists shot, Bob Brown, filmed the attack on camera until he was mortally wounded by a gunshot to the head. Video footage of the attack has been preserved. Journalist Tim Reiterman (eng. Tim Reiterman), who was on the runway, took a number of photographs that depicted the aftermath of the attack. The Otter aircraft received significant damage and could not fly. Cessna flew to the capital, its pilot informed the dispatcher by radio about what had happened. The remaining members of the group reached Port Kaitoum, where they spent the night, and then, the next day, were evacuated by the Guyanese Air Force, which arrived 10 hours after the tragedy.

Mass kill

That same evening, Jim Jones held a routine meeting, the recording of which is also preserved and was one of the FBI's main pieces of evidence in this case. According to the tape, Jones said that the congressman was killed, that the plane would crash into the jungle, as there was a person on board who would kill the pilot; and that now, after what happened, life will no longer be the same as before. He said that now they will definitely not be left alone, and the only way out of the situation is to commit a "revolutionary act of suicide". Serious objections arose only from Christine Miller (eng. Christine miller), who tried to convince everyone that suicide was not an option, and offered to contact the Russians for the immediate sending of the community to Russia. Jones rejected the offer, arguing that it was already too late, and no one would come to their aid, and that it was impossible to live in such a world and suicide was the only possible solution in this situation. He was supported by many members of the community. At Jones's direction, a tank was prepared filled with Flavor Aid grape drink, to which was added a mixture of potassium cyanide and diazepam. The children were given the drink first. On the recording, Jones convinced people that death is just a step further, into the next life, explained that there would be no convulsions or agony, the transition would be painless. Watching their children die, the adults hardly hesitated and took the poison. The official version also allows for the possibility that not everyone took the poison voluntarily, and that perhaps many were forced to drink the poisoned drink by force.

As a result, as a result of an act of collective suicide, 909 people died, including 270 children. Jim Jones and Anne Moore were found shot to death. It remained unclear whether it was a suicide or if they were shot dead. A little later, a representative of the settlement, Sharon Amos, was found stabbed to death in her apartment in Georgetown, along with her children, whose throats had been cut. It is believed that she did it herself, but Timofeev, the Consul of the USSR in Guyana, later claimed that before her death she called him and told him to his wife that she had received a radiogram that Jonestown was surrounded by troops and military helicopters were circling over it, that they were breaking into her apartment and asked call the police (supporters of one of the conspiracy versions of events accuse E. Blakey of her murder, considering him a CIA agent embedded in the community [ ]). In total, on November 18, 918 people related to Jonestown died in Guyana.

About 80 members of the commune escaped that evening. Some of them are those who left with the congressman, some did not attend the meeting, and some people decided not to share the fate of suicides and left the camp in the morning.

Christine Miller was among those who died. Larry Layton was later found not guilty by a Guyanese court. He was later extradited to the United States, where he was arrested and imprisoned. He was the only person to bear responsibility for the events of that day. In 2002, he was released early.

Murder version

The tragedy in Jonestown was ambiguously perceived by the world community and gave rise to many conspiracy theories. In the socialist countries, a version spread that the members of the commune were killed by CIA agents on instructions from the US government in order to prevent the commune from moving to the USSR, where Jones could carry out anti-American propaganda with impunity.

The development of this version was facilitated by the circumstances under which the tragedy occurred: a tense international situation, inaccuracies in the testimony of witnesses and doubts about the reliability of the evidence. The fact that the first information about the tragedy came from the CIA is perceived with suspicion by many supporters of alternative versions. Among other points that supporters of alternative versions note are the following:

Doubts have also been raised about the assassination of the senator at the airport, whether it was arranged by a group of "tourists" from the United States, who flew "to survey the area" from Georgetown five hours before the incident.

The very fact that such a number of people could have committed collective suicide seems unreliable to many.

However, defenders of the official version point to the psychological state of the inhabitants of the commune at that moment. The desire of a number of members of the commune to leave Jonestown was perceived by everyone unambiguously as an insidious and inexplicable betrayal. Jones's grim picture of what will happen to the residents of the settlement and their children after Ryan's death is known in the US, Jones's repeated statements in past sermons that they are ready to die for their beliefs; depression associated with the betrayal of loved ones and the murder of a congressman, blind faith in the "Father" and the decisive attitude of some members of the commune - all this could well make people decide to commit suicide. In addition, several times before the tragedy itself, Jones staged a simulation of mass suicide. The procedure for the "suicide" was similar to the final one: cups of tinted water were distributed to the congregation, which, according to Jones, contained a poison that killed within 45 minutes. When the poison didn't work, it was announced that it was a test of loyalty. The researchers explain the controversial points related to the analysis of the causes of death of people by the incompetence of the people involved in organizing the removal and examination of bodies. [ ]

To the cinema

• Veil / The Veil (2016)

Jim Jones is also mentioned in season 7 of American Horror Story forcing people to take poison.

Notes

1. , p. 522-523.
2. Says the Consul of the USSR in Guyana F.M. Timofeev
3. Excerpt from book “The most strong poison” M. Lane
4. Alinin, S.F.; Antonov, B. G.; Itskov, A.N. Memoirs N.M. Fedorovsky// The death of Jonestown is a CIA crime. - M.: Legal literature, 1987. - S. ??. - 224 p.
5. Resolution of Peoples Temple to Block Rep. Ryan from Entering Jonestown
6. Jonestown Petition to Block Rep. Ryan
7. Своими именами
8. Krause, Charles A. with Laurence M. Stern, Richard Harwood and the staff of The Washington Post. Guyana Massacre: The Eyewitness Account. - New York: Berkley Pub. Corp, 1978. - ISBN 0-425-04234-0.(translation)
9. Who and why killed Congressman Ryan? // Novosibirsk Komsomol
10. Declassified ears CIA in Johnstown - FORUM.msk
11. "The Secret Life of Jim Jones: A Parapolitical Fugue" by Jim Hougan (indefinite) . Archived from the original on November 29, 2012.

Literature

In Russian

• The truth about the massacre in the jungles of Guyana // Interlocutor. - 1987. - No. 12. Archived from the original on August 15, 2015.
• Alinin S. F., Antonov B. G., Itskov A. N. The death of Jonestown is a CIA crime. - M.: Legal literature, 1987. - 224 p. - 100,000 copies. (brief retelling of the book) (indefinite) . Archived from the original on November 29, 2012., text book (indefinite) . Archived from the original on April 19, 2013.
• Boyle D.D. Killer sects = James J. Boyle Killer Cults: Shocking True Stories of the Most Dangerous Cults In History // Foreign Literature: (Chapters from the book. Translation from English by N. Usova and E. Bogatyrenko). - 1996. - No. 7. - pp. 208-261.
• Vakhtin B. B. Death of Jonestown. - L.: Soviet writer, 1986. - 325 p.
• Gelenin A. Killed and slandered. The “Temple Peoples became a victim of the cold war and not mythical fanaticism of its members. // Independent newspaper . - 11/28/1998. Archived from the original on August 15, 2015.
• Kramer J., Olsted D. Authoritarian masks. Essays on Guru / Per. from English. - M.: Progress-Tradition, 2002. - 408 p.
• Mitrokhin L. N. Philosophical problems of religious studies. - St. Petersburg. : Publishing House RKhGA, 2008. - 1046 p. - 800 copies. - ISBN 978-5-88812-348-5.
• Novokshonov D. They were killed for wanting to become Soviet // Telegraph. - 28.11.2008.
• Fedorovsky Yu. R. The Communards of Johnstown. 30 years ago // Donetsk Ridge (ukr.) Russian . - 31.10.2008, 7.11.2008. - No. 40-41. Archived from the original on August 15, 2015.
• Filatov S. B. Modern Russia and sects // Foreign literature. - 1996. - No. 8. - pp. 201-219.
• Furman D. E. Tragedy Johnstown and American sects // USA. Economics, politics, ideology. - 1979. - No. 6. - S. 27-36.
• Fursenko A. A. US Presidents and Politics. 70s. - L.: Nauka, 1989. - 290 p.

in other languages

• Barden, Renardo Barden. Cults (Troubled Society series).. - Rourke Pub Group, 1990. - ISBN 0-86593-070-8 .
• Brailey, Jeffrey. The Ghosts of November: Memoirs of an Outsider Who Witnessed the Carnage at Jonestown, Guyana. - San Antonio: J & J Publishers, 1998. - ISBN 0-9667-8680-7.
• Chidester, David. Salvation and Suicide. - Bloomington: Indiana University Press (English) Russian, 1988. - ISBN 0-253-35056-5 .
• Dolan, Sean. Everything You Need to Know About Cults. - New York: Rosen Pub. group (English) Russian, 2000. - ISBN 0-8239-3230-3 .
• Feinsod, Ethan. Awake in a Nightmare: Jonestown: The Only Eyewitness Account. - New York: W.W. Norton & Co (English) Russian, 1981. - ISBN 0-393-01431-2. Based on interviews with Odell Rhodes.
• Galanter, M. (English) Russian . Faith, Healing, and Coercion. - New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
• Hall, John R. Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History. - New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers (English) Russian, 1987. - ISBN 0-88738-124-3.
• Kahalas, Laurie Efrein. Snake Dance: Unraveling the Mysteries of Jonestown. - New York: Red Robin Press, 1998. -

On November 18, 1978, a terrible event happened in the jungles of Guyana, which the most authoritative Western source - the Guinness Book of Records - qualifies as the most massive one-time suicide in the world.

914 US citizens, members of the quasi-religious organization and agricultural community "People's Temple" were found dead in Jonestown - a town named after the leader of the "NC" Jim Jones.

From the very first days after the tragedy, the “freest” American press began repeating the formulas “obvious ritual of mass suicide”, “Jonestown suicide cult”, “mass suicide in Guyana”, etc. with surprising unanimity. Then the corresponding books appeared: Ch. massacre” (Washington, 1978); films: “The Cult of the Devil Worshipers” (1980).

But what really happened in Jonestown? Who was D. Jones? If we abandon the American "monopoly on the truth," now imposed by the transnational media on the whole world, then a lot of details will become clear that do not fit into the official version.

Jim Warren Jones was born in 1931 in Crete, Indiana. The American Midwest is a very conservative region (the Ku Klux Klan originated in Indianapolis). So when 19-year-old Jim declared himself a Marxist while studying at Bloomington University and then headed the local human rights committee, "society" perceived him as a dangerous freethinker. At 22, as an assistant pastor in a "white" church, he invited to the service of blacks, and when the Church Board fired him, he said: “Any church where I will be a pastor will be open to people of all races.” At 24, he founded his own “Church of the Word of Christ”, a year later renamed the “People’s Temple” Although the religiosity of this organization is largely arbitrary: as eyewitnesses recalled, “his sermons were more like political rallies. During one service, Jones turned to the American flag hanging behind him, shook his fist at him and said. "Oh, wait, a nation of fanatics, racists, imperialists and Ku Klux Klans! Your hour of retribution for the atrocities committed will come. Here I have this book in my hands. The Bible, you see? It has been distracting people from real work for almost two thousand years, preventing us from fighting against I'm throwing it on the floor, you see? I'm spitting on it!" As one author has pointed out, in shaping the organization into a church, the practical American Jones simply took advantage of tax breaks, for he himself (according to the memoirs of Marceline Jones) was a staunch atheist from an early age.

Unlike other local churches that strictly observed the principles of "apartheid" and "racial segregation", representatives of all races united in the "People's Temple". Jones himself adopted several multi-colored children. In 1965, the group numbered about 80 people, mostly outcasts of capitalist society: the poor, the nationalists, the homeless.But after moving to California, where the climate (public and natural) was warmer, the ranks of "NH" began to grow rapidly, soon exceeding 20,000 hours (10 thousand in San Francisco, where the headquarters was located since 1972, 10 thousand in Los Angeles, 1 thousand in Ukiah). Many were attracted by the social programs of "NH": free canteens for the poor, kindergartens and doctors (an unusual phenomenon for the capitalist USA). In the 1970s, "NH" had 9 hospices and 6 schools, contained the "International Hotel", where more than 3,000 laid-off people lived for taking part in the demonstrations and was called in the newspapers at the time "one of America's fastest growing religious movements."

However, over time, the conflict with bourgeois society grew. Jones clearly positioned himself and his movement as principled opponents of the existing system. In the newspaper "People's Temple" he recklessly criticized everyone and everything: from the racist discrimination of the Southern states to the dark deeds of "themselves" Kissinger and Rockefeller, morally and materially supported opposition figures who suffered from the authorities: the famous Angela Davis, members of the "Wilmington Ten" headed by Ben Chavis, widow of Laura Allende, Indian leader D. Banks. In 1976, Jones made a bail of $ 20,000 to release his wife Ka-Muk from Kansas prison. In 1977, together with A. Kahn, he created a section of the World Peace Council in California and paid a visit to Cuba, defying the long-term American blockade.In 1976, he supported the liberal progressives D. Moscone (mayor of San Francisco) and M. Dimalli (lieutenant governor of California) in the elections.

Jones also communicated with the communists: Mike Davidow, Kendra Alexander, A. Davis. Naturally, as a result of their activities, "NH" and Jones were subjected to forceful pressure. A bomb was placed on one of the organization's buses, a meeting house in San Francisco was blown up. Several members of the community were beaten and killed, including Jones' assistant - Lewis. attempts to bribe people to testify against the Jones community, some agreed (G. Stone), and some did not.

On September 6, 1977, the aforementioned D. Banks issued an official “Declaration” about an attempt to bribe him by a certain representative of the US civil service D. Conn according to the scheme: testimony against Jones in exchange for the termination of criminal prosecution. Therefore, in 1974, Jones decides to move to Guyana, a small Latin American country from "Non-Aligned", whose government announced a course for the construction of "cooperative socialism". The colonists were allocated 3824 acres of land near Port Kaitum, where, thanks to active work, a whole city soon grew up - Jonestown. More than a thousand members of "NH" moved here. A document of the “Steering Committee of the Johnstown Commune” with a detailed list of the colonists has been preserved. There are about 200 proletarians, 200 agricultural workers, 150 medical workers, 100 drivers and mechanics, as well as representatives of other professions: lawyers (14), artists (15), musicians (21), accountants (7), programmers (7), etc. 25% were children, 30 of whom were already born in Jonestown.

Here are some typical biographies.

• Richard Tropp. Born in 1940, graduated with honors from the University of Rochester, from 1965 he taught at the universities of Berkeley and Fisk, studied a new social phenomenon - "hippie", became a socialist. In 1970 he joined Jones.
• Henry Mercer. Born in 1885. From the age of 16, he participated in revolutionary activities, an activist in the movement of the unemployed, in the 1930s a participant in the "hungry marches", was repeatedly arrested. After the war, he was a trade union leader, organizer of strikes.
• Sharon Amos. Born in 1936. In the 1950s, she participated in the Beat movement, studied at the California Trade Union School until it was closed during the years of McCarthyism. Since the late 1960s, in the New Left movement.

As the Minister of the Methodist Church, D. Moore, wrote to Congress: “People left for Jonestown with hope born from the loss of hope in the USA. People emigrated because they lost hope that the American government or Congress would put an end to racial discrimination and injustice. to Jonestown to find their freedom, to get rid of the indignities to which our society subjects them. "After several years, it turned out to be an exemplary agricultural commune. Potatoes, cucumbers, cabbages, pineapples, sugarcane, pumpkins and much more were grown. Since among the colonists there were several agronomists, successful experiments were carried out on the cultivation of new crops in tropical conditions.A pig farm, a barnyard, a poultry farm were built.A sawmill, a furniture shop, a repair base, a nursery, a kindergarten, a school, a club worked.Education was at a very high level (there were enough teachers The library of the commune consisted of more than 10 thousand books, (including complete collections of compositions ii Marx and Lenin!). The hospital was the best in the region - internist, neurosurgeon, pediatrician, nutritionist, registered nurse staff. The equipment made it possible to take an ECG, a complete list of tests, fluorography, radiography, every six months - a general medical examination. A shortwave radio station worked - to communicate with the community in California and to promote their ideas. More than 2,000 radio contacts were made around the world (“Our amateurs are great ambassadors,” Jones said). Of course, the US government did not like this situation, and the “Federal Communications Commission” tried to revoke the license of the radio station, but the community's lawyers defended their rights. There were no monetary relations in the commune, but there was a "free shop" where necessary goods were given out on demand. The commune's net income was about a quarter of a million dollars a year.

During the existence of the commune, it was visited by more than five hundred (!) visitors - Guyanese and foreign citizens - officials, journalists, politicians, employees of embassies accredited in Guyana. In the thick book of reviews, according to the Soviet consul F.M. Timofeev, there was not a single negative review. Employees of the US Embassy in Guyana visited the colony in 1974-76. three times, and then sharply became more frequent: in 1977 - 78. six times for "providing consular services, ascertaining the welfare and whereabouts of American citizens." In fact, embassy workers were fulfilling State Department requirements to "investigate allegations of detaining American citizens against their will." These visits, which did not reveal any crime, prompted an embassy telegram stating the fear that they "may become an occasion for reproaches against the embassy and the State Department for "harassing activities." The State Department agreed with this and ordered that one employee be sent no more than once a quarter, because. "Visits made without any apparent purpose may serve to heighten suspicions that the community is being monitored." None of the official reports mention any negative developments in the community. Favorable articles continued to appear in American ("San Francisco Bay Guardian" 3/31/1977) and local ("Guyana Chronicle" 4/14/1978) newspapers.

The question arises: where did the tales about "concentration camp orders" come from, which eventually became almost dogma from repeated repetition? (from the latest examples - the works of "sectarians" D. Boyle and A. Dvorkin). In 1977, Timothy Stone, a legal adviser to "NH" was expelled from the community as a CIA agent. Documents were found showing that he had been carrying out assignments for the CIA in Berlin in the early 1960s and was even arrested by the police of the GDR. Having flown out of "NH" , Stone immediately put together a group of so-called "concerned relatives" (many of them were so "concerned" that they had not remembered their relatives in the "Temple" for years, did not visit them, and did not even write to them), who bombarded official bodies with complaints On August 1, 1977, at his suggestion, a sharply critical article about Jones was published in the New West magazine. However, the aforementioned visits of representatives of the State Department to the community did not reveal a single confirming fact.

Stone organized a call from the other side: in September 1977, he hired a certain Madzor, the owner of a private detective agency who led a squad of mercenaries, giving him the task of attacking and "liberating" children in Jonestown. But as they approached the village, they were shocked that they did not find any barbed wire, no armed guards.Moreover, the children they were to free ran and had fun as if nothing had happened, while their parents worked in the fields.Secretly observing the life of the village from the jungle for two days, they realized that they are "used", refused to carry out the task and returned to the United States. Madsor himself reported the incident to Jones and the Jonestown colonists, his confession was later recorded on tape by lawyer Mark Lane, and in January 1979 he gave another interview to a Los Angeles Times reporter.

The pro-Soviet sentiments of the “NH” leadership were intensified by a visit to the USSR embassy in Georgetown (the capital of Guyana) in December 1977. Deborah Tushet, Sharon Amos and Michael Prox had a conversation with consul Fyodor Mikhailovich Timofeev, handed him a number of documents from the commune and received the Soviet press. Jones' wife, Marceline, visited and told the history of the People's Temple and the biography of "Reverend Comrade" Jim. During subsequent visits, the consul was informed about the persecution of the organization's asset by the CIA, the FBI and other US government agencies. Then the conversation turned to the main issue : “how would the Soviet authorities react to the fact that the members of the “Temple of the Peoples” applied to the Soviet embassy in Guyana to allow them all to move to the USSR?”

This question was unexpected for me - Timofeev recalls - I said that I could not immediately give an answer to it, but I would inform the USSR Foreign Ministry. At the same time, he stressed that such a request must be made in writing.”

On March 20, 1978, a delegation from Jonestown visited the USSR Embassy and filed an official statement about their desire to transfer all the funds of the commune to Soviet banks, take Soviet citizenship and move to the Union. The words of one of the statements dated 17.3.1978, signed by a member of the Steering Committee L. Perkins, turned out to be a gloomy prophecy: literally physically destroy.” On September 18, 1978, another message was received from the general secretary of the community, R. Tropp, about the desire “for our people to move to your country as political emigrants ... We are not so naive as not to understand: there is a real opportunity to destroy our movement . In the Soviet Union we would be safe. Our children would have a bright future there. We all want to work enthusiastically in the Soviet Union in the interests of socialism.”

On September 27, 1978, Consul F.M. Timofeev and the embassy doctor N.M. Fedorovsky visited Johnstown. Their impressions reinforce the opinion of A. Zhelenin that “in essence, Johnstown became an American communist experiment.” The central street of the “Agricultural cooperative People’s Church” was named after Lenin, the morning began with the radio broadcast of the USSR Anthem, Russian was studied at the local school. Everything in the commune - education, medical care, food, clothing - was free.

In the evening, in a personal conversation, Jones confirmed the desire of the entire community to move to the USSR and transfer assets to Vneshtorgbank. To solve the practical issues of resettlement, Jones's visit to the Union was scheduled in late November - early December 1978. But he did not take place.

On June 22, 1978, a certain D. Cobb Jr. appealed to the US Supreme Court accusing the Peoples Temple and Jones of criminal acts, allegedly this organization published on March 14 “an open letter threatening mass suicide of members of the community under the control of Jones in the vicinity of Jonestown” . He also claimed that on April 18, the Temple of the Peoples “in a statement to the press announced the unanimous decision of the members of the community in Guyana to die.” This information was also sent to all US senators, to the State Department and leading news agencies. And although it was completely false, a start was made a big newspaper hype, to which the already well-known T. Stone and his "concerned relatives" quickly joined. The famous "mudraker" Congressman Leo Ryan, who was going to visit Jonestown, was involved in the campaign.

The leadership of "NH" issued a response challenge: on 10/4/1978 in San Francisco, the lawyer of the commune, M. Lane, officially announced that during the investigation of a conspiracy against the organization, he intends to file a lawsuit against the US government bodies - the CIA, the FBI, the Ministry of Post Office, within 90 days, Federal Communications Commission and the Internal Revenue Service as institutions that tried to disrupt the Temple. Testimony was collected from dozens of witnesses to this activity, as well as documents confirming that a large amount of money was passed through one of the Central American banks and spent on lobbying activities and lawsuits against "Temple". It was promised that the name of the person who carried out this financial transaction and transferred the money to lobbyists and plaintiffs would be revealed at the trial.

On November 7, 1978, a reception was held at the Soviet embassy in honor of the anniversary of the October Revolution. Among the 300 guests were 6 people from the "Temple", their presence caused excitement among American diplomats. Councilor Dwyer and Vice Consul D. Rees tried to convince Consul Timofeev that they had no place at a diplomatic reception. American diplomats also probed questions about the intention of the leadership "Temple" to move to the USSR, and their tone betrayed concern about this impending problem. On November 11, an excited Sh. Amos arrived at the Soviet embassy and announced the imminent visit of Congressman L. Ryan. Trouble was expected from his visit to Jonestown. The behavior of the US embassy employees, who demanded meetings with a number of community members, insisted that the meetings take place in the embassy building, was alarming. According to Amos, Jones suspected that there was a briefing of CIA agents embedded in the community before some kind of provocation. She asked if their request for resettlement in the USSR had been sent to Moscow and received an assurance that this was sent immediately. Timofeev handed her a packet of visa application forms and applications for Soviet citizenship. At the same time, members of the NX, who had the right to sign in Swiss banks, officially bequeathed all their contributions ($ 7.8 million) to the USSR "for the cause of the struggle for peace."

Fears were in vain: L. Ryan was not at all a “CIA man.” On the contrary, with his “raking dirt” activities, he pretty much spoiled the nerves of the “cloak and dagger” servants. foreign aid ", which significantly limited the CIA's operations abroad and required reporting by the intelligence service to Congress. However, it is a well-established fact that CIA agents operated both in the commune and in the US Embassy. These were: lawyer M. Proks, former Marine E. Blakey, probably Don Sly, Tim Carter, Leri Leighton, as well as Vice Consuls D. Weber and D. Rees An interesting fact: the then US Ambassador to Guyana, D. Berg, later, in 1981, went to work in the CIA. a list of local CIA officers based on the materials of the book by F. Agee was published on December 6, 1981 in the Guyanese newspaper "Mirror" (28 people - isn't it too much for a country of 760,000?). In addition, according to Sh.Amos, at the same time as Ryan, a group of "tourists" from the USA arrived in Guyana, 50-60 people, all as a match, strong 20-30-year-old men who talked with T. Stone and began to rent planes "for travel".

On November 17-18, 1978, L. Ryan, accompanied by journalists and "concerned relatives", inspected the commune, but did not find anything reprehensible. Even Ch. right now - for some of the people I've talked to, maybe most of you, Jonestown is the best thing you've ever experienced in your life.” The crowd applauded enthusiastically for about 20 minutes... USA Ultimately, only two families, Al Simmons with children and the Parks family, decided to leave Jonestown. And even then, Patrick, Parks' wife, resisted for a long time, refused to go, but she was persuaded. Larry Leighton also went. "The only unpleasant episode was an incomprehensible provocation with the participation of D. Sly, who tried to "scare" Ryan with a knife. However, the congressman did not receive a single scratch, and Sly subsequently disappeared somewhere.

Krause: "16 more people returned back, the families of Parks and Boggs, V. Gosney, M. Bugby and L. Leighton. Jones gave everyone who wanted to return passports and 5 thousand Guyanese dollars to travel home .... I rather admired the goals Jones, than criticizing them. The Peoples Temple did not impress me as an organization of fanatics. It seemed to me that he pursued legitimate and noble goals. No villager, including returnees, has provided any evidence that the 900 residents of Jonestown are starving, mistreated, or held there against their will. Edith Parks, one of the people who left with us, told me that she would return to Jonestown after visiting her family in California. Hundreds of people who volunteered to stay... looked very satisfied with their lives.” So, despite the provocation, the opinion of both Ryan and the people accompanying him remained positive. Naturally, he was going to report this to Congress upon his return to the United States. Journalists and cameramen captured everything they saw in the commune on photos and videos, their testimonies would undoubtedly disprove the false accusations fabricated by the special services. But the CIA did not need such witnesses and documents ...

On the evening of November 18, at about 18:00 at the Port Kaituma airport, while boarding the planes, Ryan's group was attacked by unknown people and shot to death. The congressman and 3 journalists were killed. At the same time, the "returner" Layton opened fire on another plane, having managed to kill two before he was disarmed. Contrary to the official version that the killers were Jones's people, none of the witnesses identified them. But the inhabitants of the commune knew each other by sight. Photos the attackers, which the journalists managed to make, settled in the CIA funds and have not been declassified so far. And 5 hours before that, a group of the aforementioned "tourists" flew out of Georgetown "to inspect the area". Not a single Guyanese plane transported them back.

At 7:30 p.m., Jones's adopted son showed up in Jonestown to report Ryan's murder. Even at the very last moment, one of the members of the community, K. Miller, suggested contacting the Russians for immediate evacuation to the USSR. But Jones said: "It's too late:" At that time, a siren howled and unknown submachine gunners burst into the village. According to one of the few survivors, M. Lane, he counted at least 85 shots. Murder began in Jonestown.

At the same time, Sh. Amos called Consul Timofeev. “Sharon cried and said that Jonestown was surrounded by armed people. Despite the interference, she received a radio message that helicopters were circling over the village. “Help, Jonestown is dying! she screamed. They won't spare anyone! Someone is breaking into my apartment! Do whatever you can to save us!" The line has disconnected. My wife immediately called the police, but she was told that a reinforced detachment had already been sent to Amos' house ... But Amos and her three children died. They were stabbed to death by a CIA agent, an ex-Marine Blakey, embedded in the Jones organization. He was later declared insane and disappeared from view. So, on this terrible night from November 18 to 19, a monstrous massacre was going on in Jonestown. The United States committed one of its most terrible crimes - they shot, stabbed, poisoned 918 of their citizens...”

As soon as it became known about the death of the congressman, with incredible speed in Guyana (without any permission from the local authorities) the US Air Force turned out to be. For two days the territory of Jonestown was actually occupied by American special forces. What happened there is unknown. Only on November 20, Guyanese officials and 3 American journalists (selected by CIA agent P. Osnos) gained access to the territory of the commune. That is, the hands of the CIA were free for any staging. And although the number of victims jumped from 400 to 800, and then to 913 (or 907, or 914), only one thesis immediately began to be exaggerated - about "mass suicide". Although, according to American laws, for unclear reasons, the dead are necessarily subjected to an autopsy (and leading US forensic experts S. B. Weinberg, L. I. Lukash, S. Wacht demanded this), the US government refused to conduct an autopsy. First, the government of Guyana was asked to bury everyone indiscriminately in a common grave. And when the refusal followed, a slow evacuation began The bodies lay rotting in the tropical jungle for 4 days until they were transported to a remote military base in Dover, where they were burned 10 days later. Of the 918 people who died in Jonestown, only seven were autopsied.

Supporters of the version of the “bloody scam of Jones” are invited to answer the question: why didn’t he flee to the “millions of dollars transferred overseas” but was found among the parishioners with a bullet in his head? And this is not suicide - the weapon was in the distance.

However, studies conducted independently, at his own peril and risk, by the chief pathologist of Guyana, Dr. S. L. Mutu, gave him grounds for the categorical assertion that most of the dead (at least 700) were killed. The head of the Bureau of Forensic Examination of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Health of the RSFSR, L.S. Velishcheva, and the head of the Physics and Technology Department of the Bureau, M.V. Rozinov, agreed with his opinion. Despite numerous facts testifying to a violent death, the US press unanimously called the Jonestown tragedy a "mass suicide."

Attempts to revise this dogma were suppressed and very harshly. One of Jones' nominees, San Francisco Mayor D. Moscone, intended to make a statement about the real reasons for the death of the commune - and was shot right in his office at the end of November 1978. M. Prox, who disappeared from Jonestown, surfaced in Modesto on 13.3.1979 , where he gave a press conference, stating that "the truth about Jonestown is being hidden because the US government agencies took an active part in its destruction. I am sure of this because when I joined the Peoples Temple, I myself was a secret informant ". In his 42-page statement, he spoke in detail about his activities as a CIA agent, about his salary and assignment, named the name of the employee who recruited him, spoke about the methods used in compiling reports. All this information was presented to many journalists and sent to the New York Times, Newsweek, Time. However, not a word of this statement was published, and Prox himself ... shot himself that evening. One of the eyewitnesses The tragedy was journalist C. Krause, who immediately published the book "Guyanese Massacre". But: as it turned out, all his reports included in the book were “edited” by the aforementioned P. Osnos, who headed the international department of the Washington Post newspaper. Osnos later worked as a correspondent in Moscow, where he was exposed as a collaborator with the CIA.

On January 23, 1979, the “People’s Temple” was banned by the decision of the San Francisco Municipal Court. Lawyer M. Lane floundered a little longer, who managed to publish his book “The Strongest Poison” in 1980, challenging the official version as “government disinformation” and proving the existence of a conspiracy against Ryan D. Holsinger's assistant spoke at the hearings on his death on February 20 and March 4, 1980, but his report of the 2nd session of the 96th Congress on the participation of the CIA in the events was never The materials of the hearings were handed over to the special committee of the House of Representatives, where they were safely and “drowned”. The only thing that Holsinger was able to do was to express his opinion in the newspaper of the Communist Party of the USA "Daily World" on 23.7.1981, from where the information migrated to the Soviet "Izvestia". In November 1981, Senator D. B. Fuschell declared that "the hearing in that part of it, which concerns the tragedy at Jonestown, will be adjourned indefinitely."

In 1987, the “contraversion” book “The Death of Jonestown is a Crime of the CIA” was published in Moscow. But they did not have time to “unwind” it: “perestroika” began in the USSR and it became unfashionable to expose American imperialism.

Why? Does anyone seriously think that propaganda “human rights” would have stopped the American intelligence services? dozens of its participants, from a police helicopter they simply threw off a suitcase bomb with "Tovex-2", crushing the building along with all the people (among whom, by the way, were mostly women and children). And all this was filmed in cold blood and broadcast on the air And how not to remember such a forgotten fact: in 1984 in the United States began the construction of a network of special concentration camps for "anti-government elements" in case of possible riots and riots. One cannot but agree with the opinion of the famous Latin American scholar I.R. Grigulevich:

"The massacre in Jonestown was part of a large set of measures by the US punitive authorities (Operation Chaos, etc.), the purpose of which was to eliminate political protest movements: the Black Panthers, the Weathermen, the New Left, and others. To implement this programs in the CIA, a deeply clandestine special operations group "Delta Blue Light" was created, working in contact with the NSA, the FBI, military counterintelligence and the Pentagon. The perpetrators were given the right to hunt down, arrest, kidnap and kill people: Members of the Black Panthers and Weathermen declared "terrorist" organizations were killed right on the streets and in apartments, opening fire without warning. Thus, the radical movements of political protest were completely crushed. Despite the fact that the leadership of the Peoples Temple disguised its organization as a religious one, trying to save it from the same fate, it also became the object of punitive operations: For the secret police, the statements of the head of the Peoples Temple, Jones, that he was "in at war with the United States government over civil rights, racial justice, peace." The intention of the leadership of the "Temple of the People" to initiate a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the US government and the beginning of negotiations on the resettlement of the commune from Jonestown to the Soviet Union prompted the US authorities to begin implementing a pre-designed plan for a monstrous massacre. As a "propaganda support" of the operation, the CIA developed the version about the “suicide of religious fanatics”, hostility towards which was fueled for a long time by slanderous materials against the “Temple of the Peoples”. But there is nothing hidden that would not be revealed.”

And the last evidence. Dr. N.M. Fedorovsky:

"Everything that is written about Jim Jones and his community in the American press and then reprinted on the pages of other Western newspapers is a complete and malicious fiction. "Suicides", "religious fanatics", "sectarians", "depressive maniacs" - these are the labels that "Western propagandists tried very hard to stick on the dreamers-enthusiasts who began to build in the jungles of Guyana, if somewhat naive, but an honest, disinterested and noble world for all the destitute and warped by life Americans. I am a doctor. I am not a politician, and maybe not I judge some events very professionally, but even a person who is not sufficiently versed in the intricacies of politics is clear that the simultaneous deaths of members of an agricultural cooperative, or rather a commune, the murders in Jonestown and Georgetown, the fatal shots at the mayor of San Francisco, who was friends with Jim Jones, are links in one criminal a chain of political assassinations, and I think that the destruction of hundreds of people in Jonestown is as similar to "suicide" as it is similar to “suicide” death of the inhabitants of the Vietnamese village of Song My or victims of the Zionists in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Shatila.”

material from the site: http://proriv.moy.su/

Mass suicides have always been perceived as cruel and horrific events. Unfortunately, they have happened more than once in the history of mankind and continue to occur today. They are committed by a group of people who have decided to die together at the same time in the same place or in different parts of the world, but at the same time. When it comes to mass suicides, it mostly concerns religious communities or cults, but there are cases when people decide to do it in order not to fall into the hands of enemies.

10. Masada Fortress, Israel

In 73 AD members of the Sicarii society decided to die so as not to get to the enemies. They were surrounded by the Romans in the fortress of Masada and were unable to escape. The men first killed their wives and children, and then themselves. The survivors set fire to the walls of the fortress and burned down with everyone. Scientists do not know for sure whether this event took place in history or not, but so far this mass suicide is amazing.

9. Pilenai Fortress, Lithuania

Pilėnai Fortress became famous as a result of a mass suicide committed in 1336. The army of the Knights of the Teutonic Order had already practically defeated the defenders of the fortress, who realized that they could no longer hold back the attacks of the enemies. Instead of surrendering, they decide to burn the fortress to the ground along with all the acquired good and commit suicide. According to chronicles, about 4,000 people lived in the fortress at that time. All defenders with their families burned down.

8. Denpasar City, Bali

In 1906, a terrible mass suicide occurred in the city of Denpasar during the invasion of the Dutch. During the attack on the royal palace, the Dutch could hear the sound of drums coming from inside, and see smoke rising from the palace. Suddenly they saw a procession led by the rajah and priests, which left the palace in complete silence. When the procession stopped, the raja gave a signal and one of the priests killed him with a knife, and others began to do the same. The Dutch were so amazed by what they saw that they opened fire on the procession. More than a thousand people died then.

7. City of Demmin, Germany

In 1945, as a result of the panic caused by the approach of the Soviet army, there was a mass suicide in the city of Demmin, Germany. Residents of the city were afraid of torture, rape and executions. Refugees who sought asylum in the city decided to commit suicide with their entire families. They hung themselves, cut their veins, drowned themselves in the river and committed self-immolation. In total, 700-1000 people died this way. After this incident, the Communist Party of East Germany banned suicide by law. The bodies of all the dead were buried in a common grave, which subsequently no one cared for.

6. Heaven's Gate Religious Movement, California

The cult community "Heaven's Gate" is an American religious movement whose members believed that the planet Earth should be reborn. In 1997, a group of people with the belief that somewhere in space an alien ship was flying to Earth and that in order to get on it, one had to die, decided to commit suicide. 39 people committed suicide by drinking a mixture of vodka and phenobarbital in a large white house that they rented in advance. All the bodies were dressed in the same way, and the same amount of money was found in their pockets. Under the heads of the victims were packages with things. The killings took place over three days, so the survivors cleaned up after the dead and then committed suicide themselves. Within a week, 39 people committed suicide - all this in order for the soul to get on the alien spaceship.

In 1984, Luc Joret and Joseph di Mambo founded the "Temple of the Sun" cult and began to teach their followers that life is an illusion, and cult adherents will be able to be reborn and live on a planet in the constellation Canis. Dr. Joret and his followers believed that in a past life he was a knight of the Knights Templar and the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Mass suicides began in 1994. First, in two villages in Switzerland, the cult adherents massively poisoned themselves, shot and strangled each other. In 1995, 16 star-shaped bodies were found in France. In 1997, a fire broke out in a house in Quebec, after which the police found five charred bodies. Fortunately, the children survived, but were under the influence of drugs. In total, 74 adherents of the Sun Temple cult committed suicide.

In June 1944, American soldiers landed on the island of Saipan after a month-long siege by the inhabitants of the island and its defenders. From fear of being captured, the inhabitants of the island, on the orders of the emperor, decided to die, but not to get to the enemy. Through loudspeakers, American soldiers calmed the Japanese, offered them food and a free exit from the island, but they were so scared that they decided to jump into the sea from a cliff. Today, this rock is called the "rock of suicide." It is not known exactly how many people died then, but it is believed that about 10,000.

This religious movement was founded in the 1980s in Uganda by three people who said that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to them and said that they should go and preach. Adherents of the movement believed that the end of the world would happen on March 17, 2000. On that day, more than 500 people came to the church, they prayed, sang songs and ate fried bull meat. After some time, the church building exploded, and everyone died. Later, the corpses of several more followers of the movement were found in their homes. Today they argue about whether it was a mass suicide or still a murder.

A US federal siege on a Branch Davidian ranch killed 76 people. American police wanted to check the ranch for illegal weapons, but four agents and six members of the cult were killed in a shootout. After that, the FBI intervened. The siege lasted 51 days. Soon the FBI agents decided to organize a gas attack. During it, a fire started in the house, and 76 people burned down. It is still unknown who initiated the fire, but the authorities tend to believe that the adepts themselves initiated the fire, and therefore their death.

In Jonestown, one of the worst mass suicides occurred - 913 adherents of the local cult took poison. Adherents of the cult, organized by Jim Jones, initially gathered with a noble goal - to help those in need, but gradually the members of this cult began to be psychologically processed and held by force. After the assassination of a congressman by cult members, the leaders instilled fear in the members of the movement and persuaded them to commit suicide. 913 people, including 276 children, took the poison. Jones died from a gunshot to the head. It is still unknown whether it was a mass suicide or a murder.

Corpses, only corpses all around... Men, women, children... A little less than a thousand bodies lying everywhere... Such a picture was seen in the fall of 1978 by people who came to Jonestown, where members of the Peoples Temple sect committed mass suicide at the same time. There are many mysterious rumors about this case.

Let's first restore in memory what actually happened there and what versions of this monstrous incident exist in general ...

The history of mankind knows many cases when mass suicides of people were committed, mainly on religious grounds. The most famous of those that happened in the twentieth century is the Jonestown suicide, when 922 people died at the same time on November 18, 1978. This tragedy shocked the whole world, and, of course, people tried to understand the reasons for what happened.

Jonestown is a settlement in South American Guyana where members of the Peoples Temple religious sect, founded by Jim Jones, lived. It is not difficult to guess that the settlement was named after him.

Jim Jones is an American religious preacher. He was born in 1931 in Indiana. From early childhood, the boy went to church, but the sermons of the priests did not satisfy him. Jim was very sensitive to racial inequality, or rather, the superiority of white people over black people. Therefore, having matured, he decided to create his own religious organization that would preach the equal rights of people of all colors, and this happened in 1955.

In 1960, Jim Jones becomes a clergyman, marries and adopts with his wife several orphans with different skin colors. Well done, what do you say! The number of followers of the "Temple of the Peoples" grew very rapidly, and soon there were almost thirty thousand people. It would seem that a good idea and a beautiful picture, but the number of dissatisfied with this organization was great. Basically, these were relatives of people who were part of the “Temple of the Peoples”. They were sure that Jones was playing on the feelings of people who were in a difficult life situation. The fact is that almost all members of his organization are drunkards, drug addicts and other unfortunate people who have gone astray. He gave them shelter and care, and in return demanded unquestioning obedience. Relatives of these people later said that Jones took money from them and subjected them to corporal punishment for the slightest violation of the rules of the sect (and this was it).

Relatives of the sectarians filed lawsuits with the police, which is why Jones soon had the idea to settle everyone in one place, separate from the rest of the world. And in 1977, the Jonestown settlement was organized, where more than nine hundred people began to live.
Jim Jones felt like a sole leader here, who could do anything. Perhaps on this basis, he developed some mental illness, and he began to take potent drugs. Some experts believe that he became a drug addict with a clouded mind.

Of course, the authorities periodically checked Jonestown, often at the request of the same relatives who did not believe in the idyllic picture created in the settlement. But all the checks did not find anything strange and terrible: they were met by people satisfied with life.

Residents of Jonestown worked from morning to night: they cut wood, looked after the surroundings, they built housing, a club, a kindergarten. And in the evenings, sectarians gathered for religious meetings, and, according to survivors, Jones often got everyone up in the middle of the night to arrange an urgent service. It is clear that people who were tired during the day did not like all this. Dissatisfaction with Jones grew like a snowball. The leader of the sect learned that some of the inhabitants of Jonestown decided to return "to the world", which he did not like very much.

In connection with the tense relative to the claims of the relatives of the “victims” dragged into the sect (the pressure was provided by the former lawyer of Jones, who had switched sides, the opposite of the former) atmosphere, it was decided to send Congressman Leo Ryan to the camp for verification. Journalists, members of organizations went with him to Guyana, the committee arrived at the place on November 17th. Everything looked rosy, everyone was happy, but Ryan was secretly given the 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 who want to leave the camp.

The politician who arrived with a check issued a verdict that not everything is safe and the people remaining here are in danger: that is, the camp and the community will 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 needing to leave for the United States, which surprised everyone.

According to the official version, Jim Jones realized that urgent action had to be taken. His brain, inflamed by strong drugs, could no longer think sensibly ...

He calmly agreed to the departure of those wishing to leave the settlement and did not persuade them to stay, which surprised many people. When people, along with members of the inspection commission and journalists, got on the plane, one of the members of the sect opened fire on them. Several more zealous sectarians armed to the teeth arrived to help him, and brought the matter to an end. Five people were killed, including US Congressman Leo Ryan, including Ryan, and an NBC journalist who does not turn off the camera and the massacre is filmed.

After this monstrous massacre, Jim Jones gathered all the inhabitants of Jonestown to a meeting, told them about what had happened and said that it was time for everyone to leave for a more perfect world by committing voluntary suicide.

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

Not everyone liked this idea, especially the children did not want to die, and there were 270 of them. The main instrument of death was poisoned wine - someone drank it voluntarily, and they poured it into the throat of those who did not want to. There were cases when frenzied parents cut the throats of their kids who refused to drink poisoned wine.

A total of 918 people were killed. What about Jim Jones? He was afraid to drink wine and put a bullet in his temple, choosing a faster death. The same death was chosen by his closest accomplice. Two sectarians committed suicide while in another city in Guyana - Georgetown, after slaughtering two of their children. Thus, the total number of suicides is 922 people.

Some lucky ones managed to survive. Maybe they took a small dose of poison, or maybe their body was stronger and more resistant to the potion. It was they who testified that almost all suicides were voluntary. They also said that Jonestown was like a concentration camp, where armed men guarded the workers, beat them and raped them.

After this tragedy, Jonestown was closed, and the Peoples Temple sect was banned. But many sects are currently not only active, but also have huge influence and finances - look how everything looks there

A lot of articles, films, plots, screaming only that the sect was 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 a tragedy, but in real life it is a mockery, an insult to the feelings of relatives ...

The unofficial version of the Jonestown mass suicide

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

However, it is strange that all this is considered unrealistic after many have been studied and discussed, including for example the already famous and.

Here is what the facts say: Jones sympathized with the Soviet Union and wanted to move with all his like-minded people in the status of political emigrants to its territory.

“It was a social experiment, akin to the communes of Fourier and Saint-Simon, trying to organize the life of their followers after the example of the Israeli “kibbutzim” - i.e. the denial of private ownership of the means of production and "the work of each for the good of all", a kind of "patriarchal communism", as well as the struggle for human rights, against racial discrimination, etc. Jones, in fact, being a preacher in his youth, eventually became disillusioned with religion and became an atheist, moreover, a socialist-Marxist (!), which was no secret to his associates. Why did he give the appearance of the church to his organization? Jones, being a practical man, took advantage of the taxation advantages given by American law to religious organizations.

Jones and his like-minded people repeatedly expressed their sympathy for the Soviet Union. In an interview given to a TASS correspondent who visited the village, Jones stated that he chose Guyana for the settlement because it is a country of socialist orientation. In December 1977, members of the commune Deborah Tuchet, Sharon Amos and Michael Proks had a conversation with Fyodor Timofeev, Consul of the Soviet Embassy in Guyana, in Jonestown. The guests handed over a number of documents from the commune, and a week later, Jones' wife, Marceline, told the story of the creation of the organization and that despite their move from the United States, the commune continues to be persecuted. Rumors began to spread in the commune about the imminent move of the community to the USSR. On March 17, 1978, the commune sent a letter to Timofeev with a request to transfer funds. On March 19, another letter was sent with an even more urgent request. On March 20, a delegation from Jonestown visited the USSR embassy and made known their intention to seek political asylum from the USSR, as well as their desire to deposit significant funds of the organization in the State Bank of the USSR, take Soviet citizenship and move to the Union.

This statement puzzled the diplomats, and they immediately began discussing this issue with Moscow, which recommended, first, that a delegation from the "Temple of the Peoples" be sent to the Soviet Union. On September 18, 1978, another letter arrived. On September 27, Fyodor Timofeev and the embassy doctor N. Fedorovsky arrived in Jonestown to report on the decision taken in Moscow, after which all members of the commune finally believed in an imminent move. To solve the practical issues of resettlement, Jones was scheduled to visit the USSR in late November - early December 1978. On October 25, 1978, a letter of congratulations came from the commune in honor of the 61st anniversary of the October Revolution. However, the tragedy prevented the development of further relations with the Soviet Union.

In the capital of Guyana, Georgetown, the Peoples Temple community rented a house, essentially a small hotel, a staging post for visitors from the United States. There was also a representative office responsible for the communication of the community with the Guyanese government agencies, and a radio station. Soon Timofeev visited this house and had a long conversation with a group of representatives of the leadership of the community: “All these people told me in detail that the struggle of the secret services against the “Temple of the Peoples” in the United States assumed alarming proportions: a number of members of the “Temple” were physically destroyed, many were arrested. The FBI and the CIA, acting through the diplomatic mission in Georgetown, are involved in the persecution of the community, all correspondence is screened, the delivery of pensions that are paid through the consulate to the elderly members of this organization is blocked, the US customs delays cargo from the US to Jonestown without any reason, and economic leverage is used. against the Guyanese government to force the repatriation of members of the US community...". Then the conversation moved on to the main question: "how would the Soviet authorities react if the members of the Temple of the Peoples applied to the Soviet embassy in Guyana with a request to allow them all to move to the USSR?"

This question was unexpected for me - Timofeev recalls - I said that I could not immediately give an answer to it, but I would inform the USSR Foreign Ministry. At the same time, he stressed that such a request must be made in writing. "Soon this document was transferred to the embassy, ​​a photocopy of it was presented in the book. Here

Why in Guyana? The main reasons are proximity to the United States (most of the community remained there, many colonists maintained ties with relatives, and for passenger and cargo transportation, the community used two of its own small ships to save money), a favorable exchange rate - for five dollars in Guyana you can I had to live almost a week - and relative safety, tk. Guyana belonged to the "non-aligned" countries, pursued a relatively independent policy and tried to build a kind of "cooperative" socialism.

through the eyes of strangers

During the existence of the commune, it was visited by more than five hundred (!) visitors - Guyanese and foreign citizens - officials, journalists, politicians, employees of embassies accredited in Guyana. In the thick book of reviews, according to the Soviet consul F.M. Timofeev, all the reviews were positive, "the word "paradise" was often found in these records - people wrote about the impression they had that they had been in paradise and seen happy, spiritualized people living in harmony between themselves and wild, primordial nature".

Employees of the US Embassy in Guyana visited the colony in 1974-76. three times, (in 1977 there was a visit of the official representative of the American "Agricultural Administration for International Development"), in 1977-78. five times (08/30/77, 01/11/78, 02/02/78, 05/10/78, 11/07/78), for the purpose of "... providing consular services, clarifying the welfare and whereabouts of American citizens ...". In fact, the embassy workers were complying with the State Department's demands to "...investigate allegations of detaining American citizens against their will...". These visits, which did not reveal any criminal activity, prompted a telegram from the embassy (January 1978) stating the fear that they "may give rise to reproaches against the embassy and the State Department for '... harassing activities...' ". The State Department agreed with this and ordered that one employee be sent no more than once a quarter, because. "...visits without any apparent purpose may serve to heighten the suspicion that the community is being monitored." During all visits, US officials had unlimited access to all structures in Jonestown and had private, unwitnessed conversations with any resident they chose. Embassy reports say that they constantly anonymously suggested that their interlocutors leave the colony, promising them their protection and guaranteeing immunity - and all as one answered that they did not want to leave, that they did not live in fear and were very happy.

From an embassy report after a visit on 01/11/78: "on the basis of his personal observations and conversations with members of the Peoples Temple and Guyanese government officials, the consul is convinced that it is unlikely that anyone is being held in Jonestown against their will. During conversations with members "Temple of the People" he never felt that people were afraid, coerced or pressured. They looked quite well-fed and expressed satisfaction with their lives. Some were engaged in hard physical work, repairing machinery and clearing fields, but this was ordinary work on farms.. "The consul was on the lookout for possible attempts to embellish reality especially for his visit, but judging by the situation in the village, he does not believe that such attempts were made. Everything looked normal. The people with whom he spoke face to face, (some of them were those who were allegedly being held against their will) were speaking freely and naturally, and answering his questions. one hundred unannounced visitors to the village told the consul that they had never noticed any strange phenomena in the village ... the consul, as usual, interviewed 12 members of the "Temple of the Peoples", in respect of which there were specific statements from concerned relatives that the "Temple peoples" keeps them against their will. All answers were negative. The Consul asked similar questions of a general nature to other members of the "Temple of the Peoples", whom he approached on his own initiative ... in none of the cases did the Consul get the impression that the negative answers he received were rehearsed in advance ... all elderly people, with with which the consul discussed matters of welfare, were neatly dressed, and expressed their satisfaction with life at Jonestown. The Consul never got the feeling that the older members of the Peoples Temple with whom he spoke were in the least afraid to talk to him... On the basis of his observations, the Consul found it improbable that anyone in Jonestown was being held against their will. The Consul did not believe that any of the inhabitants (especially among the young people) could not simply find an opportunity to go into the jungle, get to Port Kaytum or Matthews Ridge and ask for help in further moving.

(Evening concert in the club)

After the visit on 02.02.78: "... the deputy head of the mission had the following impressions: the children he saw looked healthy and tidy, he did not notice any signs of a bad attitude towards people ... The tidy appearance of the village and the work done the hard work of clearing and developing a section of the jungle..."

Visit 05/10/78: "all six people interviewed by the consul individually in connection with inquiries received from their relatives answered in the negative to the question of whether they were held against their will and were not subjected to ill-treatment. Three confirmed, that they had received letters transmitted by the consul through the headquarters of the "Temple of the Peoples" in Georgetown ... after the plane took off from Port Kaitum ... they asked the pilot to slowly fly around the village in order to photograph it at an angle that would allow them to notice any - or roads or structures outside the village, not visible through the jungle from a plane flying directly over them. When the films were developed, such structures were not found"

The State Department report denied that "Temple" smuggled weapons or anything illegal into Guyana. In September 1977 and January 1978, U.S. and Guyanese Customs conducted unannounced thorough inspections of shipments destined for Jonestown. Nothing illegal was found.

And one more important detail: the "Temple of the Peoples" was not at all some kind of Tibetan monastery, from where no one left alive. Many colonists left it to visit their relatives in the US or for other reasons of their own, and then returned - or did not return, and this did not bother anyone. Some colonists were expelled from the commune for some kind of misconduct or on suspicion of "espionage".

So, we can make this summary: the impressions of all visitors were in the range from enthusiastic to discreetly favorable, those who were directly interested in discovering any violations of human rights in the commune (and having every opportunity to look for them) found nothing of the sort.

Here is what they write in the book "The death of Jonestown is a crime of the CIA":

« The first thousand dissident Americans in the jungles of Guyana were only the vanguard of a huge army of potential political refugees from the United States. ... Such an exodus from the "capitalist paradise" was not expected by the authorities in Washington, and "extraordinary means" were needed to stop this progressing process... The massacre in Jonestown 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" and others. Members of the "Black Panthers" and "Weathermen" declared "terrorist" organizations were killed right on the streets and in apartments, opening fire without warning. Thus the radical movements of political protest were completely crushed.»

Here is such a version in the style of "conspiracy theory" exists:

Everything else, which was 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 corpses were not carried out (and those few that were made look ridiculous), 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 testified to the murder, the main US media, such as The New York Times, The Associated Press, immediately called the tragedy a "mass suicide". The newspapers, as if on cue, blackened the name of Jones and the colonists in the same terms. This tragedy is the subject of a whole series of books and films, to which the CIA had a hand in encouraging the authors of these misinforming materials.

The surviving photographs and film materials, depicting the faces of the killers and the last minutes of the victims, were never published. The tape recordings allegedly recording the last hours of Jonestown and where Jones calls everyone to “revolutionary suicide”, which arose after a long period of time, were most likely fabricated retroactively in the laboratories of the US intelligence agencies.
(livejournal)

The very extermination of the Jonestowns was organized by the CIA, carried out by a couple of hundred mercenaries, an airborne assault was dropped in the vicinity of the camp on the evening of November 18 from airplanes and helicopters. Having shot the strongest (first of all, Jones was killed - that is why the gunshot wounds were the cause of his death), the killers set about children, the elderly and women. They were lined up and forced to drink a cocktail of sleeping pills and poison, they injected poison through syringes, and there is also a version that the mercenaries sprayed poisonous substances, since the animals were also dead (the performers were in gas masks).

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

Only one person was convicted in this case: the surviving Larry Leighton (who shot in the cabin at the delegation that was about to leave Guyana).

Immediately after this crime, American newspapers sounded the official version of the US government: mass suicide on religious grounds. For two days, the US Army and intelligence agencies were engaged in "it is not clear what" in Jonestown. The village was isolated from the outside world; even representatives of the Guyanese authorities were not allowed into it. Only on November 20, Guyanese officials and three journalists were able to get there. Inconsistencies began to appear in the American version of what happened. The first information transmitted by the army was that 400 corpses had been found. A day later, when "outsiders" were allowed to enter the scene of the crime, the number of corpses suddenly increased to 800. And, finally, on November 26, another 110 corpses were "discovered".

In the United States, as in most other countries of the world, if there is any doubt about the cause of death, the body of the deceased is subjected to an autopsy. The conclusion of the pathologist is the main document in the investigation process. The tragedy in Jonestown is very reminiscent of the number of bodies and the distance from the places of civilization, the fall of an airliner in the jungle. For such cases, there are standard procedures, such as photographing each body, face and posture, taking particles of tissue and fluids, marking on the ground the place and posthumous posture of the corpse with a contour - after that the body can be moved for a field autopsy or to the morgue, or, if necessary , embalm. According to Dr. Wecht, (pathologist, lawyer and member of the Commission of Inquiry into the Circumstances of the Death of J.F. Kennedy), leading US forensic experts Sydney B. Weinberg and Leslie I. Lukosh, immediately after the spread of information about the "group suicide" they demanded an autopsy and offered their services. They also suggested using the military morgue in Oakland, since most of the deceased had relatives in California, which would greatly facilitate identification.

How did the US government do it?

First, it turned to the government of Guyana with a request to bury the bodies in a specially dug ditch. The question of autopsy was not even raised. The Guyanese government refused.

After two days of empty talk, after making sure that the US authorities did not take any action to remove the corpses decomposing in the tropical heat from the jungle and having received the refusal of the Americans to conduct an autopsy, the Guyanese authorities began to conduct their own police investigation and identification of the victims of the tragedy with the help of the surviving colonists. A number of examinations were able to be carried out by the Chief Medical Examiner of Guyana, Dr. S. Leslie Mutu. There was no response to his repeated requests for help from American specialists. After examining only a small part of the corpses, the Guyanese pathologist found that 83 of the dead had been injected with potassium cyanide in the back. He added that he was unable to continue the study due to fatigue, lack of equipment and complete lack of assistance.

Only after the corpses lay under the rays of the tropical sun for four days, the first forty bodies were packed and sent to Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. There they lay on the ground for several more days, waiting for the arrival of "their" aircraft. Only on the 10th day the last corpses were delivered to the Dover base (Delaware). There, without an autopsy and without taking samples, they were embalmed.

Finally, on December 15, an examination of the remains of Jim Jones and six colonists was carried out. Pathologists noted the absence of frozen specimens taken immediately after death. To their complaint to Dr. Crook (responsible for removing the bodies from Guyana), the latter replied: "I did not even have a pocket knife, not to mention the special equipment and means to preserve the samples." Perhaps he was telling the truth, but we must remember the fact that there was a well-equipped clinic in Jonestown, and it was not difficult to turn to the Guyanese authorities for help.

Summing up the work done, the specialized journal Lab Ward (a reputable publication intended for directors of laboratories and forensic pathologists in the United States) wrote: “Contradictions, inconsistencies and doubts, the existence of which became apparent as a result of these interviews, leave many questions unanswered. In fact, this episode points to the poor organization of all operations by the US government or its deliberate concealment of real factors.

After a short formal investigation, all the corpses of the Communards were burned in the strictest secrecy at Dover Air Force Base.

Despite the fact that absolutely all the facts testified to the murder, mainstream US media such as The New York Times and The Associated Press immediately called the tragedy a "mass suicide". The newspapers, as if on cue, blackened the name of Jones and the colonists in the same terms. This tragedy is the subject of a whole series of books and films, to which the CIA had a hand in encouraging the authors of these misinforming materials.

The surviving photographic and film footage, depicting the faces of the killers and the last minutes of the victims, was never published. The tapes allegedly recording the last hours of Jonestown, when Jones calls everyone to "revolutionary suicide", appeared after a long period of time, most likely, were retroactively fabricated in the laboratories of the US intelligence agencies.

“Officially, the death of the Peoples Temple came at the end of a short court hearing in a packed San Francisco City Hall. After a thirty-minute hearing, Judge Ira Brown read out the decision to disband the organization ... Prosecutor J. Appalas did not object.

“Referring to legal complications, a House Select Committee canceled a planned public inquiry into the activities of State Department officials in the mass suicide case ... Florida Rep. Dante B. Fuschell said that the hearing, in the part that relates to the Jonestown tragedy, will be postponed indefinitely…”

I.R. Grigulevich, an outstanding Soviet illegal spy, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, professor:

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

Dr. N.M. Fedorovsky, doctor at the USSR Embassy in Guyana:

“I am not a politician and, perhaps, I am not very professional in judging some events. But even a person who is not sufficiently versed in the intricacies of politics is clear that the simultaneous death of members of the agricultural cooperative, or rather, the commune, the murders in Johnstown and Georgetown, the fatal shots at the mayor of San Francisco, who was friends with Jim Jones, are links in one criminal chain of political assassinations. And I think the destruction of hundreds of people in Jonestown is as similar to "suicide" as the death of the inhabitants of the Vietnamese village of Song My or the victims of the Zionists in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Shatila is similar to "suicide."

Alternative versions:

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

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, there were indications in the press that Congressman Leo Ryan, during his visit to Jonestown, had uncovered undeniable evidence that Jim Jones was a full-time CIA agent involved in a long-term mind control experiment. And in order to hide the real facts (the dead are silent), a mass suicide was organized. The real purpose of what happened in Guyana was the assassination of Leo Ryan, and the mass suicide is just a clever distraction.

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

The tragedy was provoked by agents of the US government 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 nuclear war.
Most of the documents relating to the investigation of this tragedy were classified."

Be that as it may, it is already difficult to say for sure what happened there. On November 18, 1978, Jonestown became the grave for almost a thousand people.

Mourners watch as flowers are tossed onto names of loved ones engraved on the Jonestown memorial

sources

February 26, 2016, 14:59

In the photo, one of the residents of Jonestown, on the sign is the inscription "I believe in Jim Jones."

A mass suicide with more than 900 victims... Everyone who has ever heard of such a thing was horrified and perplexed. How blind can human faith be? Is such a strong talent for persuading just one person a “God's” gift? On Gossip, this story appeared several times in the reviews. And it was after reading them that I became interested. And I started studying. And the more I read, the more I was torn apart by doubts - exhale with relief that such insanity does not happen, or be horrified even more by the cruelty of people? The fact is that the word "suicide" in this case is not quite right. There is a lot of evidence for this. But this evidence, in turn, raises even more questions than the original version. I propose to consider the situation in more detail. So, how did it all start...

Indiana native James Warren Jones was a talented preacher with a knack for inspiring people. His mother, from the moment her son was born, dreamed that he would become a priest. At the age of eight, she sewed a full church vestment for the child and was touched by watching him try to preach sermons to cats, hamsters and neighborhood babies. At the age of thirteen, Jimmy was already carrying the Word of God on the streets with might and main, calling on passers-by to cleanse their hearts, repent and live in love for the Creator. The boy had good diction, good looks and a deep conviction that he was the chosen one (however, the last point, unlike the first two, is an ordinary thing for a teenager). So soon Jimmy became an active fellow of the Pentecostal community and was already broadcasting from the pulpit. But then it turned out that not everything is so simple with him. Jimmy turned out to be a "black lover" - a supporter of the fact that whites and coloreds are not only brothers in Christ, they should have equal rights in life. And in 1952, in Indiana, such ideas were not exactly welcomed, so soon the young egalitarian was pushed out of the Pentecostal community back onto the street.

And then Jones created his own church. In Protestant America, it is very easy even now, but then it was possible to become the official founder of a new religion in five minutes, having received the appropriate piece of paper from the mayor's office. Jones called his church "Church of the Word of Christ", and a year later he renamed it the "Temple of the Peoples" (Peoples Temple) and began to play the racial card very competently. With his wife Marceline, they adopted several children of color in addition to their own. Jim called his family "The Rainbow Family". People who had the misfortune to love a person of a different race so much as to create a family with him and give birth to half-breed children were especially actively invited to the church. Such families were pariahs in both white and non-white society almost everywhere in the United States, not to mention the southern states.

And the fact that the community of the “Temple of the Peoples” began to close to the outside world almost from the moment of its foundation is also understandable. In conditions of racial segregation, it is very easy to go crazy, looking with what contempt passers-by look at your swarthy child, whom you cannot send to a good school or college, with whom you will not be allowed into half the city's cafes. Yes, and a walk along the street with a spouse on the arm may well end in a rain of garbage, which will be treated both in the white and in the colored part of the city. Therefore, the only way to live more or less worthily in such a situation is to hide among your own kind, go to your bakery, your hairdresser, take your children to your kindergarten ...

Pictured is a former community building in the USA

In addition to mixed families, Jones also attracted other people. Opponents of the consumer society and damned capitalism, for example. Former and not so drug addicts. Penitent sinners in love with a handsome pastor. Quiet, but promising ugly girls, on whom no man before Jones stopped looking. The weak-minded - in a mild degree of mental sorrow. Just people who wanted faith and brotherhood under the reliable guidance of a strong shepherd.

And the shepherd from Jim Jones turned out to be very strong. He was eloquent, possessed a wonderful baritone and could sob at sermons like a baby. He instilled faith in people, he promised them love in heaven and his care on earth, he softened hearts and lightened wallets - judging by the number of donations for property that parishioners donated to Jones Church in the 50s and 70s. Jones looked like Elvis Presley and skillfully used it: his sideburns were like those of the King, the grease was like that of the King, even the King's crocodile boots found their place in the wardrobe of the modest priest, who preferred white suits, also as if they had just been taken off the king rock and roll. Jones' audience was, of course, smaller than Presley's, but how she loved him!

However, these crocodile shoes, as well as the diamond rings on all of Jones' fingers, did bake the relatives of the converts. They began to file lawsuits, accusing Jones of creating a totalitarian sect and extracting money from people who were not too capable of answering for their actions. There were also renegades, as without them. Some former parishioners, disillusioned with the Peoples Temple, began to sneak in, telling unpleasant things about Jones. Some of them may have been lies, and some may not have been.

It was said that the guard, recruited by Jones from among the strong-bodied male parishioners, beats those who have sinned against the community, right in the church house after the services. That at the services Jones no longer preaches Christian truths, but a wild mixture of all beliefs and doctrines, from Buddhism to communism (for example, he assures that he is the reincarnation of Lenin, and the USSR is the future City of Christ). That Jones regularly takes some kind of pills, after which he has a strange speech and a wild look. That in his sermons he constantly asks the parishioners if they are ready to die for him, and then he distributes glasses with something like poison, which everyone should drink as a sign of their faith, and although there is always only lemonade poured there, but still ... And in general Jones has a harem, he sleeps with almost all the young parishioners, and is also not indifferent to the young men.

In 1965, Jones was forced to move his community from Indiana, where the ground was already beginning to burn under his crocodile boots, to San Francisco. But soon trouble began there. Particularly serious were allegations of fraud, tax evasion and illegal financial activities. The community was indeed very rich. All its members were provided with free medical services and legal assistance. The poor were given housing, food, and even benefits. In total, there were several thousand parishioners in the "Temple of the Peoples", and all of them contributed funds to support the community - each to the best of his ability.

In the second half of the 1970s, when the clouds over the head of the founder of the “Temple of the Peoples” thickened to inky blackness, he decided to run. Especially since everything was ready to escape. In 1974, the community leased 15 square kilometers of selva from Guyana, a South American country that was ideal for Jones, because its relationship with the United States could be described in two words: worse than ever. Extradition to the States could not be feared here. In addition, the local population spoke English, the government flirted with the USSR, the regime in the country was close to socialist, the climate was tolerant, and the land was fertile. In a word, an ideal platform for the future socialist-Christian paradise.

In 1977, the first batch of colonists arrived in Guyana and began to build a city with the modest name of Jonestown. The work went on 11-12 hours a day: they cut down the forest, uprooted arable land, built a sawmill, barracks, a nursery, a radio center and a medical unit. A year later, a thousand people already lived on this bald spot in the selva. The day was very monotonous: a wake-up call at six in the morning, a common breakfast at long tables, after which - mailing to work. The camp was guarded by Jones's guards, who also carried out corporal punishment of the negligent, recalcitrant or managed to get a drink from the local population. Children from the age of two lived separately from adults - in a cute little children's barracks. And although they were flogged as regularly as adults, they were quite healthy and well-groomed. Marceline Jones, Jim's wife, was in charge of the upbringing of children - a caring, intelligent woman and, according to eyewitnesses, a very talented teacher.

In the evenings, after a common dinner, Jones' sermons were held, which were recorded on a tape recorder (most of the recordings have survived). Now experts who listen to them agree that the information that the reverend by that time was heavily on phenobarbital is absolutely confirmed by his speech - often slow, complicated by a decrease in salivation, bellowing and indistinct. This is if we judge only phonetics, since the semantic part of speeches is beautiful in itself. Almost every evening, Jones drove himself and his listeners into hysterics, talking about the horrors of life in the capitalist world, about the threats to the “Temple of the Nations” from the damned imperialists, and about what God wants from everyone present here. We love each other, brothers and sisters! We are a people saved from a world of sin and filth, just as the Jews were once saved by Moses. But evil, it is near! Hate is next! Betrayal is among us!

If Jones's evening sermon was not enough for complete ecstasy, then a "white night" was arranged in Jonestown. People were woken up with loudspeakers, and it was required to run to the square again, to receive another two-hour revelation from the shepherd, pumped up with sedatives, but still pulsing with emotions. On several recordings, Jones can be heard using his favorite toy - an imitation of collective suicide with "poison" in cups, which everyone had to drink in order to prove their loyalty. Everyone obediently drank "poison" and crawled to sleep, since work was not canceled after the "white nights".

Some managed to see the light and leave. Jones was reluctant to let people go, but several families managed to escape, diplomatically covering their retreat with stories of important family and inheritance matters in the United States, illnesses and business obligations, and backing it up with oaths to immediately return when all matters were settled. The returned People's Temple were not too eloquent with either the press or with government officials - they later admitted that fear of the agents of the "Temple of the Peoples" forced them to keep their mouths shut. However, they did say something. And that “something” didn’t sit well with Concerned Relatives, led by Tim Stoen, a former Peoples Temple lawyer who, disillusioned with Jones, rallied family and friends of the congregation around him.

And the US government did not like the data of two agents who, under the guise of parishioners, lived in Jonestown. Firstly, it turned out that Jones was thinking about how to drag his flock to the Soviet Union, and even was in active correspondence with the Soviet ambassador to Guyana. Of course, the Russians were hardly interested in hosting a thousand religious fanatics led by a clearly inadequate leader, but in defiance of the States at the height of the Cold War, they could well decide on this and then brag about it for a long time, improving their international image, which was pretty spoiled Soviet tanks in Prague. Secondly, and this was worse, the agents testified that everything is very unfavorable psychologically in Jonestown, that Jones is becoming aggressive and uncontrollable, that the situation in the settlement is heating up and it is possible that good old Jones is able to arrange, say, a demonstrative shooting of a couple dozens of "traitors". And for such things, Concerned Relatives and the US public will show their administration a circus with horses, because the first duty of the authorities is to protect their citizens abroad, as you know. Especially children. For children, American taxpayers will eat them alive. Meanwhile, to protect its citizens in Guyana, which was under the wing of the USSR, the administration was out of hand. She could only unofficially keep an eye on Jonestown: no working contact with the Guyanese authorities could be established, despite all the efforts of diplomats. In general, checkmate.

To break the stalemate, the popular congressman Leo Ryan, who became famous for his fight against corruption, injustice and all sorts of government skeletons in office cabinets, undertook to break the stalemate. After lengthy negotiations with the Guyanese authorities and Johnstown, the congressman received permission to come to the Peoples Temple in the company of several journalists and relatives of the parishioners.

Pictured Leo Ryan

On November 17, 1978, the delegation arrived in Jonestown. At first, everything was quite nice: people cheerfully communicated with the guests, told how wonderful it was for them to live here, showed their buildings and gardens, demonstrated the joy of life and complete openness in every possible way. Journalists, however, noticed that most of their interlocutors rejoice too equally and clearly by memorized phrases. Undoubtedly, the congressman also noticed this, but, as an experienced politician, he did not give a look, but, on the contrary, scattered in compliments to Jones, who created such a wonderful colony in just one year! Incredible! And what a blooming look the kids have! And what a miracle these palm trees are on the horizon!

Jones was tense, did not take off his black glasses, but answered in the suggested style: oh yes, we live a little, thank you for your concern, congressman, write the whole truth about how wonderful everything is here.

Meanwhile, one of the journalists planted a note for Ryan: two people begged to be taken away from Jonestown. Then, after the festive concert, Ryan asked for permission to communicate with the inhabitants of the colony again - this time more privately. It turned out that sixteen people dream of being taken away, while they are very frightened. The next day, November 18, 1978, in the same secular manner, Ryan suggested that Jones give these guys a lift to the USA, since they have some business there, but he doesn’t care on the way ... No, what wonderful palm trees!

Cheekbones stoned, Jones gave his consent. A couple of hours later, an unpleasant incident occurred: one of Jones' henchmen, Don Sly, attacked Ryan and, putting a knife to his chest, demanded to get out of here. The congressman was not injured, but Don, brandishing a knife, managed to cut himself and splatter his blood on the congressman's white shirt. It became clear that it was time to step out of the community of peace and love: armed with rifles, machine guns and pistols, Jones's guards looked too menacing. The delegation and the refugees were to leave Jonestown in two trucks. Two planes were waiting for them at a nearby small airfield: a nineteen-seat Otter, on which the delegation arrived, and a six-seat Cessna, which the congressman called after learning that there would be so many people leaving that they would not fit in one plane. When the trucks were already leaving Jonestown, a seventeenth person ran up to them, asking to be on board. The congressman agreed to take him in, although the other refugees warned that the man, Larry Layton, was one of Jones's guardsmen and his confidant, which meant that something was wrong.

Then the bad movie happened. Before boarding the plane, Layton took out a short barrel from under his shirt and began firing at those around him. He wounded three before he could be tied up and his weapons taken away. And at that moment a tractor drove out to the airfield, from which several people jumped out and began to shoot at the delegation from machine guns. NBC cameraman Bob Brown filmed everything that happened until he was shot in the head (the film survived), Congressman Ryan died on the spot, as well as two other journalists and one member of the commune. Several people were wounded, the rest rushed into the forest.

The attackers left the airfield as quickly as they appeared. The six-seater Cessna flew away with the wounded, and the rest of the survivors, hiding in the forests, were evacuated by the Guyanese Air Force only the next day. A group of teenage refugees had to be searched for in the selva for ten days, and they were barely alive when they were discovered.

In the photo of the body of members of the delegation.

And a little later, "white night" was announced in Jonestown. Her recording has been preserved, and listening to what happened is unbearable. Jones said that his man ("by the dictates of the heart and vehemence, but not on my orders") shot the pilot during the flight, the plane with the delegation and the "traitors" crashed, so now there is no future for Jonestown: they will be hunted by the damned imperialists . And now is the time for everyone to take the poison, so we will be saved from the horrors of this life, in order to wake up at the same second in a new beautiful world. The two women tried to protest and were told to be quiet. The guards brought in a vat of Flavor Aid, filled with cyanide and Valium. First, the children were given poison. Those who cried and fought back were forcibly watered. 271 children aged from one year to 16 turned into corpses. Then, looking at the agony of the children, adults began to take communion. Not everyone did it voluntarily, some had to inject the sacrament by force - the syringes were prepared in advance. But some still managed to escape into the forest (moreover, the most prudent ones did this as soon as the loudspeakers announced the beginning of the “great white night”). Those who were sitting in the forest heard screams and shots for a long time: after following the death of those present and putting the bodies in heaps (probably for further burning), the guards shot Jones himself, and then set about each other. In Jonestown itself, only a 75-year-old black, half-blind old woman survived, who, at the beginning of the communion, managed to slip into the barracks and hide under her bed for long hours. Thanks to her testimony, a version arose that some of the guards nevertheless decided to survive, so they shot Jones and their colleagues and then fled into the forest.

Nine hundred and nine people died that day in Jonestown, five more on the airfield, and in Georgetown (the capital of Guyana), Jones' faithful companion, Sharon Amos, his emissary and mistress, cut the throats of three of her children, and then committed suicide.

Then hell and confusion ensued. Many parishioners, including the guards of the "Temple of the Peoples" lived here under pseudonyms and did not have documents. The Guyanese authorities still allowed American military experts to enter, but only four days after the tragedy, which in a humid and hot climate turned the work of pathologists almost into a profanation.

Among the parishioners found in the forest were almost certainly not only victims, but also those who killed those who refused to commit suicide. However, the investigative measures were complicated by the political situation, and there was no sense from the Guyanese authorities. As a result, the only person who was punished for what happened in Jonestown was the same Larry Layton who started shooting on the runway: he received a life sentence (he was pardoned in 2002, after 25 years in prison).

Arrest of Larry Leighton

It is interesting that in the United States there are lovers to exploit this topic. There are incalculable gains that were filmed by TV channels and newspapers publishing "alternative views on the Jonestown tragedy." It is precisely the abundance of such speculations, which appear the more actively, the more the real details of what happened among the people, that forced Stephen Jones, the son of the founder of the Peoples Temple, to denounce his father in the film Three Days in Jonestown (2007). Then the guy survived only because on November 18 he was with a group of parishioners in the capital of Guyana: his mother begged permission from his father to send several young men to participate in a basketball match with the local team.

Pictured is Jim Jones's son Steven.

Throughout his life, Jones tried to hide who his father was. But now he felt that, in the interests of truth, he was obliged to confirm: the "Temple of the Peoples" was a religious concentration camp, and his father was that suicidal maniac overwhelmed by what he appears in the official version.

"I'm not betraying my father," Steven said after the film's premiere. “I protect my mother, my sisters and brothers, who were his victims, just like the other nine hundred people he brought to the grave that day.”

But there are conspiracy theories in this case...

Opponents of the official version arose immediately. Most of them called the CIA the main culprit. Firstly, the death of Senator Ryan is too mysterious, his death was not beneficial for the colonists, they would like to punish the "apostates" - they would shoot at their own. The death of a fighter turned out to be very beneficial for the CIA, with one shot of two birds with one stone. Ryan, by the way, is the only congressman killed in the line of duty. Secondly, the story of the poisoning is very dark. Of the 918 bodies, American pathologists opened only 7, and the very sending of the bodies to their homeland was delayed in every possible way, four days in the tropics are not reflected well on the corpses. Moreover, the Guyanese law enforcement agencies also conducted an investigation at the scene of the tragedy. According to Dr. Mutu, in many cases there was no question of voluntary poisoning. On the backs, traces of injections with traces of cyanide were found. The most courageous truth-tellers died mysterious deaths. The already mentioned Moskoun was going to make an official statement at the end of November 1978, openly hinting at the evidence he had that the massacre in Jonestown was the work of the CIA. Before the speech, the mayor did not live a few days, he was shot by an unknown person in his own office. One of the missing parishioners, Prox, showed up on March 13, 1979, in Modesto. There he gave a press conference where he stated that the truth was being hidden because the US government was directly involved in the destruction of Jonestown. According to Prox, he himself joined the "Temple" on the instructions of the CIA. To representatives of all the central publications, Prox distributed a detailed report on 42 pages on the methods of work and recruitment, methods of transmitting reports, with the names of agents, details and other interesting details. Not a word of his statement was published, and he himself shot himself that same evening under unclear circumstances.

Pictured: Michael Prox

It is very difficult to come up with reasons for the mass destruction of our own citizens. Nevertheless, we must not forget that the Cold War was going on and the United States had a motive for killing, and a very weighty one. Since December 1977, Khram has maintained close ties with the Soviet Union. A delegation from the USSR arrived on an official visit in December 1977, followed by a return visit to the embassy. There, the parishioners started talking about pressure from the US government and organizations like the CIA and the FBI and asked for ... political asylum. On March 20, 1978, parishioners officially turned to the Soviet government for help in resettling in the USSR and accepting Soviet citizenship. Just a week before the tragedy, on November 11, Consul Timofeev spoke to parishioner Sharon Amos on the phone.

“Help, Jonestown is dying! she screamed. They won't spare anyone! Someone is breaking into my apartment! Do whatever it takes to save us!"

The line has disconnected.
Timofeev's wife immediately called the police, but she was told that a reinforced detachment had already been sent to Amos's house ... But Amos and her three children died. They were stabbed to death by a CIA agent, an ex-Marine Blakey, embedded in the Jones organization. He was later declared insane and disappeared from view. So, on this terrible night from November 18 to 19, a monstrous massacre was going on in Jonestown. The United States committed one of its most terrible crimes - they shot, stabbed, poisoned 918 of its citizens ... For two days, the US army and special services were doing "it is not clear what" in Jonestown. Only on November 20, Guyanese officials and three journalists were allowed into the village. Immediately strange things began to appear. The first information transmitted by the army was that 400 corpses had been found. A day later, when "outsiders" were allowed to enter the scene of the crime, the number of corpses suddenly increased to 800. And finally, on November 26, another 110 corpses were "discovered".

Here is how one of the journalists writes about his first impression, a record dated November 20: “From the air, it looked like a dump where someone threw a bunch of rag dolls ... The corpses, apparently, lay where the dying fell, and no one moved."

And here is what special forces captain J. Moscatelli writes. Trying to explain why there was such confusion with the number of dead, on November 26 he stated: “when we started the operation ... and began to take out the corpses, it turned out that there were more of them ... we started a new count ... They were stacked in two or three tiers. The corpses were arranged in circles or rings. Smaller bodies, mostly children, were closer to the center and at the bottom… In some stacks, the layers were overlaid with blankets….”

Those. it is quite clear that the bodies of the dead were for some reason dragged and stacked ... and by the arrival of the journalists they were again picturesquely scattered ... This brings to mind the order to burn the bodies canceled by someone. Considering that the first Marines officially landed already on November 19, either the corpses themselves were laid in piles, or the hypothetical "outsiders killers" had very strong nerves and muscles - to carry such a number of corpses after the murder and lay them out in piles ... And then disappear without a trace from under the nose of the Marines ... Consider the fact that these manipulations can be performed no longer than within 4 hours after death, until rigor mortis sets in.

In the United States, as in most other countries, the body of the deceased is subjected to an autopsy, if the cause of death is not clear enough. The conclusion of the pathologist is the main document in the investigation. The tragedy in Jonestown is very reminiscent of the number of bodies and the distance from the places of civilization, the fall of an airliner in the jungle. For such cases, there are standard procedures, such as photographing each body, face and posture, taking particles of tissues and liquids, marking the place and posthumous posture of the corpse on the ground with a contour - after that the body can be moved for a field autopsy or to the morgue or embalmed if necessary. According to Dr. Wacht, (pathologist, lawyer and member of the commission investigating the circumstances of the death of J.F. Kennedy), leading US forensic experts Sydney B. Weinberg, and Leslie I. Lukosh, immediately after the spread of information about the “group suicide”, they demanded an autopsy and offered their services. They also suggested using the military morgue in Auckland, because. most of the deceased had relatives in California, which would have made identification much easier.

“I believe that in a very short period of time, 25-30 expert groups could be created. Each of them could consider 30-35 cases ... in a few hours they would all be completed ... this would make it possible to determine the causes of death "

How did the US government do it?

At first, it decided to ask the government of Guyana to bury the bodies in a specially dug ditch. The question of autopsy was not even raised.

The Guyanese government has said it will not do so. Meanwhile, no action was taken by US authorities to remove the bodies, decomposing in the tropical heat, from the jungle. Then, after the Americans refused to conduct an autopsy, on the third day the Guyanese authorities began to conduct their own police investigation and identification with the help of the surviving colonists. A number of examinations were conducted by S. Leslie Mutu, Guyana's chief medical examiner. There was no answer to his repeated requests for help from American specialists.

Finally, after the corpses had been exposed to the tropical sun for four days, the first forty corpses were packed and sent to Georgetown. There they lay on the ground for several more days, waiting for the arrival of "their" plane .. Finally, on the 10th day (!) The last corpses were delivered to the Dover base (Delaware) - as far as possible from the relatives of the dead. There, prior to the autopsy, without sampling, embalming was performed.

Finally, only on December 15 (!) Was an examination of Jones and 6 other colonists carried out. The pathologists noted the absence of frozen samples taken immediately after death, to their complaint to Dr. Crook (in charge of removing the bodies from Guyana), who replied "I did not even have a pocket knife, not to mention the special equipment and means to preserve the samples." Perhaps he was telling the truth... but we must remember the fact that there was a well-equipped clinic in Jonestown, and it was not difficult to turn to the Guyanese authorities...

Dr. Breitenecker, who dissected Jones: "Embalming a body prior to an autopsy is a serious blow to any investigation ... It destroys a large amount of toxic substances and poisons and often makes chemical analysis meaningless ... I do not recall having made a serious examination in a case of national importance, or in some other with less information than in this case ... "

Two months later, the Guyanese pathologist Dr. Mutu, speaking at a meeting of the Academy of Forensic Sciences in Atlanta, demonstrated the results of his own tests. His report stunned the 900 experts present. Dr. Breitenecker, who was present there, stated: “Those of us who were on the front lines after the bloody event, until today, knew nothing about the results of the investigation conducted by Dr. Mutu ... We became sick when we heard about how everything was done wrong ".

After examining only a small part of the corpses, Mutu found that 83 of the dead had been injected with potassium cyanide in the back. He added that he was unable to continue the study due to fatigue, lack of equipment and complete lack of assistance. Summing up the work done by the US military, the specialized journal Lab Ward (a solid publication intended for directors of laboratories and forensic pathologists in the United States) wrote: “Contradictions, inconsistencies and doubts, the existence of which became apparent as a result of these interviews, leave many questions unanswered . In fact, this episode points to the poor organization of all operations by the US government or its deliberate concealment of real factors.

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

Despite the fact that absolutely all the facts testified to the murder, the main US media, such as The New York Times, The Associated Press, immediately called the tragedy a "mass suicide". The newspapers, as if on cue, blackened the name of Jones and the colonists in the same terms. This tragedy is the subject of a whole series of books and films, to which the CIA had a hand in encouraging the authors of these misinforming materials.

The surviving photos and film footage depicting the faces of the killers and the last moments of the victims have never been published. The tape recordings, allegedly recording the last hours of Jonestown and where Jones calls everyone to "revolutionary suicide", appeared after a long period of time, most likely fabricated retroactively in the laboratories of the US intelligence agencies.

The territory of Jonestown today has turned into a selva. It causes mystical horror among the locals, who refuse to approach the borders of the settlement. The building of the "Temple of the Peoples" in San Francisco also did not find an owner, it dilapidated to the point of decrepitude and was demolished. People are afraid of being infected by the curse that lies on these houses and lands. So the superstition that laid the foundation for these places predetermined their end.

Source: tainyvselennoi.ru, darkermagazine.ru, blogkislorod.ru