On 45th anniversary, survivors remember the Jonestown massacre

San Clemente resident Ed Norwood said that looking at old photos of his cousins and family members is still “deeply painful.”

Norwood lost 27 of his family members in the Jonestown massacre, the infamous mass suicide that occurred in South America on Nov. 18, 1978. It was the most significant loss of U.S. civilian life, in a non-natural disaster, before the terrorist attacks of September 11.

“I just remember seeing less of them for some time, up until the images on television came out,” Norwood said. “They were scrolling the names of all the loved ones on the television screen. It hurts less as so many years have passed, but I think it’ll always hurt.”

Saturday, Nov. 18 marks the 45th anniversary of the Jonestown massacre.

The expression “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid,” which became popular after the events at Jonestown, often refers to people who follow what they hear at face value. It’s a reference to the killing of 918 people — including around 300 children — with cyanide-laced Flavor Aid, ordered by cult leader Jim Jones.

At least 70 of those found dead in Jonestown were injected with the poison, which many say calls into question whether they committed suicide or were murdered.

Jonestown was a commune in Guyana occupied by a now-defunct religious group called the Peoples Temple, which had a big following in San Francisco, its headquarters, and in Los Angeles. Members were attracted to the temple’s bold social activism and counterculture, as well as its claims to be an integrated church that emphasized racial equality.

The Guyana commune was named after Peoples Temple founder and leader, Jones, a white minister known for having extreme religious beliefs that some say veered on extremist communism.

With its San Francisco and L.A. chapters both established in 1965, the Peoples Temple had a majority Black congregation, according to Fielding McGehee III, co-director and lead researcher of the Jonestown Institute. Based out of San Diego State University, the Jonestown Institute holds information on the commune, including those who died, court records, affidavits, articles, archival images, public records and personal accounts from survivors and family members.

Peoples Temple members started moving to Jonestown in 1977, after Jones became paranoid about the growing scrutiny his church was receiving in the U.S. Jones recruited around 1,000 members to come to Guyana and live together.

Survivors of Jonestown said there were consequences — and severe retaliation — for those who tried to leave. Many classified Jones as a cult leader, saying he had extreme New Age ideologies during the time, and said he started out more confident and even charismatic as a leader. But as time went on, many believed Jones exhibited delusional and paranoid extremism.

Remembering Jonestown

Norwood was around age 6 when his family came to Jonestown. He recalls their experience — and the aftermath of survival — in his 2021 book, “Be a Giant Killer,” where he calls Jones a “murderous giant,” socialist, communist and “extreme terrorist.”

“Jim Jones came at a time where there was a lot of racial inequality. Systemic racism was really prevalent, and he preached a message of hope,” Norwood, now 53, said. “He preached that people can escape poverty, escape homelessness, escape the life they lived in. And so it was attractive… I absolutely loved it. There was inclusion, there was community. Everything that they do is to attract families, and family after family.”

While never a formal member, Norwood frequented the San Francisco Peoples Temple as a child, and spent most of the time playing with his seven cousins who would later be Jonestown victims. Norwood said he survived because of a vision. Years before the massacre, his mom had visions that Jones would kill her family in a jungle, so he was barred from going to the church.

“How did 1,000 people get to the jungles of South America? It was partly by following a man, but it was also families following families,” Norwood said.

He recalled the night before his grandmother left for Jonestown. There had been a fight between his mom and grandmother, resulting in harsh words and hurt feelings.

“My grandmother was packing a suitcase while I was wrapped around her waist, begging her to stay. I thought she was just going for the night,” he said. “I never saw her again.”

Commune conditions

Jonestown survivor Deborah Layton — a former Peoples Temple financial secretary — shared stories of the commune in a signed affidavit published in June 1978, a few months before the massacre. Urging the U.S. government to get involved, Layton wrote that members who turned away from the organization were regarded as traitors. She highlighted about severe corporal punishment that gave threats “a frightening air of reality.”

“I believe their lives are in danger,” Layton said, calling on the government to “help save the people of Jonestown.”

Layton also claimed that Jones convinced Black temple members “that if they did not follow him to Guyana, they would be put into concentration camps and killed.” White members were also told they were on a hit list, considered “enemies of the state,” and would be “tracked down, tortured, imprisoned and subsequently killed if they did not flee to Guyana.”

Temple members were required to work in the fields from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., six days per week, Layton said.

“Conditions had become so bad that half of Jonestown was ill with severe diarrhea and high fevers. I was seriously ill for two weeks. Like most of the other sick people, I was not given any nourishing foods to help recover. I was given water and a tea drink until I was well enough to return to the basic rice and beans diet,” the affidavit said.