{"id":81694,"date":"2018-09-28T10:42:41","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T17:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=81694"},"modified":"2025-02-16T10:36:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-16T18:36:48","slug":"hungarian-novelist-takes-on-american-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=81694","title":{"rendered":"Hungarian Novelist Takes on American Tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Editor’s note<\/strong>: An article in the author’s original Hungarian language, include the poem comprising the second half of this article, appears here<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

I am a writer from Hungary. I first read about Jonestown in a magazine sometime at the beginning of the 1990’s, but at the time I ignored it.<\/p>\n

More recently \u2013 in 2013 \u2013 I decided to wanted to write a novel that would recount the events of that experience. The title of my book is I\u2019ve Dreamt a World<\/em>, which is a lyric from a Hungarian music band.<\/p>\n

I started collecting information on Peoples Temple wherever I could find it. I read more books, I saw films, and I searched the Internet. I started writing in May 2014 and finished the 228-page manuscript in four months. I tried to place the manuscript with a publisher, but have not succeeded yet.<\/p>\n

In my Jonestown story, my protagonist survives the mass deaths of the final day, but not his lover. Because the whole story is a drama that happened in Jonestown, I wrote it from the perspectives of the people. I know there was unimaginable death that day, but I tried to write a smoother story without violent scenes. Instead, I used the names of real Temple members and families \u2013 especially the Cordells and the Bradys \u2013 and wanted to spend more time writing about the world of their dreams, which was Jonestown.<\/p>\n

This website has been instrumental in my learning of what happened in 1978. I thank everyone who has contributed articles and stories about their own experiences \u2013 both good and bad \u2013 in the Temple. They have been invaluable in my education and in my writing.<\/p>\n

I remain curious about one thing: if this was a religious fellowship, what did Jim Jones need military guards for? We know that he was a lunatic, but perhaps he knew what was to come, and planned to use armed mercenaries on that day. I may write a new story about them in the future.<\/p>\n

I cannot present my whole book here, of course, but I would like to offer a poem of remembrance that I have written.<\/p>\n

There was a day which cannot be forgotten.
\nWhat happened actually really happened.
\nFar away, one day in November.
\nThe shadow of death descended upon Jonestown.
\nIt was a religious group, the Temple of People
\nGiving peace and faith to the generations.<\/p>\n

The blood of 900 innocents had to descend,
\nRemember always the disaster.
\nThey had to listen to the voice of Jim Jones.
\nWhere are those who helped them?
\nPray for the 900 innocent
\nGive comfort to their souls.<\/p>\n

They believed generations can come together,
\nDream of a happy homeland far away.
\nThere was also belief in a world
\nOf living the good life in Jonestown.
\nThey also believed they could stay for a long time,
\nMaybe forever<\/p>\n

The blood of 900 innocents had to descend,
\nRemember always the disaster.
\nThey had to listen to the voice of Jim Jones.
\nWhere are those who helped them?
\nPray for the 900 innocent
\nGive comfort to their souls.<\/p>\n

It happened 40 years ago, the world needs to know
\nThe Temple of Peoples was filled with full of life.
\n18 November, remember of the victims,
\nDo not forget! There was a Temple of Peoples.
\nRemember, pray for innocents.
\nHereafter light a candle for them as well.<\/p>\n

The blood of 900 innocents had to descend,
\nRemember always the disaster.
\nThey had to listen to the voice of Jim Jones.
\nWhere are those who helped them?
\nPray for the 900 innocent
\nGive comfort to their souls.<\/p>\n

The blood of 900 innocents had to descend,
\nRemember always the disaster.
\nMany years have passed since you existed
\nBut never regret how you lived
\nYou believed in a man with powerful words,
\nNow you can live in Eternity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Editor’s note: An article in the author’s original Hungarian language, include the poem comprising the second half of this article, appears here.) I am a writer from Hungary. I first read about Jonestown in a magazine sometime at the beginning of the 1990’s, but at the time I ignored it. More recently \u2013 in 2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":81154,"menu_order":20,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-81694","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/81694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81694"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/81694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100313,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/81694\/revisions\/100313"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/81154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}