{"id":92999,"date":"2019-10-07T10:49:12","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T17:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=92999"},"modified":"2025-05-28T11:24:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T18:24:17","slug":"the-german-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=92999","title":{"rendered":"Alternative Considerations – Texte auf Deutsch"},"content":{"rendered":"

DEUTSCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jonestown \u2013 ein Lesebuch<\/strong><\/p>\n

Texte aus \u201cPersonal Reflections\u201d, ins Deutsche \u00fcbertragen von Heidi K\u00f6nig-Porstner.<\/p>\n

Anmerkung der \u00dcbersetzerin: Die meisten der folgenden Texte sind Geschichten von oder \u00fcber Menschen, die in Berichten \u00fcber Jonestown so gut wie nie vorkommen – und die zugleich deren Hauptdarsteller sind: jene Menschen also, die gemeinhin als \u201edie Leute\u201c bezeichnet werden, \u201edie Leute des Peoples Temple\u201c oder \u201edie Leute von Jonestown\u201c. Die Autorinnen und Autoren dieser Geschichten sind Familienmitglieder der in Jonestown Verstorbenen sowie ehemalige Temple-Mitglieder-\u00a0 solche, die den Temple bereits lange vor der Trag\u00f6die verlassen hatten, andere, die in Jonestown gelebt hatten, sich am 18. November 1978 jedoch in Georgetown, der Hauptstadt Guyanas, aufhielten, sowie Temple-Mitglieder, die noch in den USA lebten – und die von den grauenhaften Nachrichten aus Jonestown getroffen wurden, w\u00e4hrend sie gerade dabei waren, sich f\u00fcr ihren eigenen Aufbruch nach Guyana vorzubereiten. \u2013 Die Geschichten dieser Menschen sind so unterschiedlich wie die Sichtweisen jener, die davon erz\u00e4hlen: gemeinsam ist ihnen jedoch allen, dass ihr urspr\u00fcnglicher Beweggrund, dem Peoples Temple beizutreten, Hoffnung war – die Hoffnung auf ein neues und besseres Leben, f\u00fcr das Jonestown irgendwann zum Sinnbild werden sollte. Der Gedanke an einen \u201eTodeskult\u201c, wie er sp\u00e4ter von den Medien gezeichnet wurde, war f\u00fcr diese Menschen ebenso fremd und jenseits ihrer Vorstellungskraft wie f\u00fcr die breite \u00d6ffentlichkeit \u2013 die sie nichtsdestotrotz auf immer damit in Verbindung bringen w\u00fcrde.<\/p>\n

Mein herzlicher Dank geht an die Autorinnen und Autoren dieser Texte (jener, die bereits \u00fcbersetzt sind und jener, die folgen werden): daf\u00fcr, dass sie ihre Geschichten, ihre Trauer und die Erinnerungen an ihre Lieben mit uns teilen, sowie an Rebecca Moore und Fielding McGehee, die einen Raum geschaffen haben, um diese Geschichten zu sammeln und zu ver\u00f6ffentlichen. M\u00f6gen sie eine breite Leserschaft finden und die Aufmerksamkeit und Wertsch\u00e4tzung erfahren, die sie zweifellos verdienen.<\/p>\n

*******<\/p>\n

Eine Anmerkung zur Reihenfolge der Texte: obwohl die Trag\u00f6die von Jonestown nat\u00fcrlich in s\u00e4mtlichen Geschichten aus der Reihe \u201ePersonal Reflections\u201c eine tragende Rolle spielt, habe ich mich bem\u00fcht, die Texte hier in einer gewissen chronologischen Reihenfolge anzuordnen. Den Anfang bilden Texte, die vorwiegend mit der fr\u00fcheren Geschichte des Peoples Temple \u2013 in Ukiah, San Francisco und Los Angeles \u2013 in Verbindung stehen. Diesen folgen Texte\u00a0 \u00fcber das Leben in Jonestown und die Ereignisse in Jonestown und Georgetown am 18. November 1978; den Abschluss bilden Texte, die vorwiegend von der Zeit danach erz\u00e4hlen, von den Folgen der Trag\u00f6die f\u00fcr die Hinterbliebenen. (HKP)<\/p>\n

*******<\/p>\n

ENGLISH<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Jonestown Anthology<\/strong><\/p>\n

Writings from \u201cPersonal Reflections\u201d, rendered into German by Heidi K\u00f6nig-Porstner.<\/p>\n

Translator\u2019s note:<\/strong> The bigger part of the texts listed below are stories by or about such people we hardly ever find in any reports on Jonestown \u2013 despite of their being the main protagonists, that is: people who are usually referred to as \u201cthe people,\u201d \u201cthe people of Peoples Temple,\u201d or \u201cthe people of Jonestown.\u201d The authors of these writings are family members of individuals who died in Jonestown, as well as former Temple members. Some of these former members had left the Temple long before the tragedy happened; others were residents of Jonestown, but happened to be in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, on November 18, 1978; others were hit by the horrific news from Jonestown while in the process of preparing for their own departure to Guyana.<\/p>\n

The individual stories of these people differ as much as do the perspectives of those who wrote them. What they all have in common, though, is that their initial motive for joining Peoples Temple was hope \u2013 the hope for new and better life, of which Jonestown would eventually become a symbol. The concept of a \u201eDeath Cult,\u201c as it was pictured by the media after the tragedy, was as alien and beyond imagination to them as it was to the broad public, who, nevertheless, would forever connect them with this concept.<\/p>\n

My heartfelt thanks go to the authors of these writings (those I\u2019ve already translated as well as those that will follow) for sharing their stories, their grieving and memories of their loved ones, and to Rebecca Moore and Fielding McGehee, for providing a space to collect and to publish these writings. May they be widely read and receive the attention and appreciation they certainly deserve.<\/p>\n

***********<\/p>\n

A note regarding the order of the texts: although the tragedy of Jonestown is of course prominent in all<\/em> stories from \u201ePersonal Reflections\u201c, I have tried to arrange them here according to a certain chronological order. Those dealing with events from the earlier story of Peoples Temple \u2013 in Ukiah, San Francisco, and Los Angeles \u2013 come first; they are followed by texts on life in Jonestown, on the events in Jonestown and Georgetown on November 18, 1978, and on the aftermath, on the consequences of the tragedy for surviving family members. (HKP)<\/p>\n

***************<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. F\u00fcr meine Familie<\/a>, by Steve Daniel<\/li>\n
  2. Tod der Unschuld<\/a>, by Pinkie Jones<\/li>\n
  3. Der Sommer 1972<\/a>, by Glenda Randolph Bates <\/li>\n
  4. Miss Frankie \u2013 Erinnerung an eine Freundin<\/a>, by Glenda Randolph Bates<\/li>\n
  5. Mein Leben im und nach dem Peoples Temple<\/a>, by Juanell “Nell” Smart<\/li>\n
  6. Der sch\u00f6nste Sommer<\/a>, by Vera Washington<\/li>\n
  7. Wie ich den Peoples Temple verlie\u00df<\/a>, by Glenda Randolph Bates<\/li>\n
  8. Augenblicke<\/a>, by Eugene Smith<\/li>\n
  9. Showtime<\/a>, by Eugene Smith<\/li>\n
  10. Eine Welt f\u00fcr sich: Das Leben in den Staaten nach Jim Jones\u2019 Umzug nach Guyana<\/a>, by Don Beck<\/li>\n
  11. Meine Peoples Temple Christian Church-Erfahrung<\/a>, by Jesselle Carter \u201dZsa-Zsa\u201d (\u201dJa-Ja\u201d)<\/li>\n
  12. Erinnerungen an meine Schwester<\/a>, by Jacinta Hector Powers<\/li>\n
  13. Der Tod zweier T\u00f6chter: Trauer und Erinnerung<\/a>, by Barbara Moore<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Lyrik aus Jonestown\/Poetry from Jonestown<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Heidi K\u00f6nig-Porstner is an author and award-winning translator of poetry, who lives in Vienna, Austria. She works as an editor for the Austrian Committee for Social Work, and has been a research worker in projects on Philosophy of Science and Contemporary History at the University of Vienna. Her publications cover the areas philosophy and history of science, literature and science, and political philosophy. As a literary translator, her focus is on Spanish poetry, and on biographical works. \u00a0Her previous article for the jonestown report<\/em> is Jim Jones\u2019 news broadcasts in 1978: The Red Army Faction & the two Germanys<\/a>. She can be reached at\u00a0adelheidanna@gmx.at<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    DEUTSCH Jonestown \u2013 ein Lesebuch Texte aus \u201cPersonal Reflections\u201d, ins Deutsche \u00fcbertragen von Heidi K\u00f6nig-Porstner. Anmerkung der \u00dcbersetzerin: Die meisten der folgenden Texte sind Geschichten von oder \u00fcber Menschen, die in Berichten \u00fcber Jonestown so gut wie nie vorkommen – und die zugleich deren Hauptdarsteller sind: jene Menschen also, die gemeinhin als \u201edie Leute\u201c bezeichnet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":98930,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-92999","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92999","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=92999"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130319,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92999\/revisions\/130319"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/98930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}