She survived the Jonestown massacre - hear Leslie Wagner-Wilson's gripping story | SVT/TV 2/Skavlan
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 มี.ค. 2019
- Leslie Wagner-Wilson survived the Jonestown massacre in 1978. Hear her gripping story in Scandinavian talk show Skavlan.
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Her story is one of the most fascinating stories because she walked out of Jonestown in broad daylight, while Jim Jones was still alive.
@@johnnykurplutzo6789 no
@@Sleepy.C yes
Johnny Kurplutzo yikes man fuck off
@@johnnykurplutzo6789 Why because she didn't want to die?
A few people did. Some came and visited Guyana and went back to the States to attend to Church business when they Jonestown people died.
They should teach in schools the traits or warning signs of a cult/brainwashing.
In today's society 2020 never going to happen never
That would defeat their purpose of brainwashing out kids
Yes they should. I agree 100%
One of the traits they usually do ...is to try and separate you from family and friends, it may be just by saying: ... "now your family/friends ect. won't agree with what we believe here, but they just don't understand, they are ignorant, they don't have the right kind of beliefs like we do, We alone are the only ones who have the correct beliefs. One group here in town invited me to their gathering, I went one time, when I didn't go the next week, they sent 2 people over to ? me. I ended up ? them, and they admitted they they are the only ones going to Heaven. I said "you mean to tell me ONLY your little group of 25-30 people are going to Heaven..when the Bible clearly states that there will be far more than that?" They said..."well, every one who believes and joins our group in each town across the country will be going" They were also adamant about how there was ONLY ONE group per city/town. Again, I ? them..."So, when the Bible says Repent of your sins and believe on the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....that's not correct?" They replied that and join our little group! Finally, I asked them to leave my property, and I will Not becoming back, I will find a Godly, Bible believing church...one who knows there are others besides themselves that God has bestowed His Salvation upon. There are lots of false teachers out there...Jesus warned us!... Here's a clip of that group , Boston Movement of Church of Christ...th-cam.com/video/QScYzMNbD04/w-d-xo.html
Becky warren Exactly!!
It's incredible that she survived. Bring brought to this shit at a young age and seeing right through it is discernment. What amazing woman.
@Tiffany F. At lest she did what it took to make sure her child lived.
It's a true blessing that she saw through the BS and was lucky enough to leave.
Yes she is amazing 😉
@@annemchurchwell the Tragedy of Jonestown is a very true story. As Guyanese a very young girl growing up. The breaking News in The Guyana Chronicle news media strucked across the Country. We were astonished to breath could not believe that. Oh! How we wish we could have had those people in our family homes to help them out but it all kept secret in the jungle not until the mass suicide💔
@@sandrabaijnauth8084 I didn't say it didn't happen. I was saying at least she took her children with her unlike the guy who left and didn't bring little boy.
5:00 "You don't know until you're in that exact situation." Is such a very powerful statement, and so true.
So important. It's so disrespectful how many people comment saying "I would have escaped" or "Why didn't they just leave"
My mom used to drive me to Indiana to attend Jim Jone's church there. We ate at his house several times after services. One day my mom came out from the back of the house and grabbed me and we rushed to the car. We never returned. I don't know what happened, she wouldn't talk about it. Later the church moved to California and several family friends moved there to follow Jones. I don't know if they ever went on to Jonestown years later.
I would bet he made some kind of pass at her, he was known to do that and Marceline would look the other way
He most likely came on to her. Your mom's a smart woman.
For head slapping hillbilly
Wow that’s crazy u was near devil is ur mom still here alive now
He was a demon pervert I’m sure he made pass at her or try to touch her sick demon man he was
She lost her mother, her brother, and her husband in that massacre and is still able to smile.
I know Leslie Wagner Wilson and she is one of the bravest, smartest, kind and honest persons I have ever known. She ecaped and sadly could only take her 2 year old. She has had a long hard road but has made it. As she put it " In the game of life, faith wins." ♥
@Julyan Peterz no. But she left most of her families there.
@Steph Daigle The name of the movie is Guyana Tragedy:The Story of Jim Jones 1980. You can find it on TH-cam.
@@fifi7367 Her family likely did not want to leave, like many of the people who stayed. They were brainwashed and most likely stubbornly resistant to the mere idea that the king was stark naked.
I have never met her, but we are related thru her mother.
@Julyan Sr Peterz do you know if she became a Christian? Her words are very moving regarding forgiveness
I was only 7 years old when this happened. But , I remember adults saying these people were crazy for following Jim Jones to Guyana. When the survivors came back people did not treat them nicely. They thought those people committed suicide but some were forced to drink the poison. Many were even injected. It’s sad because the world thought these people were fanatics.
Members of our Church went on a Missions Trip to Guyuna a month ago.
@@Brucev7 omg. Be careful
yeah & nowadays there is another worldwide cult going around injecting people
@@Brucev7 WHY?
i mean lots of those people wanted to kill their own kids and even before that some guy said that he'd like to stab his dad and sister with scissors, also when one guy tried to run away, his own mother wanted to shoot him. listen to the recording, one woman tries to talk some sense into people and they tell her to shut up. ofc not all of them were brainwashed, but some of them def were
I am amazed at this woman´s ability to read people and energy. She knew who to get rapport with in order to make a plan. She knew just when the time was right to escape and she succeeded.
I believe virtually everyone has this ability. Most people are far more intuitive than they recognize but they spend their lives ignoring that inner voice to accommodate social norms, expectations, and faux pas.
Instinct. Always trust your instincts.
@@Burlykim13 you nailed it
Brain Power.........she kept quiet, paid attention, and listened very carefully, and did what she had to do to get out of that horrible situation, and bounced.
Dude she’s 13!!!! She’s just following her mother
By the time she got to Jonestown she was a grown woman with a husband and a child.. Extremely hard to feel sorry for this woman.
She's also in another interview, and speaks in more detail about her experience there with two other survivors. Very interesting. There's a part 1 and part 2 th-cam.com/video/6hN9e7cRAYk/w-d-xo.html
@@TR-SeptVirgo It's easy to pass judgement from a non-involved perspective.
@@TR-SeptVirgo because She was brought up with it
This host is a shite interviewer.
One of the things that bother me when interviewers (including Oprah) question survivors from Jonestown is when they over talk the survivors, or cut them off. Let the people talk. Geesh.
I cannot stand it either... it seems many interviewers want to hear about THEMSELVES.
Your right!!
Right...as if the interviewer knows what happened better😒
Thank you. This interviewer done a bad job.
Oprah never lets a guest finish a sentence.
i feel terrible for her.. but how brave she was to risk walking out
She is a total inspiration. I listened to the tapes after watching Bailey’s video against her strongly suggesting not to. Guess I’m just a curious cat after all. I suffered through listening to 48 minutes of it and I don’t know why or how I made it through. I HAD to look up survivors to feel a little bit of hope for humanity and I’m so glad I found Leslie’s story. I feel the light being restored to me hearing her speak especially when she said she forgave Jones. I don’t know if I could ever be that strong. God bless her.... and God bless all the lives that were lost in Jonestown. Honestly my faith has been lacking lately but listening to her gives me hope.
I did the same thing. Listen to the podcast "something was wrong"
Season 3. It's with 2 Jonestown survivors. It's a fascinating look at what happened
Where are these tapes? I can't find them!
@@beanz6217 Search Jim Jones Death Tape 1978. By something, Deaf? (The channel name.) I haven't listened to it. I don't want to bit the YT algorithm heavily pushes that video.
@@riverdeep399 found it, thank you
Me too! Im here cuz of bailey
One of the hardest parts is survivors having to find their feet back in the world. Her having to look for a job two weeks later was same as the survivors of Concentration camps having to go back to find jobs for themselves..with no such free of cost therapy and help. It is incomprehensible how people are just expected to move on and go head on when they just faced the worst of human tragedies.
We're all on our own.
What a testimony. She prayed that she wouldn't be hardened by what happened, that she would still be able to love, and was able to forgive what many would consider unforgivable.
I'll never forget Jonestown! To see those bodies on the front page was shocking!
the same here
Yes though it happens way before I was even born it was really scary to me as a pre teenager seeing and learning what has happened. More over the years, along with other dangerous terrifying cults that have ended in the deaths of innocent children and people...💔😐
@Robert Anthony
You're the fool. A damn fool. Good luck trying to get off that ventilator.
So amazing she survived such a LONG walk in that treacherous jungle. She seems like a really nice lady, and so sane to have made it through all that loss :( Couldn't be me. Losing not only your blood family but your entire community... everyone you grew up around. And all the brainwashing/abuse that happened leading up to it. The PTSD must be horrendous.
He's not a very good interviewer, should have given her more time between questions and stopped interrupting her >:(
On the contrary, Skavlan has built a reputation for himself as being one of the best interviewers around.
agreed, we really shouldve given her more spotlight to express the horrors she felt. she was a lovely lady
@@merlinmediagroup doesn't justify being ignorant
Looks like a TV show and so only had a certain amount of time.
I thought it was fantastic. They let her speak
Her escape story is how one found out Guyana had a functioning railroad line. She and other escapees began walking along the track, a train came, stopped, picked em up, took em to the end of the line, Matthews Ridge, where lots of soldiers just looked at em at first and they got the vibe something bad happened.
Wow, they were smart but I wish they reported this, so other people would get help.
@@sw-hg8eq I think that by the time they were found, it was already too late for others.
There are no railway line in this part of Guyana jungle. Perhaps just a dirt track road used by the native people.
@@johnnycrepaul547 she and her group made their escape in November 1978. She described she and the group walking along the track and the train stopping to pick them up. The CNN show that aired 30 years later showed the right of way, track removed.
Looking back at the situation, Congressman Leo Ryan should’ve went in Guyana with guns blazing, yes, take military protection. Maybe then more people would’ve survived this tragedy. But he underestimated the extent to which Jones would go to subdue any threats including top officials.
I remember crying while looking at aTime magazine
article that had pictures of some of the dead. One particular thing that stood out in the saddest way was several different images of dead adults, that when more closely examined showed the feet and legs of their children laying beneath them.
Scientology is not far off the same path of lies and destruction.
I am with you. It amazes me how much control they have of their brainwashed flock. Also, they claim to dislike psychiatry, but literally hook everyone up to the silly machine and demand every single little detail about their lives. Then later on the information they gather is used to blackmail them and keep them in line. It is totally insane. Who could be that damned dumb???
@@tonyhelton2788 tom cruise
@@rainiedayzproducestand6693 Many more. *Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Scientologists*
th-cam.com/video/PmeMxuVkevo/w-d-xo.html
@@rainiedayzproducestand6693 *Top 10 Celebrities Who Left Scientology*
th-cam.com/video/BfwjhOZPOh8/w-d-xo.html
*That's why we must always learn about HISTORY so we don't repeat it.* Because of the Jim Jones Jonestown Mass Suicide & Massacre, it won't get that Far. People are aware of what can happen. *This is why the gruesome Facts about our Past _(History)_ should NEVER be hidden.
It's a true story I live in Guyana my grandparents tell me the story....to how it started to how it ended....
I had a childhood friend who mom left to follow Jim Jones from Miami. It broke her son heart. She was battling with drug addiction to get her life on track i heard in adult conversation
Fiona I live in a first world country bitcchhh
@@deneshbhaskar3944 dumbass
Yes it is
@@busychrissy0.0 lol
There's a video on TH-cam of her & another survivor going back to Jonestown. She said she needed to go back to finish healing. This woman's life will forever be tied to that murdered but for her sanity she had to forgive & move on.
I watched that video! It's the Australian series Sunday Night.
Aussies rock 🤘
I just listened to a 44:29 auto tape of of their final time on earth. It’s chilling. There was a woman trying to get Jim to see reason and change his mind, but to no avail. The crying of the children was too much for me.
Yet you made it through? I couldn’t.
She's smart and brave 💗🙏
Few and far between in the he US
One strong woman for sure!
That she is
Amazing story. So sad that her family in Jonestown didn't make it out and that her closest family here in the US, her dad, was upset with her over her brother's death. But the best part is that the woman forgave. Excellent. PS I don't think it's crazy for people to want something better, the dream of a utopia.
I especially understand considering the segregation that his mostly black following faced at the time in the states. Jones knew to target a vulnerable population to gain total control
@@Misscutieful1 yeah, the equality aspect must've been extremely attractive to people. I can definitely see being in that political climate and thinking the answer was to create a home away from society.
What a beautiful soul. I’m so glad she found healing through forgiveness.
My Auntie Paulette Kelley Jackson was murdered by needle. She fought for her life and been wanting to escape. She followed him from California. May she rest in peace
@ carrie joylynn Ellison, I'm sorry for your loss.
God bless her soul
Rip 😔
watching in 2021 & remembering this tragedy in 1978 ,while I was 10 years old & how the gut wrenching feeling is still the same for the loss of the over 200 innocent children at the hands of their own parents & over 700 adults, due to the deranged, drugged up mad man Jones..still painful & inconprehensible..
brave woman God Bless Her
I’ve been watching Skavlan for a few years (to learn Swedish). I’m also fascinated by documentaries on cults or real crime. So this brings the two together. I was surprised. Great show. You keep having amazing guests and I love that they are given the space to speak and tell their story.
I can only imagine the strength it takes to forgive somebody that brainwashed and murdered 900 people, many of whom you knew. Many people think forgiveness is weakness, but it takes significantly more strength to forgive somebody than it does to seek revenge
can't take revenge in the situation anyway. jim jones is dead.
@@damidwif3929 hmmmm…. Kinda sus…. Are you a robot? 🤨
That is such a Cliche
Wow she really is an amazing woman! The fact that after all this...she can smile, laugh and forgive...WOW! I hope she knows how much of a role model for other women, and men! She is!
She articulates the situation extremely well. Thank you
Such a remarkable woman. Forgiveness always wins.
I knew Leslie. She was friends with my wife and myself. I hadn't gone to Jonestown but unfortunately my wife and daughter were there and perished.
That is horrible. I'm so sorry for the loss of your wife and daughter. I can't imagine what that must've been like.
@@kaylanbaby5987 The pain and guilt are unimaginable. And I carry it with me to this day.
sorry for your loss. God Bless you and your wife and daughter
@@user-px9gy6pu2y Thank you for your kind words.
I'm so sorry for your loss
God didn't take u out because he needed u to tell this message
God is Omniscient. There is always a Remnant.
I was a teen living in Guyana,Jim Jones would come to the city George Town and keep meetings ,and people would be on crutches and he would work miracles,supposedly.And we the locals some how knew something was not right with this preacher,every one would talk about this Jim Jones.But many did not know about Jones town and all the Americans living in the jungle.When the news broke everyone heard on the radio as people had no tv back then.Many Guyanese wonder how so many people can be so brain washed and not see the sighs.It was very devastating , People often ask me where I came from and I say Guyana .The response would be ,oh where Jim Jones were.I would say oh we were not part of that lol.
Such a brave, sweet and wise lady, a pleasure to hear you talking. A jewel for humanity, might God bless you, dear Leslie
I like how she is able to say it like it is none of the bs very objective
This is one of the great interviews of all time. Fascinating
so glad she lived to tell her story. what a wonderful women. i wish her nothing but peace for the rest of her life
Years after this tragic event with Jim Jones and the People's Temple:
I worked with a lady at a Federal Disaster Office. These offices are temporarily established by the Gov. to meet the needs of communities during natural disasters. They are also staffed by transient people who go from one disaster office to another; from state to state.
Its been years now but I want to say her name is Janelle. Janelle was a black woman with dark circles under her eyes. She was a transient worker who often spoke about her 4 children. She even said I reminded her of her oldest daughter.
We all used to wonder where her children were while she traveled around to different offices. But no one wanted to pry.
Finally after several months when the office was soon to close; we shared "happy hour" type social outing that included drinks.
After a few drinks Janelle began to open up and she told us that her mother and all 4 of her children were killed in Guyana with the Jim Jones followers. She was due to join them but never got the chance.
This explained the dark circles under her eyes and perhaps why she kept moving around.
Ironically only about a week after she left they began advertising the story of the Jonestown Massacre on TV. We were so glad she had already left. 🌹
Janelle Smart, perhaps?
I've heard Leslie's story in a few different videos, and her father just sounds like he wanted someone else to blame for his own failure. He judges her for not getting her brother out of Jonestown, but to my understanding, the father himself cut ties with the People's Temple long before their move to South America because he sensed something wrong with them...and yet he didn't get the rest of his family out of there with him.
im pretty sure he tried for a long time, theres only so much you can do.
Yep, we always hate in others what we see in ourselves.
So sad. She went through so much.
If you have to follow your pastor to a secluded land (country), he’s a false prophet
True but when you don't have anything and he's showing you everything telling you everything your trap
You got that right
All people that claim to be prophets are false prophets. A real one would not gloat about it for fame or attention. They would likely hide it and avoid big attention/media
@@CheesyChise Excellent point! 👏
What an amazing woman.
I wanted to hear more about how she escaped.
Its another interview of her and 2 more surviving members its over an hour long and they went into detail of what happened and how they left
Powerful testimony.
This is heartbreaking
Very insightful, Great interview 👍👍
Thank God for my Mom and Dad they had common senses. I was truly blessed.
This is one of the best shows of it's type on TH-cam.
Thank you so much for your kind words, we truly appreciate it! 🙏🏼
@@SkavlanTV
It's true. Interesting guests, intelligent conversations as you say at the end :)
She is probably my favorite of all the survivors, she is so real here. You can tell how moved the interviewers are by her honesty about her journey.
Watching this proves to me why they have people take notes during an execution....Because everyone sees and hears and processes things differently, She said it was hell on earth, the other survivor laura said it was heaven.
👀
Truth has no glitches like stories
Laura was also on the planning committee
Strong lady, the best place to give your testimony not inside of a church but on a talk show 👍
His two sons went back with a few survivors. People who left right before the end. Which is recorded. You can hear him telling them don't cry don't be afraid
This woman is incredible. I cried at the end.
Such a strong, brave woman! 💖
What a beautiful ❤️ brave soul. God bless her.
Powerful conversation on forgiveness. Is very hard. But to carry on living. We must.
Wow that hurts 😢 when she said her dad ask how come u ain’t get ur brother out wow smh man oh man da pain !!. She live with very strong women .
I love her! Great spirit, strong woman.
I have so many questions she glossed over the details of her escape! How did she get on a plane? Who did she leave with??
Yes! I need all the answers.
Her escape is detailed in her book. Her friend Diane Louie was very instrumental in helping Leslie and her son escape.
This lady has a wealth of wisdom and a big, BIG heart. So courageous.
Good interview
What a testimony! amen sister!
"Always this outside threat". "People couldn't really trust each other. You had informants." Same thing with Jehovah's Witnesses.
You're so right. It reminded me immediately of my childhood when my parents were members of the jehovah's witnesses cult. The rules and the permanent brainwashing was tremendous.
I said the same exact thing
God bless her and others like her, what terrible heart break they had in their lives.
I was in high school in Brooklyn in 1978 when this happened. I remember reading about Jonestown in the New York Newsday on my way home from class. I didn't even know where Guyana was. It was quite disturbing.
Nice work on the interview mate.
God bless her!
We were unaware of them living there until that horrible day and were heartbroken and devastated that we couldn't at LEAST , get the chance to save those precious little babies . We rushed in there to save someone or something but were just too BLASTED late. They were all gone by then.all except the ones who had apparently run into the outer brushes to escape that raving, murdering LUNATIC Jim Jones......( MAY THE SOULS OF ALL THE DEPARTED REST IN PEACE).
Courageous woman! 👍👍👍
God Bless Miss Leslie for forgiving.I know it's hard, especially after a REAL "NIGHTMARE" that she experienced.
Praise God she got out of there. She is so inspiring.
One of the best panels to date. Bless that woman, may she "live" long and prosper. The Jonestown massacre is so interesting, in a disgusting way, with respect. Mucho respect to Leslie Wagner-wilson for sharing this horrific, tragic part of her "young" life. Mucho love Skavlan . I've been a viewer for years but only a subscriber for maybe 1 year. These episodes are the reason for that. Great work as always. But again Merchants face. lol
Why didn’t the interviewer ask her what did she mean by: I moved to Jones Town so I could redeem myself. Damn, he just moved on to the next question!
He missed a lot in this interview
She was a teen that got into trouble. Her sister was on drugs. That’s why they went to The Peoples Temple in the first place. Read her book. It’s very interesting.
What’s the most painful thing is you can hear the screams and cries of children in. Those tapes. Literally the most disgusting thing I’ve EVER heard.
I’ve certainly heard her story and the many other stories, documentaries, and profiles done on The Jonestown Massacre. Leslie is and was certainly a survivor unimaginable... Very terrifying, and Jim Jones again to me was a monster...💔😐 All of those innocent children and other adults were killed/murdered.... One of the most scariest images seeing a “Mass Suicide” in the name of God.😔
Agree I seen just about every interview that she has given I think Grace stone and Debra Layton have a lot to tell to but I don't see much interviews with them
I heard the lady when she told the man that Jim Jones didnt start the suicide sessions until in Jonestown, but I read in the article that Jim started talking about the suicide while still in America
He did with his inner circle and not the entire church family
She wasnt in America when Jones was rehearsing poison drinking in his church. She was helping to build Jonestown in Guyana
That's why Jim Jones chose the location of Guyana.
I heard in 1 doc he plan suicide for 1 year.
Yes I think they started that and Redwood Valley California the suicide drills
Amazing story. Thanks to Ms Leslie Wagner-Wilson. The interviewer could improve his interviewing techniques.
What an amazing, strong woman!
Would’ve liked to hear more about her escape.
I'm soo soo sorry may the hand of God to continue to provide and protect you
Jones's gift or Interpersonal way of relating to people was a gift from hell.
" I wasn't supposed to talk to anyone but Temple kids". Just like the Jehovah's Witnesses. Isolating members from non-members is a common feature of cults.
Nah. That’s not true Ann. You’re exaggerating.
Jehovah witness told people in 1914 that the world is coming to the end. They did it again in 1926. People(the witnesses) sold their possessions but the world didn't end. Therefore watchtower is capable of doing it
Azazel One:
If a person is not a Jehovah's Witness, they are a worldly person and association with them should be limited to preaching to them to convert them. There is a brochure entitled: "School & Jehovah's Witnesses" which instructs JW youths to not participate in certain school activities including extra-curricular activities.
Obviously you are not a Jehovah's Witness, or you would know this. If you were a Jehovah's Witness you would also know about 1 Corinthians 15:33: "Bad associations spoil useful habits",
John 15:18-19, John 17:14-19: You are no part of the world, remain separate from the world.
2 Corinthians 6:14 : "Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers" etc, etc, etc.
The whole world, outside of Jehovah's organization, is under Satan's control (1 John 5:19).
@@azazelone905 Very true
You are spot on.That tactic is called isolation and it is used by cults as a form of information control.Scientology does it as well.Funny enough,there is an ex JW who saw a documentary on Peoples Temple who was stunned by the profound similarities between the two groups.Her words after seeing the documentary were 'Oh my God,I'm in a cult'
My heart aches tremendously for this woman
This is really something. I loved her prayer to God to help her heart not become hard. It makes me want to forgive on a higher level. I feel bad for the victims who were deceived and murdered by this man, but you never truly know what you will do in a situation until it fully presents itself.
Deep.
Brave woman
I’ve heard about this thing before but I never knew the name. I’m happy I found this.
It's amazing that she got out alive.
her story... she is so brave
What a charismatic woman...amazing!
Wow..what an experience that must have been. All with a good ending on her behalf :)
Such bravery. Very Strong. Incredible ! The gentleman conducting the interview looks like Amy's date on the Big Bang Theory
He is
Such a brave and strong woman! I appreciate her sharing her story, and giving us an intimate look at Jonestown and the behavior of cults.
how can a person go through this much pain