Cole had received a court order to enroll in Synanon before she disappeared. Some believe Bettys Death unleashed Dederichs fury. Yes, it saved my life and I do not regret being there. Did Synanon save my life? Montell's father was a member as a child and spoke freely to Amanda about his experience in Synanon. [12] Plus, control freak Dederich wanted even more power. The games turned on one than another. Morantz and Synanon locked horns for 8 years. He volunteered for a Dr. Keith Ditman LSD experiment and felt he had a cathartic break through and now understood the world and that good and bad were the same. (Time Magazine, Dec, 1977). [10][11] Julie Moncharsh recalled: "One boy, who was mentally retarded, was physically beaten because he did not do the 20 push-ups he was assigned. Members were taught that if caught on a violent mission to go to jail and to not blame Synanon. Correcting Claire Clarks Recovery Revolution, Book Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults. During a bout of paranoia where he would not leave his room, he read Emersons Self Reliance and using it as a bible he quit his job to devout full time to cleaning up other Alcoholics. The Conductor made it clear this was the resisters last chance. It was known for communal living, practices such as group "truth-telling" sessions they called "The Game," requiring married couples to split and take new partners and female members to shave their heads. Deborah Swisher, a former Synanon member, recounts her experiences growing up in several Synanon communes in her one-woman show Hundreds of Sisters and One Big Brother.[45]. He noted psychological testing revealed Synanon members (dope fiends) were still anti-social and recommended that the games fierce attack on self be lightened over a time, and that psychological counseling be given along with follow-up care to those who exit. Eventually followers took on the paranoia of its founder, Synanon developed the Imperial Marines and commenced a Holy War against its enemies. In its 21-year history, Synanon's reputation has seesawed from selflessly charitable to kooky and even depraved Dederich founded the group in Los Angeles in 1958, after "trying to take control of his Alcoholics Anonymous chapter and failing." Mitchell related. But there was a catch: new members had to transfer their assets to the organization. For a shower, a hose ran through a window (Casriel, So Fair a House, Yablonski, The Tunnel Back: Guy Endore, Synanon; Charles Dederich tapes on history of Synanon). These lawsuits ultimately turned out to be a large part of Synanon's undoing, by giving journalists access to Synanon's own internal documents. A Synanon mob beat Gambini in front of his family. Aids returned with smut obtained from the un-brokens spouses to use. Web. The Associate Press did a study of Synanons efforts to discourage the press (AP Study on Synanon Retraction Program). He is known for taking legal cases alleging brainwashing by cults, self-help groups and for sexual misconduct by psychotherapists. Synanon expanded an old Trans-Pacific Marconi RCA radio station in Tomales Bay now Marconi Conference Center State Historical Park. [7] A state Grand Jury in Marin County issued a scathing report in 1978 that attacked Synanon for the very strong evidence of its child abuse, and also for the monetary profits that flowed to Dederich. Publicly one was berated (haircut) for misdeeds and this was designed to carom off and affect behavior of those watching. All three minors were then returned to Ms. White. Each person stripped and put on white robes. [5] The group ultimately became a cult called the Church of Synanon in the 1970s. Recovering alcoholic Charles 'Chuck' Dederich founded Synanon in 1958 to provide substance abuse reform to drug users as well as alcoholics in Santa Monica, California. (Gerstel, Paradise Inc.) Beginning in 1974 the authorities began to question Synanons promises and practices. To recruit needed non addict club members, Dederich created The Trip, forerunner of Werner Erhards est training, which was a combination of group psychotherapy, coercive persuasion, mysticism and old fashion spiritual revival. Beatings of Synanon's opponents and its ex-members, "splittees", occurred across California. In 1974 Synanon declared itself a religion and centered on middle-class searching for utopia rather than addict curing. Returning to. They would adopt the Synanon family, said the board, or the fifth circle in Dantes hell, where tormented souls are terrorized and torn, awaited them. Morantz's website says that babies were taken from their parents and raised in the so-called hatchery., Moms who wanted to spend time with their own kids were callously dubbed head suckers.. . The city claimed it owned the beach front and rather than take the issue to court it sent police officers and bulldozers across the sand knocking down cabanas and paved courts. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Teeth were knocked out. But in fact Robson had failed and the violence memos, including the Garfield-Robson letters were scatter in the Synanon San Franciso warehouse which was opened for copying to the law firm of Lillick, Mchose and Charles (to avoid discovery sanctions) who then found them (Synanon vs. ABC; IRS vs. Synanon). (IRS vs. Synanon). Brainwashing is powerful enough to cure drug addiction while members remain subject to it. During the first stage, members did community and housekeeping labor. Morantz had prepared for that. ), On March 20, 1978, a former member of Synanon, Tom Cardineau was severely beaten (for being an alleged spy) while tied to a post during his honeymoon when he took his bride to show her where he had once lived on the Walker Creek Ranch. Escape From Cielo Drive (A Tale of Three Charlies) 0 December 26, 2010. Crying, Trippers embraced, feeling euphoria and transcending love. ; They played the game in which anyone was allowed to say anything, true or not, to someone to cause an effect. At the same time Pacific Palisades attorney Paul Morantz won a $300,000 judgment against the group on allegations that it had kidnapped, imprisoned and attempted to brainwash a woman on the verge of a psychotic break. Synanon is a word of his own invention integrating togetherness (syn) with the unknown (anon). Such acts comprised the bulk of a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation by Dave Mitchell, of the Point Reyes Light weekly newspaper. (Tony Lang, Synanon, Morantz archives on Synanon). At age 12 his mother remarried and Dederich went on a jealous rage turning to drinking and rebel rousing. Founder of Synanon House for drug addicts Charles Dederich, Chuck Dederich stands by his new wife, Ginny, at Synanon branch in Marshall, California, Founder of Synanon House for drug addicts Charles Dederich (centre) and staff members during rehabilitation session, Drug addicts at Synanon House for rehabilitation, Donald Trump announces enhanced counter-narcotics crackdown on drug cartels amid the coronavirus crisis, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Paul Morantz got the court order giving Ms. White custody, but Synanon refused to turn them over. Members were to confess in games and no secrets were allowed. We will make the rules. (Tony Lang, Synanon). Robert Graeme told reporters that upon arriving, the cult's leader threatened him. It even invited professionals including non-addicts to join. Aids, who did their homework, provided ammunition to the Conductors on each Tripper. Unsurprisingly, abused kids began running away, helped by an 'underground railroad', led by neighboring rancher Alvin Gambonini, who tried to reunite them with their parents. They also beat a neighboring rancher, Gamboninni, who was helping children run away from Synanon and return to their parents (Light on Synanon; Dave Gerstel, Paradise Inc.; Marin County crime report on Gambinini beating, Synanon memos describing incident. It would grow to become a well-funded utopian society throughout the late '60s and early '70s, before declaring itself a religion in 1974. . Synanon leaders and members have been linked with a large number of beatings and other acts of physical violence, and some have been convicted. Bombs, he would say in l978 to news reporter Connie Chung (CBS NEWS l978), could go off in homes of critics (Deposition of Dederich, Synanon vs. Time, Inc.; Synanon vs. ABC). Synanon became a Third sector within United States borders, seeking to have its Embassy in Washington, D.C. to have been involved in several criminal activities, such as the disappearance of Rose Lena Cole in late 1972, or early 1973. [citation needed]. Professionals, even those without drug addictions, were invited to join Synanon. Social scientists flocked to see for themselves, while Hollywood came out with the film Synanon in 1965, starring Edmond O'Brien as Charles and Eartha Kitt as Betty. It was just weeks after Morantz had won a $300,000 judgment against Synanon, a shady drug rehab facility that opened in Santa Monica in 1958. "By July and August, I realized what Id stepped into, but it was too late to get out of it.. The husband hired attorney Paul Morantz, who had recently finished a case against persons who had kidnapped skid row alcoholics and kept them on thorazine in nursing homes in order to bill the State. Synanon instituted containment which was disallowing contact with outsiders. In 1977, a group of Synanon thugs pistol-whipped a truck driver who had cut off their vehicle on a highway. All had pain. (Robson card, Morantz memorandum). There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. By BRANDON MESSICK Bmessick@havasunews.com Dec 9, 2018 Updated Aug 21, 2022 2 Stay Informed.. Mitchell developed a deep throat in the Sheriff department, Art Disterheft. Each Tripper was to write a paper on some feeling or admission. Dederich concluded in l967 that the program was not a success, and ended the concept of graduation. Without continued peer pressure, most ex-addicts reverted on leaving, as did the Korean prisoners of War (giving up Communism) in 90-days. When the first Tripper, physically and emotionally exhausted, broke and wept it caromed to the others. [20], Entrance into the Synanon community required a strong initial commitment. put my Synanon evidence books on the kitchen counter", when he noticed "something dark and elongated through the grill of my mail chute". One just had to surrender to Synanon. At eight a.m. Monday hand in hand the Trippers went down the corridor toward the sounds of band music. Men were given forced vasectomies, and a few pregnant women were forced to have abortions. ", Los Angeles police officer Richard Grotsley holds the rattlesnake that bit attorney Paul Morantz. A drunken Dederich was arrested on December 2 in Lake Havesu. During summer l978 California congressman, Herschel Rosenthal, a long-time Synanon supporter, attached a rider to a bill that if passed would exempt Synanon from all health licensing laws regardless of condition person taken in. (Dederich tape: The Freebies are Over; Arizona vs. Home Place Inc., Morantz archives on Synanon. With its sudden fame, by early 1964 Synanon had also become an alternative community, attracting people with its emphasis on living a self-examined life, as aided by group truth-telling sessions known as the Synanon Game. With its new wealth, they started building its first city in Marin County (Tomales Bay). Synanon struggled to survive without its leader but with a severely tarnished reputation. In 1974 Synanon declared itself a religion and centered on middle-class searching for utopia rather than addict curing. The name was chosen when a member slurred the words Symposium and Seminar. One of its early cardinal rules was no violence or threat of same. It will produce a new breed of human beings with greatly expanded potentials. In l977 in Santa Monica, Synanon took in a woman in a pre-psychotic break, and would not return her to her husband and transferred her to Tomales Bay. Most of his remaining time he was segregated in Synanon, as the foundation tried to revert back to early images and goals. (People vs. Dederich, Synanon memos on incident). While his associates went to jail, Dederich received probation because his doctors claimed that due to ill health he would most likely die in prison. As a condition of probation, he was disallowed from taking part in managing Synanon. Members were brainwashed, tortured mentally and barred from leaving the communityescaped members were subject to beatings. Synanon emphasized tough love and a cold turkey approach to rehabilitation for substance abusers. XHTML: You can use these tags:
. At age 4, when his father died in an auto crash, his mother, an accomplished pianist, made him the family male figure and her favorite. In the 1970s, two men were run off the road near one of their properties. The Department of Justice in the 80s, hiring Morantz and sociologist Richard Offshe as consultants, sued Synanon to remove its tax-free status retroactively for committing a reign of terrorism. [42], The author, journalist and activist Maia Szalavitz claims to chart the influence of Synanon in other programs including Phoenix House, Straight, Incorporated and Boot Camps in addition to those mentioned above. Synanon, is the first ever self helpno doctors drug rehabilitation program, founded by Charles Chuck Dederich Sr. (19131997) in 1958 in Santa Monica, California. That is a very satisfactory, humane way of transmitting information. A Los Angeles District Attorney search warrant led to a discovery of an audio tape wherein Dederich bragged of beatings that had occurred, the Imperial Marine training, and said one day the message would be delivered to everyone Dont mess with Synanon. He is considered an expert on these subjects. All thought the experience was beautiful. After his small group, called "Tender Loving Care", gained a significant following, Dederich incorporated the organization into the Synanon Foundation in 1958. [47] Throughout the series, one of the show's hosts, Brace Belden, talks about his childhood experience in a correctional, co-ed private facility called the Monarch School, which has been closed due to allegations of widespread abuse under the watch of its founder, Patrick McKenna, a Synanon disciple. Robson wrote back the mission was accomplished (Garfield-Robson letters). When one woman successfully fled and managed to get a lawyer to aid her legal case against the organization, that lawyer found himself the victim of a rattlesnake that had been placed in . (Synanon Punk Squad Files; Deposition of Synanon school master, Morantz vs. Synanon, IRS vs. Synanon), Dederich was ahead of times in ordering aerobics, running, diets and non smoking. The group is featured in the 2021 book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by American linguist Amanda Montell. Dederich bought and sold real estate. The program was based on testimony of fellow group members about their tribulations and urges of relapsing, and their journeys to recovery. View our online Press Pack. Hollywood Park: A Memoir, by Mikel Jollett (founder of The Airborne Toxic Event) was published in May 2020 and describes Jollett's life in, and escape from Synanon. The Imperial Marines was Synanon's private fighting force, trained inside the organization and heavily armed. In mid-1978, the NBC Nightly News produced a news segment on the controversies surrounding Synanon. It became the format of destructive cults. He existed on a $35 unemployment check and charity from others. Neighbors complained fearing Synanon would unleash non-recovered addicts into Santa Monica who came from other areas. (See id. Increasingly-wacko Dederich also created his own "Imperial Marines," while hundreds of his cult followers were ordered to get vasectomies and divorces! "They are draining life's blood from us, and expecting us to play by their silly rules. Your IP: (Tony Lang, Synanon, Morantz archives on Synanon). The Guides, all experienced game players, turned each group from enthusiasm to a depression and defeat, wallowing in its collective shame. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. A search of the vehicle turned up a fingerprint that matched one of Dederich's so-called "Imperial Marines," a no-nonsense security detail unafraid to employ violence should the moment call for it . Violence was then permitted upon them, breaking for first time Synanons non violent rule. Children were struck across the face, knocked down, otherwise punished and then gamed. Soon the OK on violence would spread to splitees, suspected thieves and perceived spies and enemies. The game was a session during which one member would talk about themselves and then endure intense criticism by their peers. Imperial Marines carried an E-11 blaster rifle, a MiniMag shoulder-launched proton torpedo launcher, and multiple thermal . Watches were taken as time was no longer important. Morantz said: I had my first case in court involving them in June 1977. He had been litigating against the organization, getting children returned to their families, giving information to the media, lobbying against a Synanon bill and fighting to expose its hit squad to law enforcement. All Rights Reserved. (Tony Lang, Synanon, Morantz archives on Synanon). [9] Two members of a Synanon security force known as the "Imperial Marines," Lance Kenton and. Dan Garrett ordered a kidnapping and then changed the order to beating the person on the spot. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. CEDU's schools used the confrontation model of Synanon. The 1984 TV movie Attack on Fear, directed by Mel Damski, written by T.S. (Mitchell, Light on Synanon. Synanon is referred to in Bob Dylan's song "Lenny Bruce", from his album Shot of Love (Bruce "never made it to Synanon"). The two other Synanon Imperial Marines, one of whom was Lance Kenton, son of musician Stan Kenton, pleaded no contest to charges of assault and conspiracy to commit murder. Some rolled up on the floor in fetal positions. You will learn more about yourself, your fellow man, the world, the nature of reality in one weekend than you would in four years. After winning a $300,000 judgment against Synanon, a once respected drug rehab group that had devolved into a paranoid, paramilitary cult, the ice under his feet got even thinner. Professionals, even those without drug addictions, were eagerly invited to join, provided they transferred their assets to the organization. (Robert Jay Lifton, Coercive Persuasion, the Psychology of Totalism). This included taking vengeance against. A Shepherd led them through candle-lit and incense-burning corridors to a locker room filled with rows of Army cots with name cards. Life Magazine did a 14 page photo spread, which a Congressman called the Miracle on the Beach, and Columbia Pictures made a movie Synanon, starring Edmond OBrien, Chuck Conners and Stella Stevens. The tax assessment due to the violence conspiracy led the properties to be confiscated and/or sold. (Robson) suggested blowing me away with a shotgun, Morantz said. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Children who had been assigned to Synanon began running away, and an "underground railroad" had been created in the area that sought to help them return to their parents. 'I want you to take these two, I want that one's legs broken, I want this one's legs broken, and I want you to shove him into the back of his car, and run it off the pier'. The board would spell out Emerson messages on self-reliance, but self-reliance was interpreted as the ability to make choices and the best way to end loneliness and suffering was through trusting in Synanon. Synanon began as an addiction support group that gathered in a grimy Californian flat in the late 1950s. While his associates went to jail, Dederich avoided imprisonment by pleading no contest to conspiracy to commit murder, agreeing as part of probation to formally step down as Chairman of Synanon and agreed to have nothing to do with running Synanon. He had outsmarted Synanon and its team of lawyers. This made him a public hero and Governor Edmund Brown, Sr. signed a save Synanon bill giving Synanon an exemption from Health licensing laws. : todayilearned The New York psychiatrist Daniel Casriel M.D. To keep people in, he posted and announced as a warning all reports of anyone who left and returned to drugs. Ofshe, Richard. The 1965 Columbia Pictures movie Synanon, directed by Richard Quine, was set at (and filmed in) Synanon; it starred Edmond O'Brien as Chuck Dederich, as well as Chuck Connors, Stella Stevens, Richard Conte, and Eartha Kitt. One, Richard Marino, said they were handcuffed and beaten, and their heads were shaved. Knowing away from the environment people were using, he closed the doors in l967 and ended the idea anyone should ever leave. (IRS vs. Synanon) Before the attack on Morantz, Synanon had opened a new private corporation city in Lake Havasu which was a plan to send Synanon money to the private corporation and then into the hands of Synanon leaders through salaries. It was also there that a luxurious complex known as the Homeplace was being constructed. The cult required mandatory abortions and vasectomies for its members, and married couples would accept new partners selected by Synanon every three years. The couple claimed that the wife had been held captive by Synanon and that during her stay, leaders at Synanon had attempted to brainwash her. It no longer obeyed zoning rules, sympathetic donations reheated and Synanon soon became Santa Monicas largest land owner. Soon, Synanon owned properties across America; at Tomales Bay, it had a fleet of ships, and at the Badger property hundreds of motorbikes and trucks, not to mention an airstrip and a private plane. [12], One of the most distinguishing practices of the Synanon community was a therapeutic practice commonly referred to as "The Game." Synanon is a US-founded social organization created by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich Sr. in 1958 in Santa Monica, California, United States. He received an. (Dave Mitchell, The Light on Synanon; Gerstel, Paradise Inc.. Synanon Holy War file memos on beatings, Dr. Doug Robson letters, various police reports). Synanon purchased in 1967 the Club Casa del Mar, a large beach side 1926 hotel in Santa Monica (during WW II it was a military headquarters), and used it as a center and dormitory for drug treatment and business operations. Did Synanon betray me an wound me? Remain forever and they could build a Utopian world designed by Dederich. Beatings occurred in Synanon basements. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. [7], Dederich eventually changed his way of thinking about Synanon and transformed it into something resembling a human progressive group. In 1974 Synanon declared itself a religion and centered on middle-class searching for utopia rather than addict curing. California donated a block long building in San Francisco. "One big dysfunctional family: A former member of the Synanon cult recalls the 'alternative lifestyle' that shaped her, for better and worse". Convicted, rather than move as condition of probation he chose to go to jail. Tax issues arose. On September 21, 2008, the Marines tried to murder ex-member Phil Ritter. Then it went to war. [27] People who left the organization were at risk of physical violence for being a "splittee"; one ex-member, Phil Ritter, was beaten so severely that his skull was fractured and he subsequently fell into a coma with a near-fatal case of bacterial meningitis.[28][29][30]. "Synanon: Toward Building a Humanistic Organization". (Morantz archives on Synanon, People vs Dederich, IRS vs. Synanon). One was four months pregnant. He feared that Marines otherwise would have to work with untrained and undisciplined . After several inquiries into their practices and financial holdings, Board of Directors passed declaration which made Synanon . ", Private Investigator Jack Harding said: "They reminded me of a young Gestapo group.". Restaurants near Hotel Imperial, Amsterdam on Tripadvisor: Find traveler reviews and candid photos of dining near Hotel Imperial in Amsterdam, North Holland Province. Monetary donations came in from the rich and Hollywood, as guys like Robert Wagner, Leonard Nimoy and Ben Gazzra came to Synanon to play the game with ex-addicts and ex-hookers. (Robson letters, crime reports, Synanon memos on each event, Synanon Holy War file, Depostions of ex-Synanon member, Morantz vs. Synanon; IRS vs. Synanon). "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Dederich designed an efficient program of individual emotional breakdowns followed by a mass group euphoria all designed to re-educate individuals into the Synanon II philosophy and lifestyle. In June of l978 Ernestine White, a black grandmother was trying to get her three grand kids out. The Marin County Supervisors, including Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein did not want to take a public position against Synanon as it was a constituent. Episode 22 of Mannix depicts Synanon members involved with a fictitious 1945 Daily Clarion bombing that killed 14 men. The school attracted lawyers, screenwriters, and business executives, all wanting to educate their children in a progressive environment. [citation needed]. Copyright Paul Morantz. George Orwells l984 had arrived early. Much of the violence was carried out by the Imperial Marines. The tiny Point Reyes Light, a weekly newspaper in Marin County, received the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1979 on account of its coverage of Synanon when other news outlets avoided covering the group. The snake did bite Attorney Paul Morantz, but he survived and went on to prosecute Synanon, as well as Church of Scientology, Hare Krishnas, and more. He had been trying to get his child out of the cult, and had gone to the authorities complaining of forced vasectomies in Synanon. Men were given forced vasectomies, and a few pregnant women were forced to have abortions. 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