Three years of darkness with Yonek: an interview with an ex-member of the Twelve Tribes sect

This interview was conducted during September 2023 in a series of three telephone interviews on various topics. With the kind permission of this ex-member (whom we will call by his tribal name, Kadesh), we publish the highlights of the interview with him. He lives in the USA near Hiddenite, the main center of the Twelve Tribes sect, where the founder of this group, Eugene Spriggs (Yonek), used to live. Kadesh lived in this community between 2019-2021.

I came across you by commenting on one of the Czech posts about the Twelve Tribes. I understood from this that you yourself have been in this sect for some time.

Yes, I was a member of them, but thank God I'm not anymore. You know, I live near their HQ in Hiddenite. The founder of the Twelve Tribes, Eugene Spriggs, lived there until his death.

Did you get to know him during those years? And how long were you actually there?

I have been in the community for about 3 years. I met them sometime during 2018, joined in 2019 and left at the end of 2021.

This may seem like a short period to outsiders, but it must have been quite intense.

Yes, anyway. I lived there for three years and worked on their farms and at the Yellow Deli restaurants. I planned to raise a family there, but it ended up falling through. It was all quite hit and miss there.

Please tell me more about it. Why did you even enter there? And why did you leave?

I am from the southern US and I am a Christian. I wasn't really looking for a community, but this group was very friendly and lived a farming lifestyle. It was something I was familiar with, so I felt comfortable there.

Didn't it scare you that you had to give up all your possessions in the beginning?

(Laughter) Okay, let's talk about this thing. Of course I was instructed to give them all the money, but I already had one child with my ex-wife before, so I gave them some of my savings.

I understand. And how did you manage to raise children? Did you know about the Twelve Tribes that they ritually beat their children?

I knew they were disciplining their children. I don't know how it is with you, and I don't want to touch you in any way, but I used to get kicked in the ass when I was little. But it was only when I was really angry and deserved it. It gave me clear boundaries. So I didn't have a problem with that.

But in the Twelve Tribes, children beat more than just ordinary parents, right? Or did it not happen in Hiddenite?

Yes, definitely a cannon. But I found that out later. First, several times I came across someone disciplining their child, and it screamed so loud it could be heard from the basement all the way out. I have also known several people who have personally experienced scourging. I don't know if you know what that is?

Yes, I know, but please explain it in your own words to the readers.

Scourging is an old practice of the Twelve Tribes that was discontinued for intervention in Germany. Basically, it was about beating the children for many hours and -⁠ at the end, Yašu's sign was supposed to appear.

A blue spot on the child's body.

Yes, a blue bruise. I've talked to guys who experienced it as teenagers. Fortunately, they are all out now (except one), but it left a mark on them for life. That kind of thing… it's hard.

I have to ask something sensitive now, but you don't have to answer if you don't want to. Have you ever participated in beating children?

No never.

Really?

No, really. I didn't have children there myself, and whenever there was a problem, I solved it by... when someone was naughty, I went to him and told him firmly that if he didn't stop, I would tell his parents and he already knew what would follow. That was usually enough. And... well, I went to see those parents several times.

And you took them away.

Yes. But at that time I had no idea what could happen. Only gradually. For example, I noticed that a girl was absent from the morning and evening dances for a week. I was checking to see if she was sick, but then I was told she was being punished. She was locked up somewhere for a week and was fed once a day.

Do you know what happened to her there?

No, I don't know that. I never spoke to her after that. They sent her to another community…

What was Eugene Spriggs really like?

By the time I met him, he was already very old. And he had it in his head... he was already senile. His head was messed up. He didn't even spend most of his time in the community.

And where was he?

In his house.

Did he have his own house?

He had his own villa on the coast. That's a pretty funny story. I was handing out flyers for our community and ran out of water. I noticed there was a fish and chip restaurant on the shore. I asked them if I could fill my water bottle and as soon as they saw me they started calling, “This is water for Eugene and Marsha. We love them. We are very happy to serve them.” This surprised me a bit at the time because we were not allowed to eat in restaurants or eat fried food. But as I later found out, Eugene went there every week with his wife Marsha.

So he was breaking the rules of his community?

(Laughs) You wouldn't believe it...He had a television at home, where he watched basketball games, western movies with his neighbor, or the news. He also had a DVD player and played various movies.

That's unbelievable.

Yes, it was extremely hypocritical, but it didn't fully dawn on me at the time.

When did you begin to realize that something was wrong with the Twelve Tribes?

Well, for the first time with the children. But then there was more. Maybe I was really repulsed by their teaching about races. I'm from the south, so I know these views, but I still didn't like it.

Are you referring to the racist and anti-Semitic teachings of the Twelve Tribes? Can you tell us something about them?

Spriggs believed that all races were to be ruled by the descendants of Shem, or, according to the interpretation of the Twelve Tribes, "the whites." The descendants of Ham ("blacks") and the descendants of Japheth ("Asians and Indians") must serve the whites because that is their lot. Black slavery, according to Spriggs, was God's way of disciplining the descendants of Ham.

Do members of the Twelve Tribes still believe that African Americans should be slaves to whites?

Yes, they believe. Absolutely, they teach it everywhere, especially their children in schools.

And how did anti-Semitism get there?

I know that for sure... Spriggs' ancestors were members of the Ku-Klux Klan. From there they adopted many of their views.

Can you describe to readers what members of the Twelve Tribes believe about the Holocaust?

Good. In short, they believe that the Holocaust was God's intention to discipline the Jews. As if to purify and educate them. In this respect, Hitler was an instrument of God who only wanted the purity of his nation. Spriggs even wrote it in his letters.

Yes, I read that. And do the members really believe it?

He learns from an early age in classes attended by children from the Twelve Tribes.

Speaking of teaching, please tell me how the teaching even goes? What are they learning?

They mainly learn to count, read and write. And then some things around.

Do they learn history, for example?

They learn the history of the world according to the Bible.

How about geography or biology?

They are learning the basics. But it's all connected to Bible verses. And when you asked about history, they learn a lot of American history, but from the point of view of the South (i.e. supporters of slavery).

Well, that's what they learn in the USA, for example. But what do Twelve Tribes children learn in South America or Europe?

The same.

Really? Are you sure?

Yes. In Hiddenite there was a constant flow of people from the world who learned from Spriggs the secret teachings of their faith. I also met a lot of Czechs there. For example, the man in the photo you sent me (it was a photo of Aleš Heuler AKA Alon, leader of the Twelve Tribes in the Czech Republic). Everyone is learning the same thing. Don't forget, wherever the children of the Twelve Tribes are, they are always taught in English and learn more or less the same thing - mainly biblical history and the slave version of American history.

That's crazy.

It is probably even more special for you, because in your (Czech) communities, they learn the history of my country (the USA) and not the history of your country. He certainly doesn't know anything about her. Maybe you should tell the Ministry of Education if you have something like that.

(Laughter) Yes, we do. We are not so backward. But unfortunately they are not doing anything about it yet…

So racism was another reason you left the Twelve Tribes. But what else?

There was more. Then I ran out of so many things that I couldn't take it. But a lot changed when Spriggs died.

Please tell me about it.

I have to go back a bit. After the intervention in Germany (2012), members and leaders began to be very careful. They became paranoid. They have created their own encrypted communication network so that governments cannot read their internal communications. They also abolished the most extreme practices, but I already talked about that. And then came covid. That was shortly after I entered. And Eugene (Spriggs) said at the beginning that only those who eat unclean foods (that is, foods forbidden in the biblical book of Leviticus, such as pork, but also seafood and much more) will get sick. It was said to be a punishment for the nations of the world for eating them. But then the first wave came and many members got sick, simply weak immunity. You eat little, you sleep little, you work a lot... And so he began to say that anyone can get sick, but similar to the biblical exodus, the angel of death will pass through all the doors that are dedicated to Yashua. Only the sinful were to die. But then he got covid himself. At first it was cool and he attended the evening meetings, but then he stopped showing up. We knew something was wrong when a carload of private doctors arrived. They were at Eugene's house for about a week, with the oxygen bomb and all that stuff. They tried to save him. But in the end he died to them anyway.

So did Eugene Spriggs die of the covid he claimed only sinful individuals would die from?

Yeah (laughs) .

Good. And how did the members react to it? How did you react to that?

I've seen him go downhill for a while now. And then when the doctors came. We are not normally allowed to see a doctor. Many people and children have died because members are not allowed to go to the doctor, especially pregnant women. And then suddenly Spriggs gets sick and an ambulance arrives with doctors. It was so hypocritical. We were all called to the common room at ten in the evening. They told us that Spriggs (we called him YONEK) had died. Some cried, others pondered the future. In the morning we found that several people were missing. They escaped during the night. They just packed up when they saw their leader died and bolted. So they called us right away and told us that there was a temporary ban on leaving the community and that we were not to tell anyone that Spriggs had died of covid. That he would not want it and that the enemies of Yeshua would take advantage of it. And so we told the other communities that he died of natural causes…

And then you left?

I was there for about two more months, but then nothing kept me there. I saw the power struggle for leadership in the Twelve Tribes erupt after Spriggs' death. In the end, Marsha, Eugene's widow, usurped the top position, and under her are the three most important leaders of the Twelve Tribes. One of them is even with you in the Czech Republic.

What? Heuler is one of the three most powerful men in the Twelve Tribes?

No, not that one. Someone else. He lives in Mšecké Žehrovice and is one of the founding members of the association. But it doesn't show much. He is the real gray eminence in the Czech Republic. (His identity will be revealed in a future article.)

Was it hard for you to leave?

Basically not even. I had a place to go back to—⁠ to my parents' farm. But otherwise, of course, I lost everything. I'm extremely glad that I gave at least half of my money to my ex-wife and daughter before joining, and that I didn't give it all to this sect.

Finally, would you like to say something to the Czech readers?

So that they don't get fooled like I did. And to do something about it. Before it grows on you and you can't stop it…