Suicides in the Nazi concentration camps. 1986

Z Ryn

On the basis of psychiatric interviews with 69 former prisoners of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, this paper describes the circumstances, motives, and ways of committing suicide in the camp. The interview made it clear that thousands of prisoners perished by suicide. The number of committed suicides was larger than that of attempted suicides. The most frequent types of suicide victims were prisoners of Jewish descent, foreigners, white-collar workers, and old people. The most common motives of suicides were depressive reactions; anxiety; somatic illnesses; the threat of death; emotional motives; loss of emotional support; beatings and tortures; and patriotic and altruistic motives. The most common methods of committing suicide were flinging oneself onto the electrified wires surrounding the camp, hanging, poisoning, cutting one's veins, and drowning. There were also cases of mass suicides, chiefly in the women's camp. Suicides committed from patriotic or altruistic motives testified to the fact that human beings were able to preserve their dignity even in the face of death.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D009042 Motivation Those factors which cause an organism to behave or act in either a goal-seeking or satisfying manner. They may be influenced by physiological drives or by external stimuli. Incentives,Disincentives,Expectations,Disincentive,Expectation,Incentive,Motivations
D011044 Poland A country in central Europe, east of Germany. The capital is Warsaw. Polish People's Republic,Republic of Poland
D011329 Prisoners Persons deprived of their liberty; those held is against their will, or who are kept in confinement or custody. Detained Persons,Hostages,Imprisoned Individuals,Incarcerated Individuals,Inmates,Detained Person,Hostage,Imprisoned Individual,Incarcerated Individual,Individual, Imprisoned,Individual, Incarcerated,Inmate,Person, Detained,Prisoner
D011330 Prisons Penal institutions, or places of long-term confinement for prisoners. Penitentiaries,Penitentiary,Prison
D003209 Concentration Camps A place where large numbers of people, especially political prisoners or members of persecuted minorities, are deliberately imprisoned in a relatively small area with inadequate facilities, sometimes to provide forced labor or to await mass execution. Death Camps,Internment Camps,Camp, Concentration,Camp, Death,Camp, Internment,Camps, Concentration,Camps, Death,Camps, Internment,Concentration Camp,Death Camp,Internment Camp
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly

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