Overview

The suicides of Hitler, Goebbels, Bormann, Himmler, and later Goering at the end of World War II were only the most prominent in a suicide epidemic that has no historical parallel and that can tell us much about the Third Reich's peculiar self-destructiveness and the depths of Nazi fanaticism.Looking at the suicides of both Nazis and ordinary people in Germany from the end of World War I until the end of World War II, Christian Goeschel shows how suicides among different population groups, including supporters, opponents, and victims of the regime, responded to the social, cultural, economic, and political context of the time. Richly grounded in gripping and previously unpublished source material Suicide in Nazi Germany offers a new perspective on the central social and political crises of the era, from revolution, economic collapse, and the rise of the Nazis, to Germany's total defeat in 1945.

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9780199606115

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Reviews

A valuable contribution to recent scholarship on suicide in historical perspective...A successful analysis of suicide as an individual decision, and as a social and cultural phenomenon. Julia S. Torrie, English Historical Review. fascinating... Richard Overy, Daily Telegraph ...superb... With a particularly keen eye for the quotation that brings personal experience to life, Goeschel has painstakingly collected and shrewdly interpreted a rich vein of previously unused archive sources. Cornelie Usborne, Times Higher Education Supplement Christian Goeschel's clear and compelling account handles a difficult subject with care and sensitivity. It combines considerable scholarship with enviable clarity of focus, and contributes significantly to our understanding of invididual and collective mentalities in Nazi Germany. Tim Kirk, Times Literary Supplement A unique analysis...placing suicides within an historical context, which Goeschel sensitively and eloquently accomplishes, can offer a broader understanding of the social and political realities affecting the German population during this time period, thus making Suicide in Nazi Germany a significant contribution to the sometimes contentious historiographical debates in modern German history. Sharyn Schmitz, American Association of Suicidology ... carefully researched... Franziska Augstein, Sueddeutsche Zeitung Christian Goeschel addresses a fascinating topic that opens up new perspectives...[and] significantly enriches our picture of the history of the self under National Socialism. Andreas Killen, American Historical Review A fascinating assessment of the culture of suicide in nazi Germany Norman J.W. Goda, Journal of Contemporary History Provides interesting insights into the history of the Weimar Republic as well as the history of Nazi Germany...a useful book for historians [of both]. Paul Bookbinder, European History Quarterly.

Author Information

Christian Goeschel is a post-doctoral research feloow at Birkbeck College, University of London, where he also teaches Modern European History. In 2006 he was awarded the Walter Laqueur Prize for his work on suicide in Nazi Germany.

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