List of suicides in Nazi Germany
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Nazi_Personalities_BU6738.jpg/250px-Nazi_Personalities_BU6738.jpg)
This is a list of suicides in Nazi Germany. Many prominent Nazis, Nazi followers, and members of the armed forces died by suicide during the last days of World War II. Others killed themselves after being captured. Those who committed suicide includes 8 out of 41 Nazi Party regional leaders who held office between 1926 and 1945, 7 out of 47 higher SS and police leaders, 53 out of 554 army generals, 14 out of 98 Luftwaffe generals, 11 out of 53 admirals in the Kriegsmarine, and an unknown number of junior officials.[1]
In many cases, Nazis died by suicide with their wife and children, a type of joint suicide. There were also notable cases of failed suicide attempts, such as that of Ludwig Beck and Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel.
Suicides occurred in Germany, except where noted otherwise.
Person was a Nazi Party member | |
† | Died by suicide in prison custody |
* | Died by suicide together with spouse (joint suicide) |
Member of the 20 July plot |
Person | Method | Location | Date | Age |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alwin-Broder Albrecht | Berlin | May 1, 1945 | 41 years, 225 days | |
Friedrich Alpers | Mons, Belgium | September 3, 1944 | 43 years, 162 days | |
Günther Angern | Stalingrad, Soviet Union | February 2, 1943 | 49 years, 334 days | |
Karl Astel | Firearm | Jena | April 3, 1945 | 47 years, 36 days |
Georg Bachmayer* | Firearm | Münzbach, Austria | May 8, 1945 | 31 years, 269 days |
Konrad Barde | Traunstein | May 4, 1945 | 47 years, 172 days | |
Erich Bärenfänger* | Berlin | May 2, 1945 | 30 years, 110 days | |
Karl Heinrich Emil Becker | Berlin | April 8, 1940 | 60 years, 207 days | |
Walther Bierkamp | Scharbeutz | May 15, 1945 | 43 years, 149 days | |
Albrecht von Blumenthal* | Firearm | Marburg | March 28, 1945 | 55 years, 230 days |
Erpo Freiherr von Bodenhausen | Grobin, Soviet Union | May 9, 1945 | 48 years, 27 days | |
Franz von Bodmann† | Austria | May 25, 1945 | 37 years, 63 days | |
Franz Böhme† | Jumping from a height | Bavaria | May 29, 1947 | 62 years, 44 days |
Martin Bormann | Cyanide poisoning | Berlin | May 2, 1945 | 44 years, 319 days |
Philipp Bouhler† | Cyanide poisoning | Altaussee, Austria | May 19, 1945 | 45 years, 250 days |
Fritz Bracht* | Cyanide poisoning | Bad Kudowa, Poland | May 9, 1945 | 46 years, 111 days |
Eva Braun* | Cyanide poisoning | Berlin | April 30, 1945 | 33 years, 83 days |
Franz Budka | Firearm | Breslau, Poland | May 6, 1945 | 24 years, 261 days |
Erwin Bumke | Leipzig | April 20, 1945 | 70 years, 287 days | |
Heinrich Burchard | Lübtheen | April 11, 1945 | 50 years, 188 days | |
Wilhelm Burgdorf | Firearm | Berlin | May 2, 1945 | 50 years, 76 days |
Friedrich-Wilhelm von Chappuis | Firearm | Magdeburg | August 27, 1942 | 55 years, 348 days |
Hans Collani | Battle of Tannenberg Line[2] | July 29, 1944 | 36 years, 167 days | |
Leonardo Conti† | Hanging | Nuremberg | October 6, 1945 | 45 years, 43 days |
Max de Crinis* | Cyanide poisoning | Stahnsdorf | May 2, 1945 | 55 years, 338 days |
Theodor Dannecker† | Bad Tölz | December 10, 1945 | 32 years, 258 days | |
Karl Decker | Braunschweig | April 21, 1945 | 47 years, 142 days | |
Julius Dettmann† | Netherlands | July 31, 1945 | 51 years, 189 days | |
Erwin Ding-Schuler† | Freising | August 11, 1945 | 32 years, 326 days | |
Walter Dönicke | Cyanide poisoning | Leipzig | April 19, 1945 | 45 years, 266 days |
Friedrich Dollmann | Poison | France | June 28, 1944 | 62 years, 147 days |
Otto-Heinrich Drechsler† | Lübeck | May 5, 1945 | 50 years, 34 days | |
Joachim Albrecht Eggeling | Firearm | Halle | April 15, 1945 | 60 years, 136 days |
Heinrich Fehlis | Firearm | Porsgrunn, Norway | May 11, 1945 | 38 years, 191 days |
Walter Frank | Braunschweig | May 9, 1945 | 40 years, 86 days | |
Oswald Freisler | Berlin | March 4, 1939 | 43 years, 65 days | |
Fritz Freitag† | Firearm | Graz, Austria | May 10, 1945 | 51 years, 12 days |
Alfred Freyberg* | Cyanide poisoning | Leipzig | April 18, 1945 | 52 years, 280 days |
Wessel Freytag von Loringhoven | Mauerwald | July 26, 1944 | 44 years, 259 days | |
Hans-Georg von Friedeburg† | Cyanide poisoning | Flensburg | May 23, 1945 | 49 years, 312 days |
Wolfgang Fürstner | Firearm | Berlin | August 19, 1936 | 40 years, 137 days |
Robert van Genechten | Hanging | Scheveningen, Netherlands | December 13, 1945 | 50 years, 49 days |
Kurt Gerstein† | Paris, France | July 25, 1945 | 39 years, 348 days | |
Paul Giesler* | Firearm | Berchtesgaden | May 8, 1945 | 49 years, 327 days |
Werner von Gilsa | Leitmeritz, Czechoslovakia | May 8, 1945 | 56 years, 65 days | |
Odilo Globocnik† | Cyanide poisoning | Paternion, Austria | May 31, 1945 | 41 years, 40 days |
Richard Glücks | Cyanide poisoning | Flensburg | May 10, 1945 | 56 years, 18 days |
Joseph Goebbels* | Firearm | Berlin | May 1, 1945 | 47 years, 184 days |
Magda Goebbels* | Firearm | Berlin | May 1, 1945 | 43 years, 181 days |
Hermann Göring† | Cyanide poisoning | Nuremberg | October 15, 1946 | 53 years, 276 days |
Curt von Gottberg† | Flensburg | May 31, 1945 | 49 years, 109 days | |
Ernst-Robert Grawitz* | Hand grenade | Potsdam | April 24, 1945 | 45 years, 320 days |
Robert Ritter von Greim† | Cyanide poisoning | Salzburg, Austria | May 24, 1945 | 52 years, 336 days |
Walter Gross | Berlin | April 25, 1945 | 40 years, 186 days | |
Rolf Günther† | Cyanide poisoning | Ebensee, Austria | August 1945 | 32 years |
Joachim Hamann | July 13, 1945 | 32 years, 56 days | ||
Konrad Henlein† | Wrist slitting | Plzeň, Czechoslovakia | May 10, 1945 | 47 years, 4 days |
Walther Hewel | Firearm | Berlin | May 2, 1945 | 41 years, 120 days |
Heinz Heydrich | Firearm | Poland | November 19, 1944 | 39 years, 51 days |
Heinrich Himmler† | Cyanide poisoning | Lüneburg | May 23, 1945 | 44 years, 228 days |
Paul Hinkler | Cyanide poisoning | Nißmitz | April 13, 1945 | 52 years, 292 days |
August Hirt | Firearm | Schluchsee | June 2, 1945 | 47 years, 35 days |
Adolf Hitler* | Firearm[3][4] | Berlin | April 30, 1945 | 56 years, 10 days |
Arno Jahr | Firearm | Podgornoye, Soviet Union | January 21, 1943 | 52 years, 49 days |
Hans Jeschonnek | Firearm | Rastenburg | August 18, 1943 | 44 years, 131 days |
Hugo Jury | Firearm | Zwettl, Austria | May 8, 1945 | 57 years, 299 days |
Manfred Freiherr von Killinger | Bucharest, Romania | September 2, 1944 | 58 years, 50 days | |
Eberhard Kinzel† | Flensburg | May 23, 1945 | 47 years, 217 days | |
Matthias Kleinheisterkamp† | Halbe | April 29, 1945 | 51 years, 281 days | |
Günther von Kluge | Cyanide poisoning | Metz, France | August 17, 1944 | 61 years, 292 days |
Arthur Kobus | Berlin | April 1945 | 66 years | |
Ilse Koch† | Hanging | Aichach | September 1, 1967 | 60 years, 344 days |
Hans Krebs | Firearm | Berlin | May 2, 1945 | 47 years, 59 days |
Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger | Firearm | Eggelsberg, Austria | May 10, 1945 | 51 years, 2 days |
Walter Krüger | Lithuania | May 22, 1945 | 55 years, 84 days | |
Hans Langsdorff | Firearm | Buenos Aires, Argentina | December 20, 1939 | 45 years, 275 days |
Robert Ley† | Hanging | Nuremberg | October 25, 1945 | 55 years, 252 days |
Alfred Meyer | Hessisch Oldendorf | April 11, 1945 | 53 years, 188 days | |
Emil Heinrich Meyer | Berlin | May 9, 1945 | 59 years, 3 days | |
Walter Model | Firearm | Duisburg | April 21, 1945 | 54 years, 87 days |
Ludwig Müller | Berlin | July 31, 1945 | 62 years, 38 days | |
Wilhelm Murr† | Cyanide poisoning | Vorarlberg, Austria | May 14, 1945 | 56 years, 149 days |
Hans-Ulrich von Oertzen | Hand grenade | Berlin | July 21, 1944 | 29 years, 137 days |
Heinrich Petersen | Czechoslovakia | May 9, 1945 | 41 years, 39 days | |
Hans Pfundtner* | Berlin | April 25, 1945 | 63 years, 284 days | |
Hans-Adolf Prützmann† | Cyanide poisoning | Lüneburg | May 21, 1945 | 43 years, 263 days |
Carl Friedrich von Pückler-Burghauss | Firearm | Čimelice, Czechoslovakia | May 13, 1945 | 58 years, 218 days |
Rudolf Querner† | Magdeburg | May 27, 1945 | 51 years, 351 days | |
Otto Rahn | Freezing | Tyrol, Austria | March 13, 1939 | 35 years, 23 days |
Wilhelm Rediess | Firearm | Oslo, Norway | May 8, 1945 | 44 years, 210 days |
Hans Albin Freiherr von Reitzenstein | Soviet Union | November 30, 1943 | 32 years, 271 days | |
Heinz Roch | Trondheim, Norway | May 10, 1945 | 40 years, 113 days | |
Arthur Rödl | Hand grenade | Stettin | April 5, 1945 | 46 years, 296 days |
Erwin Rommel | Cyanide poisoning | Herrlingen | October 14, 1944 | 52 years, 334 days |
Meinoud Rost van Tonningen | Jumping from a height | Scheveningen, Netherlands | June 6, 1945 | 51 years, 107 days |
Joachim Rumohr | Budapest, Hungary | February 11, 1945 | 34 years, 179 days | |
Bernhard Rust | Nübel | May 8, 1945 | 61 years, 220 days | |
Franz Schädle | Firearm | Berlin | May 1, 1945 | 38 years, 163 days |
Hans Schleif* | Berlin | April 27, 1945 | 43 years, 63 days | |
Fritz Schmidt | Jumped (or fell) from moving train | Chartres, France | June 20, 1943 | 39 years, 213 days |
Gustav Schmidt | Belgorod, Soviet Union | August 7, 1943 | 50 years, 105 days | |
Georg Scholze | Firearm | Berlin | April 23, 1945 | 47 years, 245 days |
Otto von Schrader† | Bergen, Norway | July 19, 1945 | 57 years, 123 days | |
Werner Schrader | Firearm | Zossen | July 28, 1944 | 49 years, 143 days |
Hans Schwedler | Hechendorf | May 2, 1945 | 66 years, 197 days | |
Heinrich Seetzen† | Cyanide poisoning | Blankenese | September 28, 1945 | 39 years, 98 days |
Gustav Simon† | Hanging | Paderborn | December 18, 1945 | 45 years, 138 days |
Jakob Sprenger* | Poison | Kössen, Austria | May 7, 1945 | 60 years, 287 days |
Karl Steubl† | Linz, Austria | September 21, 1945 | 34 years, 331 days | |
Ludwig Stumpfegger | Cyanide poisoning | Berlin | May 2, 1945 | 34 years, 295 days |
Otto Telschow† | Wrist slitting | Lüneburg | May 31, 1945 | 69 years, 93 days |
Josef Terboven | Dynamite | Asker, Norway | May 8, 1945 | 46 years, 350 days |
Heinz Thilo† | Hohenelbe, Czechoslovakia | May 13, 1945 | 33 years, 217 days | |
Henning von Tresckow | Hand grenade | Królowy Most, Poland | July 21, 1944 | 43 years, 193 days |
Ernst Udet | Firearm | Berlin | November 17, 1941 | 45 years, 205 days |
Eduard Wagner | Firearm | Zossen | July 23, 1944 | 50 years, 113 days |
Ernst Weiner† | Firearm | Norway | December 17, 1945 | 31–32 years |
Josef Weinheber | Morphine overdose | Kirchstetten, Austria | April 8, 1945 | 53 years, 30 days |
Jakob Weiseborn | Poison | Flossenbürg | January 20, 1939 | 46 years, 304 days |
Eduard Wirths† | Hanging | Hövelhof | September 20, 1945 | 36 years, 16 days |
Karl Zech | Altenburg | April 1, 1944 | 52 years, 55 days | |
Peter Zschech | Firearm | Azores, Atlantic Ocean | October 24, 1943 | 25 years, 6 days |
References
- ^ Christian Goeschel (2009). Suicide in Nazi Germany. Oxford University Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-19-953256-8.
- ^ Mart Laar (2006). Sinimäed 1944: II maailmasõja lahingud Kirde-Eestis (Sinimäed 1944: Battles of World War II in Northeast Estonia) (in Estonian). Tallinn: Varrak.
- ^ Kershaw (2008) Hitler: A Biography, p. 955.
- ^ Joachimsthaler (1999) [1995] The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, the Evidence, the Truth, pp. 160–182.