Abstract
Living conditions in concentration camps were harsh and often inhumane, leading many prisoners to commit suicide. We have reviewed this topic in Nazi concentration camps (KL), Soviet special camps, and gulags, providing some preliminary data for our research. Data show that the incidence of suicide in Nazi KL could be up to 30 times higher than the general population and was also much higher than in Soviet special camps (maybe due to more favorable conditions for prisoners and the abolishment of death penalty), while available data on Soviet gulags are contradictory. However, data interpretation is very controversial, because, for example, the Nazi KL authorities used to cover-up the murder victims as suicides. Most of the suicides were committed in the first years of imprisonment, and the method of suicide most commonly used was hanging, although other methods included cutting blood vessels, poisoning, contact with electrified wire, or starvation. It is possible to differentiate two behaviors when committing suicide; impulsive behavior (contact with electrified barbed wire fences) or premeditated suicide (hanging up or through poison). In Soviet special camps, possible motives for suicides could include feelings of guilt for crimes committed, fear of punishment, and a misguided understanding of honor on the eve of criminal trials. Self-destructive behaviors, such as self-mutilation in gulag camps or prisoners who let themselves die, have been widely reported. Committing suicide in concentration camps was a common practice, although precise data may be impossible to obtain.
Highlights
Suicides under extraordinary or extreme conditions, such as prisons, war conflicts, or concentration camps, have been studied previously [1,2,3,4,5,6]
These studies report that the incidence of suicide in Nazi KL was 10–30 times higher than for the general public [28] and was much higher than in the Soviet special camps, possibly because the prisoners’ living conditions were much harder, while available data on the Soviet gulags are scarce and contradictory [16, 29]
Some authors argue that suicides were extremely high in Nazi KL based on witness testimonies [2, 15, 37,38,39,40]
Summary
Suicides under extraordinary or extreme conditions, such as prisons, war conflicts, or concentration camps, have been studied previously [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Rates of suicides in prisons in Austria and Switzerland are reported to be between 1.4 and 14 times higher than in the general population [19]. The topic of suicides in the Nazi KL has been studied more widely in memoirs than in medical or historical literature [25,26,27], but those studies based on original documents are scarce These studies report that the incidence of suicide in Nazi KL was 10–30 times higher than for the general public [28] and was much higher than in the Soviet special camps, possibly because the prisoners’ living conditions were much harder (slave labor, medical experiments, etc.), while available data on the Soviet gulags are scarce and contradictory [16, 29]
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