Suicide: A Difficult but Important Topic in the Context of the Holocaust
Suicide can be a controversial topic, but in the context of the Holocaust, I believe it’s an important subject to address.
I’ve said before that I don’t believe the often-cited number of six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust is entirely accurate. I believe the actual number to be much higher.
In researching the immediate aftermath of the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, I came across records of deaths that deeply moved me. The Dutch army capitulated on May 14, 1940, and on that day and the days that followed, a significant number of Dutch Jews took their own lives. Sometimes, entire families would choose this tragic end together, or parents would make the heart-wrenching decision to bring their children with them. This was not due to illness or despair alone but out of the belief that the fate awaiting them would be worse than death.
These numbers are not included in the official Holocaust figures.
Below is a list of some who saw no other escape but to end their own lives—and, in some cases, the lives of their children. May their memory never fade. #WeRemember
- Eduard Wiener, wife Henriette van Gigch, and son Eduard
- Zofja Josefsberg
- Leonard Polak Daniels
- Emanuel Boekman and wife Jansje Boekman-Nerden
- Bruno Asch
- Bernard Aa, his wife Dina van der Kar, and his parents, Hermanus Aa and Sara Klok
- Walter Maijer, his wife Anneliese Maijer-Cohen, and their 4-year-old daughter Marianne Yvonne Maijer
- Eduard Henri Benjamin van Lier
- Abraham Leviticus
- Jacob Benjamin Gersons and his wife, Sientje Gersons-van der Kous
- Andries de Metz
- Isaac van Loon
- Elkan Sanders, his wife Betsy Cornelia Sanders-Kooperberg, and their 2-year-old daughter Els Sanders
- Abraham Delmonte
- Jacob Keesing and his wife Esperance Keesing-Peekel
- Jacob van Gelderen, his wife Alexandrina van Gelderen-de Vries, their son Johan van Gelderen, and daughter Margreet van Gelderen
- Mozes de Haas
There were many more, but my heart could hardly bear to continue looking through the names of these lost souls.
It’s nearly impossible to fathom the desperation and hopelessness that drove these individuals to such a tragic choice. This snapshot from the Netherlands likely represents similar tragedies faced by Jews across Nazi-occupied Europe.
The greater tragedy, however, is that they would probably have been murdered regardless. Approximately 75% of the Dutch Jewish population was murdered in the Holocaust.
It remains an extremely sensitive topic: suicide during World War II. Historians have struggled with it for a long time. What place do those who took their own lives hold within the history of the war?
The tombstone on the top of the blog is of Angelique Franco
Born in Tiel, 29 juni 1873 – -Died Amsterdam, 15 mei 1940
Sources
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/343553/onder-druk-van-de-omstandigheden.
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/695198/zelfdoding-in-de-tweede-wereldoorlog-namenlijst
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