The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1926-06-11
SUICIDE EPIDEMIC
SWEEPING GERMANY
Economic Depression Given
as the Cause.

Berlin.-A grim and mysterious cpl
demic of suicides is sweeping Germany.
Many of the leading dailies now carry
regular section tucked away in an
obscure corner of the paper and bear
ing the caption die Selbstmord-Epi-
demie"-the epidemic Of self-destruc-
ton. In this the daily list of suicides
is given, many of them receiving only
a line. The more sensational cases
get short notice of ten to twenty
lines. One has the impression that
many cases are not reported at all,
or, at least, not published. Epidemics
grow through imitation, and this the
authorities wish to avoid.
The causes of the abnormal rate of
suicides in present-day Germany are,
no doubt, the widespread economic de-
preston, the increased tempo of mod
ern life, the depletion of nerve force
through the war and the tremendous
financial and personal losses the war
brought about, the shaken condition
of the social structure, and general
fear of life which has overtaken thou
sands. All these factors are augment
ed, In the case of the German, by mis-
tendency to brood. to ponder the rid
dies Of existence, to regard life and
its trials and problems from the angle
of some particular philosophy of Welt
anschauung.
Where Pessimism Lingers.
When the mans philosophy goes to
pieces upon the rocks of experience,
the man himself often goes to pieces
likewise, and the unfortunate human
creature Is driven to the last positive
act of which he is capable-the act
of standardization. 1t is also often
in the nature Of grand GESTURE
at one blow he destroys the whole WIS.,
ible and palpable world-for himself.
Suicide has at times even a roman
tic tinge in Germany-sentimenta rem
nants from the days of Goethe's "Sor-
rows Of Werther," Of philosophical
pessimism from the works of Schopen-
bauer or Won Hartmann. In no other
country are young lovers so prone to
end their lives If parental permission
to marry is not forthcoming. In no
other country is the proportion of child
suicides so great. These cases of ju-
venile self-destruction mania usually
arise from fear of punishment at home
or at school, fear Of disgrace, or NOR
bid conceptions of honor connected
with failure to pass examinations at
school.
But it is not only the poor, the dis
traught, the lovelorn or the inexpe-
rienced who lay violent hands upon
themselves in the German republic.
The list of prominent, well-to-do, ap-
parently happy people who have re-
Gently ended their lives in Germany Is
appalling. To mention but few cases:
there is Paul Cassirer, the art dealer,
Tilla Durieux, who shot himself in the
lawyers Office, whittier he had gone
with his wife and daughter to arrange
divorce settlement; "Blumen Rothe,"
a famous florist Of Berlin, whose body
was found, long after he had vanished,
under pines in the forest of Grune-
wald.
Plunged Into Ice Cavern.
There is also the mystery Of the
death of Jurievskaia, beautiful and
celebrated star of the National opera
at Berlin, in private life Frau Bremen,
who went to Zermatt, in Switzerland,
some months ago and threw herself
into the ice-bound ravine under the
lofty Devils BRIDGE" apparently with
out the slightest cause, her body COM
ing to light few weeks ago after the
melting of the ice There is the case
of Carl Hau, once a well-knOwn law
yer, who had been accused of murder
ing his mother-in-law and sentenced
to life Imprisonment twenty years ago.
He was recently pardoned and began
writing and publishing his prison
memoirs in a big Berlin daily. The
state attorney of Wurttemberg re-
opened proceedings against him. Hau
fed the country to Italy and threw
himself into the sea from train.
Strange tragedies are of daily &C.
currence. Day after day the news
paper reader is confronted with such
little notices as this: Suicide Of an
Aged Married Couple" And then the
sordid, inevitable details-the cause
for the grim act, often described by
one word "nahrungssorgen," food wor-