--- title: Nazi Suicides Beyond Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun description: Hitler was not the only high-ranking German official to commit suicide as defeat closed in canonical: https://time.com/3823395/nazi-suicides/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-30T13:08:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:04:32.927Z og:title: The Nazi Suicides: Beyond Hitler and Braun, a Regime in Defeat og:description: With Allied forces closing in, top Nazi officials chose death over defeat og:url: https://time.com/3823395/nazi-suicides/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc954626b6ea2cf8e/6987eb3a55a859e070a8995a/150415-nazi-suicides-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Nazi Suicides, 1945 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Nazi Suicides: Beyond Hitler and Braun, a Regime in Defeat twitter:description: With Allied forces closing in, top Nazi officials chose death over defeat twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc954626b6ea2cf8e/6987eb3a55a859e070a8995a/150415-nazi-suicides-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Nazi Suicides: Beyond Hitler and Braun, a Regime in Defeat  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 30, 2015 1:08 PM UTC  Leipzig City Council deputy mayor Dr. Lisso, member of Nazi party since 1932, lying dead while seated at his Town Hall desk, a suicide from cyanide, along with his wife and daughter. Leipzig City Council deputy mayor Dr. Lisso, member of Nazi party since 1932, lying dead while seated at his Town Hall desk, a suicide from cyanide, along with his wife and daughter.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 30, 2015 1:08 PM UTC Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun famously committed suicide on April 30, 1945, as it became clear that the defeat of the Nazi regime was imminent. He took his life by gunshot and she by cyanide. But the chancellor and his wife of less than two days were not the only members of the inner Nazi circle to end their own lives as the war in Europe drew to a close. LIFE’s Margaret Bourke-White was in Germany when German forces surrendered, and her camera found disturbing scenes in Leipzig, where city officials and their family members chose death over defeat. LIFE described the impetus behind their actions: --- > “” --- In a nutshell, LIFE wrote, “Germans stopped killing others and began killing themselves.”   Leipzig City Council deputy mayor Dr. Lisso, member of Nazi party since 1932, lying dead while seated at his Town Hall desk, a suicide from cyanide, along with his wife and daughter. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. In Leipzig office Assistant Mayor Lisso, his wife (left) and daughter are dead after taking cyanide. Desk calendar shows Friday, April 13. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Daughter Regina Lisso wore her gray red cross uniform to die. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Kurt Lisso, a loyal Hitlerite, died with his Nazi party card at his elbow. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Commanding officer of City Volksturm lying dead next to a slashed picture of Hitler after committing suicide in small room at City Council Office after victorious American soldiers enter the city. 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