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The Nazi Suicides: Beyond Hitler and Braun, a Regime in Defeat

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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

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 the last days of the war the overwhelming realization of utter defeat was too much for many Germans. Stripped of the bayonets and bombast which had given them power, they could not face a reckoning with either their conquerors or their consciences. These found the quickest and surest escape in what Germans call selbstmord, self-murder.

In a nutshell, LIFE wrote, “Germans stopped killing others and began killing themselves.”

Graphic Warning Slide
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
In Leipzig office Assistant Mayor Lisso, his wife (left) and daughter are dead after taking cyanide. Desk calendar shows Friday, April 13.
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
Daughter Regina Lisso wore her gray red cross uniform to die.
Caption from LIFE. Daughter Regina Lisso wore her gray red cross uniform to die.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Kurt Lisso, a loyal Hitlerite, died with his Nazi party card at his elbow.
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.
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.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Write to Eliza Berman at eliza.berman@time.com