THE SUICIDE OF DERMATOLOGISTS IN RELATION TO POLITICAL CHANGES

Anti-semitism increased from year to year in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. The fear of annihilation resulted in a surge of suicides. The s uicides of at least 9 Jewish dermatologists has been documented. Their mean age was 65 years. Couples often committed suicide together. At t he end of World War II, the head of the dermatological department of t he Prague University committed suicide. We assume the same happened in Restock and Dresden. The president of the German Dermatological Socie ty (DDG) committed suicide on March 27, 1945. The motives of these der matologists were obviously the collapse of Nazism and the fear of rela tiatory measures.