Mass suicide
Suicide |
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Mass suicide is a form of suicide, occurring when a group of people simultaneously kill themselves.
Overview
Mass suicide sometimes occurs in religious settings. In war, defeated groups may resort to mass suicide rather than being captured. Suicide pacts are a form of mass suicide that are sometimes planned or carried out by small groups of depressed or hopeless people. Mass suicides have been used as a form of political protest.[1]
Attitudes towards mass suicide change according to place and circumstance. People who resort to mass suicide rather than submit to what they consider intolerable oppression sometimes become the focus of a heroic myth.[2] Such mass suicides might also win the grudging respect of the victors. On the other hand, the act of people resorting to mass suicide without being threatened – especially, when driven to this step by a charismatic religious leader, for reasons which often seem obscure – tends to be regarded far more negatively.
Historical mass suicides
- Following the destruction of the Iberian city of Illiturgis by Roman General Publius Cornelius Scipio in 206 BC, people of Astapa – knowing they faced a similar fate – decided to burn the city with all of its treasures and then kill themselves.[3]
- During the late 2nd century BC, the Teutons are recorded as marching south through Gaul along with their neighbors, the Cimbri, and attacking Roman Italy. After several victories for the invading armies, the Cimbri and Teutones were then defeated by Gaius Marius in 102 BC at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae (near present-day Aix-en-Provence). Their King, Teutobod, was taken in irons. The captured women killed themselves, which passed into Roman legends of Germanic heroism: by the conditions of the surrender three hundred of their married women were to be handed over to the Romans. When the Teuton matrons heard of this stipulation, they first begged the consul that they might be set apart to minister in the temples of Ceres and Venus; then, when they failed to obtain their request and were removed by the lictors, they slew their children and next morning were all found dead in each other's arms having strangled themselves in the night.[4]
- At the end of the fifteen months of the siege of Numantia in summer 133 BC many of the defeated Numantines, instead of surrendering to the Romans, preferred to kill themselves and set fire to the city.[5]
- The 960 members of the Jewish community at Masada collectively killed themselves in 73 AD rather than be conquered and enslaved by the Romans. Each man killed his wife and children, then the men drew lots and killed each other until the last man killed himself.[6] Some modern scholars have questioned this account of the events.[7][8]
- In the 700s, the remnants of the Montanists were ordered by Byzantine Emperor Leo IIIto leave their religion and join Orthodox Christianity. They refused, locked themselves in their places of worship, and set them on fire.
- In Chittaur in Rajasthan, in 1303, in 1535, and 1568.[9]
- In 1336, when the castle of
- During the Great Schism of the Russian Church, entire villages of Old Believers burned themselves to death in an act known as "fire baptism".[11]
- In 1792, Battle of Matouba on 28 May 1802, Delgrès and his followers – 400 men and some women – ignited their gunpowder stores, killing themselves while attempting to kill as many of the French troops as possible.[12][unreliable source?][13]
- During the precipice and then jumped themselves, to avoid capture – an event known as the Dance of Zalongo.[14]
- In the final phase of the Miła 18 killed themselves by ingesting poison rather than surrender to the Nazis.[citation needed]
- Germany was stricken by a series of unprecedented Life Magazine speculated about the suicides: "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."[15]
- On 1 May 1945, about 1,000 residents of Demmin, Germany committed mass suicide in the advent of the Red Army's capture of the town.[16]
- A
- Japan is known for its centuries of suicide tradition, from seppuku ceremonial self-disemboweling to kamikaze warriors flying their aircraft into Allied warships and banzai charge during World War II. During this same war, the Japanese forces announced to the people of Saipan that the invading American troops were going to torture and murder anyone on the island. In a desperate effort to avoid this, the people of Saipan committed suicide, many jumping from places later named "Suicide Cliff" and "Banzai Cliff". Similar cases of mass suicide by Japanese civilians and colonial settlers also happened during the subsequent Battle of Okinawa and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.[citation needed]
Religiously motivated suicides
Known mass suicides
Bekeranta (1840s)
In 19th century
Yogmaya's Jal Samadhi (1941)
Yogmaya Neupane and her group of 67 disciples committed the biggest mass suicide (Jal-Samadhi) in Nepali history, by jumping into the Arun River (China–Nepal) in 1941.[20]
Peoples Temple (1978)
On November 18, 1978, 918 Americans, including 276 children, died in Peoples Temple–related incidents, including 909 members of the Temple, led by Jim Jones, in Jonestown, Guyana.[21] A tape of the Temple's final meeting in a Jonestown pavilion contains repeated discussions of the group committing "revolutionary suicide", including reference to people taking the poison and the vats to be used.[22]
On that tape, Jones tells Temple members that the Soviet Union, with whom the Temple had been negotiating a potential exodus for months, would not take them after the Temple had murdered
The people in Jonestown died of an apparent cyanide poisoning, except for Jones (who died of an injury consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound) and his personal nurse.[23] The Temple had spoken of committing "revolutionary suicide" in prior instances, and members had previously drunk what Jones told them was poison at least once before, but the "Flavor Aid" drink they ingested at that time contained no poison.[24] Concurrently, four other members died in the Temple's headquarters in Georgetown. Four months later, Michael Prokes, one of the initial survivors, also committed suicide.[25]
Solar Temple (1994–1997)
From 1994 to 1997, the Order of the Solar Temple's members began a series of mass suicides, which led to roughly 74 deaths. Farewell letters were left by members, stating that they believed their deaths would be an escape from the "hypocrisies and oppression of this world". Added to this they felt they were "moving on to Sirius". Records seized by the Quebec police showed that some members had personally donated over $1 million to the group's leader, Joseph Di Mambro.
There was also another attempted mass suicide of the remaining members, which was thwarted in the late 1990s. All the suicide/murders and attempts occurred around the dates of the
Heaven's Gate (1997)
From March 24 to 27, 1997, 39 followers of Heaven's Gate died in a mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California, which borders San Diego to the north. These people believed, according to the teachings of their group, that through their suicides they were "exiting their human vessels" so that their souls could go on a journey aboard a spaceship they believed to be following comet Hale–Bopp.[31] Some male members of the group underwent voluntary castration in preparation for the genderless life they believed awaited them after the suicide.[32]
In May 1997, two ex-members of Heaven's Gate, who had not been present for the mass suicide, attempted suicide, one succeeding, the other becoming comatose for two days and then recovering.[33] In February 1998, the survivor, Chuck Humphrey, died by suicide.[34]
Béchard Lane Eckankar (2004)
In August 2004, ten dead bodies were discovered, all in a sleeping position, inside a two-story house located at Béchard Lane in the suburb of Saint Paul, Vacoas-Phoenix on the island of Mauritius. They had been missing for a number of days, and large loans had been contracted by some of the victims a short time before their deaths. Several of them were active members of the Eckankar sect. The main gate and all doors of the house had been locked from the inside, and the interior was in tidy order when police broke into the house.[35][36][37]
Adam House (2007)
In 2007, in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, a family of nine, all members of a novel "Adam's cult", committed mass suicide by hurling themselves under a train.[38][39] Diaries recovered from the victims' home, the "Adam House", related they wanted a pure life as lived by Adam and Eve, freeing themselves from bondage to any religion, and refusing contact with any outsiders.[39] After leaving Islam, they fell out of boundaries of any particular religion.[39]
Burari Deaths (2018)
In 2018, eleven family members of the Chundawat family were found dead in their home in
Shakahola Massacre (2023)
In April 2023, 110 dead bodies were found in the
Disputed religiously motivated suicides
Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God (2000)
On March 17, 2000, 778 members of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God died in Uganda.[43] The theory that all of the members died in a mass suicide was changed to mass murder when decomposing bodies were discovered in pits with signs of strangulation, while others had stab wounds.[44] The group had diverged from the Roman Catholic Church in order to emphasize apocalypticism and alleged Marian apparitions.[45] The group had been called an inward-looking movement, that wore matching uniforms, and restricted their speech to avoid saying anything dishonest or sinful.[46] On the suicide itself, locals said they held a party, at which 70 crates of soft drinks and three bulls were consumed.[47] This version of events has been criticized, most notably by Irving Hexham,[48] and a Ugandan source states that even today, "no one can really explain the whys, hows, whats, where, when, etc."[49]
Training centre for release of the Atma-energy
Training centre for release of the Atma-energy was known for a police and media scare, in which an alleged attempt to commit ritual suicide took place in Teide National Park in Tenerife in 1998.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ "Holology: Mass Suicide". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2005-03-18.
- ^ "Masada: A heroic last stand against Rome".
- ^ Arnold, Thomas (1846). The History of Rome: From the Gaulish invasion to the end of the Second Punic War. D. Appleton & Company. p. 471.
- ^ Lucius Annaeus Florus, Epitome 1.38.16–17 and Valerius Maximus, Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilium 6.1.ext.3
- ^ Grout, James. "The Celtiberian War and Numantia". Encyclopedia Romana. Retrieved 2022-06-18.
- ^ Masada and the first Jewish revolt against Rome Archived 2009-10-16 at the Wayback Machine: Near East Tourist Industry, Steven Langfur 2003
- ISBN 978-3161503757.
- ISBN 978-9004150089.
- ISBN 1740593634, Lonely Planet Publications, 2002 [1]
- ^ Gedimino Laiškai: The Letters of Gediminas, the Great Duke of Lithuania (c. 1275–1341)
- ISBN 978-0743482233.
- ^ "Louis Delgrès, le colonel anti-esclavagiste". L'histoire des Antilles et de l'Afrique (in French). 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
- ^
Moitt, Bernard (1996). "Slave Women and Resistance in the French Caribbean". In David Barry Gaspar (ed.). More Than Chattel: Black Women and Slavery in the Americas. Indiana University Press. p. 243. ISBN 978-0253330178.
- ISBN 0140430156
- ^ "Suicides: Nazis go down to defeat in a wave of selbstmord". Life Magazine, 14 May 1945. Accessed 10 April 2011.
- ^ Lakotta, Beate (2005-03-05). "Tief vergraben, nicht dran rühren". Der Spiegel (in German). SPON. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ISBN 978-1865088631.
- ^ Jonestown echoed in past times in Guyana: An 1840s mass suicide remembered. Polick, Paul. Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
- ^ The Marches of El Dorado. Swan, Michael. Penguin Books, 1961. [ISBN missing][page needed]
- ^ "Nepal: Yogmaya Neupane: Nepal's First Female Revolutionary". PeaceWomen. 2015-02-03. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
- ^ Foreword, The Assassination of Representative Leo J. Ryan and the Jonestown, Guyana Tragedy Archived 2010-12-31 at the Wayback Machine, excerpt from: Report of a Staff Investigative Group to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, May 15, 1979
- ^ a b c d "Jonestown Audiotape Primary Project." Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple. San Diego State University.
- ^ Guyana Inquest of Cyrill Mootoo & Cecil Roberts
- ISBN 0385489846.
- ^ "The Death of Michael Prokes – Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple".
- ^ "The Solar Temple". Religious Tolerance.org. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
- ^ Sloan, Jennifer (1999). "Order of the Solar Temple". University of Virginia. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ Dafoe, Stephen (2002). "The Tragedy Of The Solar Temple Cult". Templar History Magazine. Archived from the original on 2017-09-06. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
- ^ "Solar Temple: A cult gone wrong". CBC News. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
- ^ Ramsland, Katherine. "Death Journey". Crime Library. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
- ^ Jonathan Broder, Suicide in San Diego – Were cultists recruited on the Web?, Salon/March 28, 1997
- ^ "Some members of suicide cult castrated". CNN. 1997-03-28.
- ^ "Two More Search For Heaven's Gate", The Associated Press, May 6, 1997
- ^ "Ex-Heaven's Gate member is found dead", Associated Press, February 21, 1998
- ^ Coosnapen, Michëlla. "10 cadavres bouleversent le pays". 5 Plus. Retrieved 2004-08-30.
- ^ "Massacre or collective suicide? The plot thickens..." L'express Outlooke. 7 September 2004. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
- ^ "Le mystère de Béchard Lane 10 ans après". Le Mauricien. 16 August 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
- S2CID 145789923.
- ^ a b c "Mymensingh joint suicide defies common sense". No. 1. BDNews24.com. BDNews24.com. 12 July 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
- ^ Kithi, Marion (April 28, 2023). "360 people reported missing as heavy rains disrupt Shakahola operation". The Standard. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
- from the original on 2023-05-01. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
- ^ Wangira, Dorcas (2023-05-01). "Kenya starvation cult: 'My wife and six children followed Pastor Mackenzie'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
- ^ "Cult in Uganda Poisoned Many, Police Say". The New York Times. 2000-07-28.
- ^ Mugisha, Matthias (2000-07-28). "Kanungu Dead Poisoned". New Vision.
- ^ Nakyanzi, Logan (2000-02-14). "Uganda: Religion That Kills – Why Does Uganda Have So Many Cults?". ABC News.
- ^ "Quiet cult's doomsday deaths". BBC News. 2000-03-29.
- ^ Robinson, Simon (2000-03-26). "Uganda's Faithful Dead". Time. Archived from the original on 2001-02-10.
- ^ Hexham, Irving (Summer 2000). "What Really Happened in Uganda? Suicide or Murder". Religion in the News. 3 (2): 7–9, 24. Archived from the original on 2010-12-29.
- ^ Businge, Gerald (2007-03-17). "Seven Years Since the Kanungu Massacre – Are we any wiser?". UG Pulse. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11.
External links
- "From Silver Lake to Suicide: One Family's Secret History of the Jonestown Massacre" Archived 2012-10-23 at the Wayback Machine by Barry Isaacson
- 39 men die in mass suicide near San Diego – CNN, 26 March 1997
- Near-Death Experience Time.com 19 January 1998
- Arunima Dey, "Women as Martyrs: Mass Suicides at Thoas Khalsa During the Partition of India", Indi@logs, Vol 3 2016, pp. 7–17,
- The Downfall of Jim Jones by Larry Lee Litke. Published at The Jonestown Institute. Originally published 1980