the explanations of the acts dinand Klein also used the phrase ”Selbstmord durch Tödtung anderer” for a case in which a woman killed her own child.863 Antiquity and classical ideals were promoted during the Enlightenment and for decades thereafter.With these ideals came increased understanding and tolerance of suicide.864 During the nineteenth century, those interested in suicide could find much material on the subject both by certain philosophers and in fictional literature.865 Suicide became a subject generally discussed in the philosophical environment, but rarely in the theological.866 Most of this change of perspective was relevant only for a few, and probably for very few of the maids, soldiers, prisoners, and others of their social position we mostly meet as perpetrators. This view was probably unknown to most of them, but not the suffering of Christ and his victory on the cross. These perpetrators were often quite hard to understand from a strict philosophical perspective. An outstanding example of how the past is seen through the glasses of the present, thus probably obscuring the sight, is delivered by Gustav Bode in his study of murders of children in Nuremberg. He finds the whole notion of killing someone to be executed unbelievable and decides that it is nothing else than suicide and goes on to say that maybe they wanted to, maybe they had psychological problems, maybe they made these statements in fear of torture, without even trying to make a distinction between different reasons individuals may want to be executed for. Theology, however, is not on his radar.867 863 ’Suicide by the murder of another’, Klein 1796 p 220. 864 See e g Jarrick 2000 p 113 sqq. 865 Ekström 2000 p 242 sq. 866 See e g Odén 1998 p 210 sq. 867 Bode 1914 p 454 sq. ”So unglaublich es an sich klingen mag, so ist es dennoch Tatsache, daß Weiber, die aus mehr oder minder zwingende Notwendigkeit den Tod zu suchen, sich für genötigt hielten, einer Weg einschlugen, die nichts weniger als billigenswert erscheint. Wir finden nicht nur Weiber, die die Kinder fremder Leute, sondern ihre eigenen Kinder töten, nur um auf diese Weise inhaftiert und hingerichtet zu werden. Auch Männer scheinen dasselbe getan zu haben.” (Quotation p 454.) Ob diese Art, Selbstmord zu begehen (denn etwas anderes ist es in der Tat nicht) wirklich, wie die Betreffenden angeben, dem Wunsche entspringt, ihrem jammervollen Dasein ein Ende zu machen, ob man es mit psychologischen Probleme zu tun hat, deren Lösung 243
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