A wave of suicides broke across Germany in 1945 as tens of thousands chose death—for themselves and their children—rather than face the defeat of the Third Reich and the reckoning to come.

Using the words of eyewitnesses, historian Florian Huber tells of one of the largest mass suicides in history and its suppression by survivors—offering a fascinating insight into the feelings of ordinary people caught in the tide of history who saw no other way out.