Year: 1999 Source: Proceedings of The Pavese Society Newsletter, v.10, (1999), p.60-63 SIEC No: 19990214

This article is a case-study of the life of Ernst Toller, a socialist writer who completed suicide in 1939, after giving a speech 12 hours earlier that spoke against suicide. Toller was a WW1 veteran, and after returning from the brutality of trench warfare,became a pacifist well known for upholding the rights of POWs. Many have called Toller’s death a puzzle, but believe that Toller was overwhelmed with melancholia, insomnia and self esteem issues. Toller died by hanging in a hotel bathroom.