SUICIDE AMONG MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE’S LIBERATION MOVEMENT IN OCCUPIED SERBIA 1941–1944

This paper analyses suicides among members of the People’s Liberation Movement (Narodnooslobodilački pokret, NOP) during the Axis occupation of Serbia in the Second World War. We will identify different types of suicide, determine the motives behind them, and identify those that can be linked to some forms of self-sacrifice. In particular, we will consider whether suicides within the NOP were influenced not only by Communist ideology but also by national traditions in the Balkans and the circumstances of war.