Spectacular "Samurai" suicide in Berlin avoided - Interview (2)

(sequel to part 1)

Q: “Welchen Wert hat die Wuerde eines Menschen?” – How much is the human dignity? You asked and tried to appeal to the people for more respectfulness of others?

A: That’s correct! In my opinion the interests of humanity and human dignity are more and more eclipsed by commercial insensibility, sexual and economical ruthlessness, and moreover by an increasing iciness in the interpersonal area. Many people can’t cope with this, and they fall through the cracks. They die, after they have lost all their power and are – on top of everything

– ashamed of this. So this problem damages and destroys human life’s – surely far more than you and me dare to believe. An open discussion about this problem should have to take place in society, but everybody remains silent, prefers to talk about new mobile phones, his last journey or the money of his neighbour instead. There is a lot of going wrong in our modern times, and last but not least my adventure under the Brandenburg Gate showed me this for another time. I “unhurriedly” sat there with the sword targeted at my waist for nearly half an hour, before even one person tried to talk to me. Many passers-by and visitors walked past me, and it seemed to me, they found a man sitting there with a sword in his hand, obviously aiming to commit suicide, absolutely normal and usual. Some passers-by made photos with their cameras and mobile phones, or made jokes when they went past me. After half an hour a security man became aware of me, when he made his ordinary patrol. Nobody had informed him before. I was nearly grateful, when the police paid attention to me finally.

Q: A success of your suicide maybe would have overshadowed the Golden Camera Award. What induced you to select the Golden Camera of all things as the motive for your action?

A: Of course, I felt sorrow when I thought about potentially disrupting your festivity by my death, but I had to balance – and finally decided to take this opportunity. It was the best one to reach the broad public and so to appeal to a large amount of people. That’s why I extra travelled to Berlin. I could take the photo from the German actress Jennifer Nitsch and say to the people, “Hey, guys. Suicide as a result of depressions is a general problem of the whole society. It draws through all social levels in the society. Even movie stars are not saved from this. Let’s commemorate Jenny. She had gone. And don’t forget to remember all the others, which weren’t in the spotlight and weren’t admired like movie stars!” It was clear to me from the very first that my appeal wouldn’t change the world, but I hope that it reached at least the one or the other human being. Maybe he, she or it thinks about it, “How much is the human dignity?”

(to be continued in part 3)