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“With the new minister of health, there is new hope,” says Gailienė. “There are
no results yet but there are negotiations, work in progress and hope for a national
strategy.”
On the outskirts of Kupiškis is a hill where there once was a fort. It is remi-
niscent of the legend of Pilėnai – which tells the story of a Lithuanian fort in an
unknown location, whose men fought bravely against invading Teutonic forces in- But their heroic efforts weren’t enough. Facing defeat, the defenders burned
their property and committed mass suicide. The legend has become a symbol of
Lithuanian resistance and is being taught in school.
Hence, it seems that acceptance of suicide is in the Lithuanian consciousness.
Studies, such as the one published in Suicidology Online in 2010, have shown that
Lithuanian politicians had a more accepting view of suicide than politicians from
other countries.* The same attitude has been seen among Lithuanian school kids
in a study from 2005 published in BMC Public Health.** This study further sug-
gests that there has been an increasing acceptance of suicide as a personal choice.
In 1994, 36.6 per cent of school children agreed that it was an individual’s deci-
sion to choose between life and death. This number rose to 62.5 per cent in 2002.
These kinds of attitudes, however, seem to be changing. The government has
put suicide prevention on its agenda and is searching for real solutions to the prob-
lem. One of them is found in Kupiškis. The silence in this small town has turned
into hope, a shining example for the rest of the country. Through the work of pas-
sionate locals with a desire for change, the innocent city, with a not-so-flattering
statistic, has now landed itself in the history book of Lithuania’s long and turbulent
struggle with suicide.
Emil Staulund Larsen is a Danish freelance journalist
focusing on European culture and politics.Noah Groves is an Australian journalist who has spent
the last year living and reporting in Europe.* See: Skruibis, et al. “Attitudes towards suicide among regional politicians in Lithuania, Austria,
Hungary, Norway and Sweden”. Suicidology Online 2010, vol. 1:79 – 87. http://www.suicidology-online.
com/pdf/SOL-2010-1-79-87.pdf
** Zemaitiene N. and Zaborskis A. “Suicidal tendencies and attitude towards freedom to choose
suicide among Lithuanian schoolchildren: results from three cross-sectional studies in 1994, 1998,
and 2002”. BMC Public Health. 2005 Aug 11. Vol. 5:83.Opinion & Analysis The curse and miracle of Kupiškis, Emil Staulund Larsen and Noah Groves