He still remembers well the ordeal his mother went through. That’s why actress Katerina Jacob wants to die in self-determination – inspired by the Kessler twins’ assisted suicide.
The deaths of the Kessler twins on November 17 were not only shocking, but also sparked discussions about self-determined death. Not coincidentally: these famous sisters had previously relieved the German Society for Humane Death in Berlin (DGHS) of confidentiality duties:
“Alice and Ellen Kessler have given us explicit permission to talk about it, otherwise we would not have done it. We generally do not comment on the identity of people who ask us for help,” Wega Wetzel, DJHK spokesperson, told “Berliner Zeitung”.
Katerina Jacob looks to the Kessler twins as her role models
Katerina Jacob had to witness how her mother, acting icon Ellen Schwiers, suffered from serious illness in the last years of her life. “Unfortunately, my mother did not register with the DJHK. So all she could do was die immediately,” Jacob told “Abendzeitung München”.
Katerina Jacob was impressed by the self-determined death of the Kessler twins: “I have great respect for the Kessler twins.”
The topic also concerns other celebrities. A few days before the Kessler brothers died, Ina Müller spoke about euthanasia on the talk show “3nach9”. He also wants to join the euthanasia association. Müller “was always bothered by the fact that in Germany we have the right to do whatever we want in life, but we do not have the right to die in the way and at the time we want.”
Former Federal Minister of Health (SPD) Karl Lauterbach is “a clear supporter of assisted suicide”, but calls for stricter legal rules: “Psychological, unlimited freedom of choice and the absence of commercial interests must be ensured,” Lauterbach told “Zeit”. “Only under these circumstances can people be prevented from committing suicide here, whereas they would not do so in other circumstances.”
