Farewell Letters I: The Dying Process of a Healthy Man

This qualitative case study describes the dying process from a purely psychological perspective. The letters of Count Moltke, who was sentenced to death and executed during the Nazi regime, to his wife were analyzed content analytically. A work program of four self-imposed tasks emerged, namely first to avert the death sentence, second to prepare for the ideological and intellectual battle with the chairman of the court, third to support his wife in her anticipatory mourning, and fourth to achieve willingness for his dying by strangulation and for losing his life. Contrasting these findings with two cases of incurably ill men confirmed work and structure as the overarching way of coping. Religious coping is also of central importance. There was neither a linear trajectory nor a sequence of phases; rather, Moltke’s dying process corresponds to a circular model. A consequence of the findings is outlined.