Joseph Goebbels

Paul Joseph Goebbels (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was Adolf Hitler's Propaganda Minister (see Propagandaministerium) in Nazi Germany. Goebbels was known for his zealous and energetic oratory and virulent anti-Semitism. Following Hitler's death he served as Chancellor for one day. Afterwards, he and his wife both killed their children and then committed suicide themselves.

Early Life

Goebbels was born to accountant Friedrich Goebbels (1867–1929) and his wife Marian Oldenhausen Goebbels in Rheydt (now a part of Mönchengladbach), a Protestant area in the Rhineland, although his family was Roman Catholic. His brothers and sisters include Konrad (1895–1949) Hans (1893–1947) Elisabeth (1901–1915) and the youngest child Maria Katharina (1910). His legal surname according to his birth certificate was Göbbels, but he seems always to have used the spelling Goebbels, as is not uncommon in Germany. At the age of seven he contracted osteomyelitis - an infection of the bone marrow - and an operation, in the days before antibiotics, was only partially successful. He was left with a permanent shortening, and some weakness, of the left leg, which caused him to be rejected when he volunteered for military service at the beginning of World War I (he wore a metal brace on his leg for most of his life). He was, and is widely thought to have had a club foot, and this was a common topic of Allied propaganda during the Second World War. This was, however, untrue. As a student he often represented himself as a wounded veteran, but in fact the nearest that he came to wartime service was from June 1917 to October 1917; he was an "Office Soldier" with the "Patriotic Help Unit" in Rheydt ^*.

After earning a Ph.D. in Literature and Philosophy from the University of Heidelberg in 1921 he worked as a journalist and tried for several years to become a published author. His work included an autobiographical novel called Michael which no publisher would take at the time, and two plays written in verse - The Wanderer, about Jesus Christ, and The Lonesome Guest - which no producer would stage. Joining the Nazi Party in 1924 (although he later claimed to have joined in 1922), Goebbels initially opposed Hitler's leadership, aligning with the left faction around the Strasser brothers. Later though, he committed himself to the Nazi leadership and his diary shows many instances of great admiration for Hitler.

In December 1931, after a stormy courtship, he married divorcee Magda Quandt, whose son, Harald (from her previous marriage to an industrialist) accompanied them beneath the raised arms of an SS honour guard (Harald, who served as a officer in the Luftwaffe, was the only one of Magda's seven children to survive World War II).

The diaries of Joseph Goebbels, which have survived almost in their entirety, contain large numbers of entries detailing his philanderings, which he clearly regarded as great love affairs, and of which it would appear he had several at a time. In the 1925 and 1926 books the names Else, Alma and Anke are the most common to appear. "Anke" was Anke Helhorn. She left Goebbels, got married and divorced, and in 1934 he got her a job on one of the magazines he controlled. (Wheeler-Bennett, Nemesis p.58).

A love affair with the actress Lída Baarová nearly took his life when he attempted suicide on October 15, 1938. Goebbells survived, and the affair was terminated at the behest of Adolf Hitler.

Propaganda minister

Goebbels played a large role in helping the Nazis achieve and retain power by creating propaganda to present the Nazi ideology to the German people. He was a committed anti-Semite, being involved with Kristallnacht in 1938 and later connected with the Nazi Endlösung (Final Solution) to the Judenfrage ("Jewish Question"), especially the deportation of Jews from Berlin.

Goebbels began to regulate all forms of artistic expression, banishing Jewish writers, journalists and artists from Germany's cultural life. He took control of the news media, making sure that it presented Germany's domestic and foreign policy aims in terms of Nazi ideology. He played probably the most important role in creating an atmosphere in Germany that made it possible for the Nazis to commit terrible atrocities against Jews, homosexuals and other minorities. The Goebbels technique, also known as argumentum ad nauseam, is the name given to a policy of repeating a point until it is taken to be the truth (see Big Lie). For example, when Goebbels took ownership of the Der Angriff (The Assault) newspaper, he attacked Berlin Police President Bernhard Weiss, calling him "Isidor" Weiss. To German ears, Isidor at the time was a name with strong Jewish connotations. Eventually the public believed Isidor was Weiss' real given name and he became a figure of ridicule. Goebbels also pioneered the use of broadcasting in mass propaganda, promoting the distribution of inexpensive single frequency radio receivers (the so-called Volksempfänger (People's radio)) to the German public which ensured that millions of people heard the output of the Reich's propaganda ministry while being unable to receive news and other broadcasts from outside Germany. Meanwhile his ministry busily broadcast Nazi propaganda around the world by shortwave radio. Newsreels, movies and books were impossible to publish without prior approval and censorship by Goebbels' ministry. He is credited by most historians with developing many techniques of modern propaganda.

Although Goebbels was disappointed when Germany went to war with Britain in 1939, he remained steadfastly loyal to Hitler throughout the war and derived immense power and prestige from his position. Goebbels' ministry of propaganda controlled essentially every aspect of culture in Germany. He is often remembered for his Sportpalast speech, given on February 18, 1943 (sometimes called the Total War speech) in which he tried to motivate the German people to continue their struggle after the tides of World War II had turned against Germany. By this time many influential Germans privately believed Germany was irrevocably on its way to defeat.

There was strong animosity between Goebbels and the popular Hermann Göring, whose political influence waned following his disastrous management of the Luftwaffe early during the war and Goebbels became the third most powerful leader in Germany (after Martin Bormann, of whom most Germans were not aware). As Germany's military situation collapsed, the increasing shrillness of the government's propaganda brought discreet ridicule from the German people who nicknamed Goebbels The Malicious Dwarf and The Wotan Mickey Mouse.

Ruin, murder and suicide

Chancellor for a day

During the final stages of the war in the spring of 1945 Hitler split the offices of Reichskanzler (Chancellor of the Reich) and Reichspräsident (President of the Reich), both of which he had held as Führer since the death of Hindenburg in August 1934. He appointed Goebbels Chancellor of Germany in his will, with Grand-Admiral Karl Dönitz, the commander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarine, as President without the Führer title (the post-Hitler Flensburg government had hopes of being recognized by the Allied powers but was ultimately arrested towards the end of May 1945 when the Allies decided to formally replace it with their own military administration).

Shortly after Hitler committed suicide at about 3.30 in the afternoon (Berlin time) on April 30 1945, an emotional and agitated Goebbels sought out Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge and dictated these lines as an addition to Hitler's political testament:

Der Führer hat mir den Befehl gegeben, im Falle des Zusammenbruchs der Verteidigung der Reichshauptstadt Berlin zu verlassen und als führendes Mitglied an einer von ihm ernannten Regierung teilzunehmen. Zum erstenmal in meinem Leben muß ich mich kategorisch weigern, einem Befehl des Führers Folge zu leisten. Meine Frau und meine Kinder schließen sich dieser Weigerung an. Im anderen Falle würde ich mir selbst (...) für mein ganzes ferneres Leben als ein ehrloser Abtrünnling und gemeiner Schuft vorkommen, der mit der Achtung vor sich selbst auch die Achtung seines Volkes verlöre, die die Voraussetzung eines weiteren Dienstes meiner Person an der Zukunftsgestaltung der Deutschen Nation und des Deutschen Reiches bilden müßte.

The Führer has given orders for me, in case of a breakdown of defense of the Capital of the Reich, to leave Berlin and to participate as a leading member in a government appointed by him. For the first time in my life, I must categorically doubt to obey a command of the Führer. My wife and my children agree with this refusal. In any other case, I would feel myself (...) a dishonorable renegade and vile scoundrel for my entire further life, who would lose the esteem of himself along with the esteem of his people, both of which would have to form the requirement for further duty of my person in designing the future of the German Nation and the German Reich.

Murder

After several hours of anxiously waiting for news that German troops might be able to rescue the bunker's occupants, Goebbels and his wife resolved to carry out a previously arranged plan of murder and mutual suicide. Magda Goebbels had all six of their children put to sleep with morphine, then poisoned them with cyanide. Joseph Goebbels did not take a direct part in the murders but acquiesced throughout, even refusing the offers of others to take the children out of Berlin before it was too late. Contrary to what he hastily added to Hitler's last political will, by all accounts the children were in good spirits and entirely unaware of their parents' plans to kill them. They were:

Helga Susanne (born, September 1 1932, aged 12) was the eldest of the six and her father's favorite. She had her father's chestnut brown hair and eyes.
Hildegard (Hilde) Traudel (born April 13 1934 aged 11) was also a brunette and the most diligent of the six.
Helmut Christian (born October 2 1935, aged 9) was the only boy and a dreamer who fell behind in school. He aspired to join the Hitler Youth when he became of age.
Hedwig (Hedda) Johanna (born February 19 1937, aged 8)
Holdine (Holde) Kathrin (born May 1 1938: killed the day before what would have been her 7th birthday) was the second youngest and the one always teased by the others.
Heidrun (Heide) Elisabeth (born October 20 1940, aged 4), the family 'pet'.

See full article at Goebbels children

Suicide

While early reports suggested Joseph and Magda Goebbels were shot by SS bodyguards in the ruins of the Chancellory garden at their own request on May 1, 1945, they likely took cyanide first. Another account claims Goebbels shot Magda then himself afterwards (as shown in the 2004 film, Der Untergang (Downfall), where Goebbels was portrayed by actor Ulrich Matthes). Their bodies were partially burned, left unburied and quickly found by Soviet troops. The children's pyjama-clad bodies were found still in the three sets of two-tiered bunk beds in which they were murdered. A photograph of Goebbels' incinerated face was widely published. The bodies of the Goebbels family, along with those of Hitler and Eva Braun, were secretly buried. Later they were reburied together by the Soviets, ultimately in the courtyard of KGB headquarters in Magdeburg, Germany. In April 1970, all the remains were reburned and scattered in the Elbe river.

Diaries

Goebbels kept a diary for much of his life. From 1923 to 1941, he wrote the entries himself. From 1941 to 1945, he dictated lengthy passages to aides whom he sometimes rang up in the middle of the night when he wanted to add some text. The dictations usually opened with a description of the military situation, followed by his personal comments. The dictated diary is not as personal as the earlier one he wrote himself.

Much of the diaries were thought to have been lost during World War II. However in 1992, Dr. Elke Fröhlich found a large portion of them in archives in Russia. A 29 volume edition edited by Elke Fröhlich and others is said to be 98% complete. The last two volumes were expected to be published in 2006.

Elke Fröhlich (ed.): Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels. Im Auftrag des Instituts für Zeitgeschichte und mit Unterstützung des Staatlichen Archivdienstes Russlands. Teil I: Aufzeichnungen 1923-1941, 9 Bände in 14 Teilbänden, München 1998-2006; Teil II: Dikatate 1941-1945, 15 Bände, München 1993-1996, K. G. Saur Verlag.

Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels, Teil I Aufzeichnungen 1923-1941: ISBN 3-598-23730-8

Band 1/I, October 1923 – November 1925, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 2004
Band 1/II, December 1925 – May 1928, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 2005
Band 1/III, June 1928 – November 1929, edited by Anne Munding, München 2004
Band 2/I, December 1929 - May 1931, edited by Anne Munding, München 2006
Band 2/II, June 1931 – September 1932, edited by Angela Hermann, München 2004
Band 2/III, October 1932 - March 1934, edited by Angela Hermann, München 2006
Band 3/I, April 1934 – February 1936, edited by Angela Hermann, Hartmut Mehringer, Anne Munding und Jana Richter, München 2005
Band 3/II, March 1936 – February 1937, edited by Jana Richter, München 2001
Band 4, März – November 1937, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 2000
Band 5, December 1937 – July 1938, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 2000
Band 6, August 1938 – June 1939, edited by Jana Richter, München 1998
Band 7, July 1939 – March 1940, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1998
Band 8, April – November 1940, edited by Jana Richter, München 1997
Band 9, December 1940 – July 1941, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1997

Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels, Teil II Diktate (Dictations) 1941–1945: ISBN 3-598-21920-2

Band 1, July – September 1941, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1996
Band 2, October – December 1941, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1996
Band 3, January – March 1942, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1995
Band 4, April – June 1942, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1995
Band 5, July – September 1942, edited by Angela Stüber, München 1995
Band 6, October – December 1942, edited by Hartmut Mehringer, München 1996
Band 7, January – March 1943, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1993
Band 8, April – June 1943, edited by Hartmut Mehringer, München 1993
Band 9, July – September 1943, edited by Manfred Kittel, München 1993
Band 10, October – December 1943, edited by Volker Dahm, München 1994
Band 11, January – March 1944, edited by Dieter Marc Schneider, München 1994
Band 12, April – June 1944, edited by Hartmut Mehringer, München 1995
Band 13, July – September 1944, edited by Jana Richter, München 1995
Band 14, October – December 1944, edited by Jana Richter und Hermann Graml, München 1996
Band 15, January – April 1945, edited by Maximilian Gschaid, München 1995''

Goebbels in popular culture

Goebbels was mentioned in The Shower Head episode of Seinfeld, Jerry calls a chef Goebbels after his uncle Leo accuses him of being an anti-Semite.
Goebbels is represented by the character Giuseppe Givola in the parody play The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht. The play is a parody of the rise of Hitler, written while Brecht was in exile at that time (1941), with various scenes added afterwards. The play has been translated into English by Ralph Manheim and published by Methuen Modern Plays.
Goebbels was mentioned in common versions of the sardonic wartime propaganda song Hitler has only got one ball.
The Man in the High Castle, an alternative history novel by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick set in the 1960s, describes Goebbels as challenging to become Reichschancellor after Hitler is insane and his immediate successor, Martin Bormann is dead.
The song Where Did We Go Right? from the Broadway play The Producers, in which producers Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom bemoan the fact that their "surefire flop!" received an extraordinary reception on opening night, contains the line: "It was so crass and so crude/Even Goebbels would have booed!" (This song did not appear in the original 1968 film, and furthermore was cut out of the 2005 movie musical, yet appears on the original Broadway cast recording).
Goebbels and the murder of the six children are prominently featured in Der Untergang, a German movie about the last days of Hitler.
In Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night Goebbels is the protagonist's boss. Goebbels orders Campbell (the protagonist) to write a pageant honoring the Germans who died at the uprising of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Featured in The Clash's song Capitol Radio Two.
Featured in Stephen Lynch's song "Little Tiny Moustache" ("I guess I should've known when you bought a new bone for your puppies named Goebbels and Goering.")
Is mentioned during Nirvana's acceptance speech during MTV VMAs for Best New Artist in 1992.
In Chaplin's the Great Dictator, the character of Garbitsch is play on Goebbels (both are virulent anti-semites and ministers of propaganda).

External links

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