Joseph Goebbels Katelyn Martin (Katja)

Early Life Born October 29, 1897 in Rheydt, Germany as Paul Joseph Goebbels He walked with a limp due to being born with a clubfoot. He wore a metal brace and special shoe to compensate for his shortened leg, but nevertheless walked with a limp all his life. He was educated at a Christian Gymnasium, where he completed his Abitur (university entrance examination) in 1916.

The military rejected him for military service in WWI because his leg hindered his ability to walk. Instead, he studied philosophy and literature at the universities of Heidelberg, Freiburg, Würzburg, and Bonn. Completed his Doctorate in 1921 He was never known to be anti- semetic. He had deep admirations for many of his Jewish professors. He was also engaged to a half-Jewish girl.

Nazi Involvement Joined the National Socialist German Workers Party in 1924 where he met Adolf Hitler In his diary, he wrote about meeting Hitler: "Shakes my hand. Like an old friend. And those big blue eyes. Like stars. He is glad to see me. I am in heaven. That man has everything to be king." 1926-1930, he was given the task of building up Nazi support in Berlin and soon became the Nazi Party Propaganda Leader. A National Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda was created for him, and he became president of the newly formed “Chamber of Culture.” In this capacity he controlled the press, radio, theatre, films, literature, music, and the fine arts.

“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.” From 1930-1933, he organized many successful campaigns for Hitler’s election. He choreographed Hitler’s dramatic airplane tours of Germany and pioneering the use of radio and cinema for electoral campaigning. He became the editor of the Berlin Nazi newspaper, Der Angriff (The Attack) When Hitler became chancellor in January, 1933, he appointed Goebbels as Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. Congenital birth defects was a disqualification for high office and so he told people his limp was the result of a wound suffered while fighting in WWI.

Goebbels was a great public speaker and became second in the Nazi movement only to Hitler as a public speaker at Nazi rallies. http://youtu.be/w2uCMp E5faI

“The era of extreme Jewish intellectualism is at an end” In May 1933, he set up the event of the burning of “un- German” books at the Opera House in Berlin.

Kristallnacht In November 1938, a Jewish youth shot a German diplomat in Paris in revenge for the deportation of his family to Poland and the persecution of German Jews. Goebbels told Hitler that "spontaneous" anti-Jewish violence had already broken out in German cities, although in fact this was not true: this was a clear case of Goebbels manipulating Hitler for his own ends. When Hitler said he approved of what was happening, Goebbels took this as authorization to organize a massive, nationwide riot against the Jews.

Kristallnacht The S.A. and Nazi Party went on a rampage of anti- Jewish violence and destruction, killing at least 90 and maybe as many as 200 people, destroying over a thousand synagogues and hundreds of Jewish businesses and homes, and dragging some 30,000 Jews off to concentration camps, where at least another thousand died before the remainder were released after several months of brutal treatment.

After 1940, Hitler made few public appearances, and even his broadcasts became less frequent, so Goebbels increasingly became the face and the voice of the Nazi regime for the German people. Many Nazis hated Goebbels. He was nicknamed the “Poison Dwarf” He didn’t get along with many other people, especially with Hermann Göring

Personal Life In 1931, Goebbels married Magda Quant. They had 6 children together

"If you tell a lie, tell a big one." In 1938, Goebbels had an affair with Czech actress Lida Baarova. Both Goebbels and his wife, Magda, wanted a divorce, but Hitler refused to give his permission for a divorce as he had spent much time cultivating the importance of family values to the German public. Hitler and Goebbels negotiated an agreement whereby the actress would be banished and the couple would keep up public appearances for a year

"The heart of Germany has ceased to beat. The Führer is dead." Goebbels urged Hitler to remain in Berlin, despite how dangerous it was. On April 29, 1945, Hitler dictated his last will and testament, with Goebbels and 4 other people as the only witnesses. In the mid-afternoon of April 30, Hitler shot himself. Goebbels was now the Reich Chancellor.

“For us, everything is lost now and the only way left for us is the one which Hitler chose. I shall follow his example” On May 1, Goebbels arranged for an SS dentist to kill his 6 children by injecting them with morphine and then, when they were unconscious, crushing an ampule of cyanide in each of their mouths. Yet, it was Goebbel’s wife, Magda, who crushed to cyanide into their mouths, killing all of her six children.

Soon afterward, Goebbels and his wife went up to the garden of the Chancellery, where they killed themselves. It is still unclear of what exactly happened, but the biggest theory is that Goebbels shot his wife and then shot himself. The bodies of Goebbels and his wife were then burned in a shell crater, but owing to the lack of petrol the burning was only partly effective, and their bodies were easily identifiable

Works Cited http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/joseph_goebbels .htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels#Plenip otentiary_for_total_war