Paul Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) - German politician, one of the most influential Nazis of the Third Reich. Gauleiter in Berlin, head of the NSDAP propaganda department.
He made a significant contribution to the popularization of the National Socialists at the final stage of the existence of the Weimar Republic.
In the period 1933-1945. Goebbels was minister of propaganda and president of the imperial chamber of culture. One of the key ideological inspirers of the Holocaust.
His famous speech on large-scale war, which he made in Berlin in February 1943, is a clear example of the manipulation of the mass consciousness.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Goebbels, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Joseph Goebbels.
Biography of Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels was born on October 29, 1897 in the Prussian town of Reidt, located near Mönchengladbach. He grew up in a simple Catholic family of Fritz Goebbels and his wife Maria Katarina. In addition to Joseph, his parents had five more children - 2 sons and 3 daughters, one of whom died in infancy.
Childhood and youth
The Goebbels family had a very modest income, as a result of which its members could afford only the bare necessities.
As a child, Josef suffered from ailments that included prolonged pneumonia. His right leg was deformed, turning inward due to a congenital deformity, which was thicker and shorter than the left.
At the age of 10, Goebbels underwent an unsuccessful operation. He wore a special metal brace and shoes on his leg, suffering from a limp. For this reason, the commission found him unfit for military service, although he wanted to go to the front as a volunteer.
In his diary, Joseph Goebbels mentioned that in childhood peers, due to his physical disabilities, did not seek to make friends with him. Therefore, he often remained alone, spending his holidays playing the piano and reading books.
Although the boy's parents were devout people who taught their children to love and pray to God, Joseph had a negative attitude towards religion. He mistakenly believed that since he had so many diseases, it means that a loving God cannot exist.
Goebbels studied at one of the city's best grammar schools, where he received high marks in all disciplines. After graduating from the gymnasium, he studied history, philology and Germanic studies at the universities of Bonn, Würzburg, Freiburg and Munich.
An interesting fact is that Joseph's education was paid for by the Catholic Church, since he was one of the best students. The parents of the future propagandist hoped that their son would nevertheless become a clergyman, but all their expectations were in vain.
At that time, biographies Goebbels was fond of the work of Fyodor Dostoevsky and even called him "the spiritual father." He tried to become a journalist and also tried to realize himself as a writer. At the age of 22, the guy began to work on the autobiographical story "The Young Years of Michael Forman."
Later, Josef Goebbels managed to defend his doctoral dissertation on the work of the playwright Wilhelm von Schütz. In his subsequent works, notes of nascent anti-Semitism were traced.
Nazi activities
Although Goebbels wrote many stories, plays and articles, his work was not successful. This led to the fact that he decided to leave literature and immerse himself in politics.
In 1922, Josef became a member of the National Socialist Workers' Party, which was then headed by Strasser. After a couple of years, he becomes editor of the propaganda publication Völkische Freiheit.
At that time, biography, Goebbels began to take an interest in the personality and ideas of Adolf Hitler, despite the fact that he initially criticized his activities. He even elevated the regime of the USSR, considering this state to be sacred.
However, when Joseph personally met Hitler, he was delighted with him. After that, he became one of the most loyal and close associates of the future head of the Third Reich.
Minister of Propaganda
Adolf Hitler began to take Nazi propaganda seriously after the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch. Over time, he drew attention to the charismatic Goebbels, who had good oratorical and organizational skills.
In the spring of 1933, Hitler founded the Imperial Ministry of Public Education and Propaganda, which he assigned to head Joseph. As a result, Goebbels did not disappoint his leader and achieved great heights in his field.
Thanks to his great store of knowledge and discernment in psychology, he was able to manipulate the consciousness of the masses, who fanatically supported all the slogans and ideas of the Nazi. He noticed that if people repeat the same postulates in speech, through the press and cinema, they will certainly become obedient.
It is he who owns the famous phrase: "Give me the media, and I will make a herd of pigs out of any nation."
In his speeches, Joseph Goebbels extolled Nazism and turned his compatriots against communists, Jews and other "inferior" races. He praised Hitler, calling him the only savior of the German people.
The Second World War
In 1933, Goebbels delivered a fiery speech to the soldiers of the German army, assuring them of the need to occupy the territory of the East and refuse to comply with the Treaty of Versailles.
Throughout the Second World War (1939-1945), Joseph criticized communism with even greater enthusiasm and called on the people to militarize. In 1943, when Germany began to suffer serious losses at the front, the propagandist delivered his famous speech on "Total War", where he urged people to use all possible means to achieve victory.
In 1944, Hitler appointed Goebbels to lead the mobilization of German soldiers. He assured the soldiers to continue the war, despite the fact that Germany was already doomed. The propagandist supported the German soldiers for days on end, announcing that he was waiting for them at home even in case of defeat.
By order of the Fuehrer in mid-October 1944, the people's militia units - Volkssturm, were formed, consisting of men previously unsuitable for service. The age of the militia ranged from 45-60 years. They were unprepared for battle and did not have the appropriate weapons.
In the view of Goebbels, such detachments were supposed to successfully resist Soviet tanks and artillery, but in reality this was simply unrealistic.
Personal life
Joseph Goebbels did not have an attractive appearance. He was a lame and short man with rough features. However, his physical disabilities were compensated for by his mental abilities and charisma.
At the end of 1931, the man married Magda, who was enthusiastic about his speeches. Later, six children were born in this union.
An interesting fact is that the couple gave names to all the children starting with the same letter: Helga, Hilda, Helmut, Hold, Hedd and Hyde.
It is worth noting that Magda had a boy named Harald from a previous marriage. It so happened that it was Harald who was the only member of the Goebbels family who managed to survive the war.
Hitler was very fond of coming to visit the Goebbels, enjoying not only communication with Joseph and Magda, but also from their children.
In 1936, the head of the family met the Czech artist Lida Baarova, with whom he began a stormy romance. When Magda found out about this, she complained to the Fuhrer.
As a result, Hitler insisted that Joseph part with the Czech woman, because he did not want this story to become the property of the masses. It was important for him to preserve this marriage, since Goebbels and his wife enjoyed great prestige in Germany.
It is fair to say that the propagandist's wife was also in relationships with various men, including Kurt Ludecke and Karl Hanke.
Death
On the night of April 18, 1945, Goebbels, who had lost hope, burned his personal papers, and the next day he delivered his last speech on the air. He tried to instill hope for victory in the audience, but his words sounded unconvincing.
After Adolf Hitler committed suicide, Joseph decided to follow the example of his idol. It is curious that according to Hitler's will, Joseph was to become the Reich Chancellor of Germany.
The death of the Fuhrer plunged Joseph into a deep depression, during which he declared that the country had lost a great man. On May 1, he signed the only document in the position of chancellor, which was intended for Joseph Stalin.
In the letter, Goebbels reported on Hitler's death, and also asked for a ceasefire. However, the leadership of the USSR demanded unconditional surrender, as a result of which the negotiations reached a dead end.
Together with his wife and children, Joseph went down to the bunker. The couple firmly decided to commit suicide, and also prepared the same fate for their children. Magda asked her husband to inject the children with morphine, and also crushed cyanide capsules in their mouths.
The details of the death of the Nazi and his wife will never be found out. It is known for certain that the couple took cyanide in the late evening of May 1, 1945. Biographers have never been able to figure out if Joseph was able to shoot himself in the head at the same time.
The next day, Russian soldiers found the charred bodies of the Goebbels family.
Goebbels Photos
