Paul Joseph Goebbels
Bio
Joseph Goebbels was born on the 29th of October 1897. He was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933-1945. Goebbels was borin in Rheydt, an industrial town south of Monchengladbach. Both of his parents were Catholics and he had five siblings. He was rejected from military service in World War 1 as he had a deformed right foot and had to wear a metal brace. His parents hoped that he would become a Catholic and he actually considered it. He studied literature and history at the universities of Bonn, Wurzburg, Freiburg and Munich. By this time, he began to grow distant from the church. He got his PhD in 1921 and then later started to work as a private tutor when he returned home.
World War 1
Goebbels first started to show interest in Adolf Hitler and Nazism in 1924. He was drawn to the NSDAP mainly because of Hitler's charisma and commitment to his beliefs. He joined the NSDAP around this time and became member number 8762. Goebbels was terrified by Hitler's characterisation of socialism as a "Jewish creation." In his diary he wrote, "I no longer fully believe in Hitler. That's the terrible thing: my inner support has been taken away."
The 1930s
Goebbels was impressed when Hitler sent his own car to meet him for arranged meetings in Munich. That same evening, both Goebbels and Hitler gave their speeches at a beer hall rally. Hitler gave Goebbels a "new insight" into the "social question." At this point Goebbels gave his full loyalty to Hitler. He wrote things such as "I love him... he has thought through everything," "Such a sparkling mind can be my leader. I bow to the greater one, the political genius" and "Adolf Hitler, I love you because you are both great and simple at the same time. What one calls a genius" into his diary.
World War 2
Goebbels was charged with presenting Hitler to the public in the most favourable light, regulating the content of all German media and fomenting anti-Semitism. Goebbels forced Jewish artists, musicians, actors, directors and newspaper and magazine editors into unemployment and held a public burning of books that were considered "un-German." He also spearheaded the production of Nazi propaganda films and other films. Goebbels remained in this post and was loyal to Hitler until the end of World War 2.
Event Information
The Public Burning
Going ✅
When?
Tuesday, Sep 8, 2015, 09:00 PM
Where?
Berlin
After the War
On May 1, 1945 the day after Hitler committed suicide, Goebbels and his wife poisoned their six children and then killed themselves.