He was a close friend ofAdolf Hitler. Goebbels stayed with Hitler in theFührerbunker until Hitler'ssuicide on 30 April 1945. After Hitler's death, Goebbels waschancellor of Germany for one day,[1] before he and his wife Magda Goebbelskilled themselves.[2] Just before she died, Magda killed their six children with poison.[3]
Joseph Goebbels was born asPaul Joseph Goebbels inMönchengladbach on 29 October 1897. His father, Friedrich Goebbels, was abookkeeper and his mother was Maria Goebbels (born Oldenhausen).[source?] He was the third child of the family and grew up with fivesiblings.[4] Due to an illness in his childhood in 1901, Goebbels' right foot wasmalformed and he was 165 cm (5 ft 5 in). He went to aRoman Catholic school inRheydt in 1908. In 1914, Goebbels went tohigh school in Rheydt.[5] When theFirst World War started in August 1914, hevolunteered to be part of theArmy. This wasrefused because of hislimp.[4]
At the start of theSecond World War, Goebbels ordered tobroadcast special announcements at thecinema and on theradio.[source?] On 26 May 1940, he published the new weekly newspaperDas Reich (The Imperium) for the first time.[4][5] In 1942, Goebbels took part in theWannsee Conference. He was one of the Nazi leaders who planned theFinal Solution to kill all the Jewish people. In 1943, he gave a well known speech in theBerlin Sportpalast where he called the Germans to support total war.[2] Thecoup on 20 July 1944 failed, because of Goebbels' quick thinking. He broadcast on radio that the coup had failed, before the plan ofClaus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg couldsucceed.[5]
On 22 April 1945, two days afterAdolf Hitler's birthday, he arrived in theFührerbunker inBerlin. He was one of the witnesses to themarriage of Hitler toEva Braun.[source?] On the same day, he took over the leadership from Hitler.[5] After Hitler'ssuicide on 30 April, he became theChancellor of Germany.[1] He only held this job for one day, because on 1 May 1945, his wifepoisoned their six children with the help of anSS doctor.[3] Immediately afterward he and his wife went up to the garden of the Chancellery, where they killed themselves.[source?] The details of their suicides are uncertain. After the war, Rear-Admiral Michael Musmanno, a U.S. naval officer and judge, published several accounts apparently based on eye-witness testimony: According to one account. "While Schwägermann was preparing the petrol, he heard a shot. Goebbels had shot himself and his wife took poison. Schwägermann ordered one of the soldiers to shoot Goebbels again because he was unable to do it himself."[source?] One SS officer said they each took cyanide and ordered an SS trooper to shoot them both. According to another account, Goebbels shot his wife and then himself. During his last days of his life Goebbels comparedFranklin Roosevelt’s death toElizabeth of Russia’s death from theSeven Years' War in 1762 from the 18th century hoping thatStalin would withdraw hisSoviet Red Army Forces fromBerlin during theBattle just likePeter III of Russia did in theSeven Years' War in 1762/63 who loved thePrussians . But Stalin would never make a mistake thatHitler and Goebbels hoped and Goebbels compared Stalin’sRussia to theMongol Empire from the 13th/14th centuries asNaziPropaganda in 1945 .
↑3.03.1Beevor, Antony (2003) [2002]. "Chapter 25: Reich Chancellery and Reichstag".Berlin: The Downfall 1945. Penguin History. London: Penguin Books. p. 380.ISBN0-140-28696-9.Kunz said that he could not face giving poison to the sleeping children... Together with Stumpfegger, she [Magda Goebbels] opened the mouths of the sleeping children, put an ampule of poison between their teeth and forced their jaws together.
All ministers wereNSDAP members except where indicated ("ind" = nominally independent). Most of them later became NSDAP members, except Von Papen, Hugenberg and Von Eltz-Rübenach.
