“Hello” Joseph Goebbels Born 29 October 1897
Paul Joseph Goebbels (29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler’s closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his speeches and extreme anti-semitism, which led him to support the extermination of the Jews and to be one of the mentors of the Final Solution.
Goebbels earned a PhD from HeidelbergUniversity in 1921, writing his thesis on 19th century romantic drama; he then went on to work as a journalist and later a bank clerk and caller on the stock exchange. Goebbels came into contact with the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP) or Nazi Party in 1923 during the French occupation of the Ruhr and became a member in 1924. He was appointed Gauleiter (regional party leader) of Berlin. Goebbels despised capitalism, viewing it as having Jews at its core.
Goebbels rose to power in 1933 along with Hitler and the Nazi Party and he was appointed Propaganda Minister. One of his first acts was the burning of books. He used modern propaganda techniques to prepare the German people for aggressive warfare
Goebbels organised attacks on German Jews, commencing with the one-day boycott of Jewish businessmen, doctors, and lawyers on 1 April 1933. His attacks on the Jewish population culminated in the Kristallnacht(Night of Broken Glass) assault of 1938, in which scores of synagogues were burned and hundreds of Jews were assaulted and murdered. He also produced a series of anti-semitic films.
During World War II, Goebbels increased his power and influence through shifting alliances with other Nazi leaders. By late 1943, the tide of the war was turning against the Axis powers, but Goebbels merely intensified the propaganda by urging the Germans to accept the idea of total war and mobilization. Goebbels remained with Hitler in Berlin to the end. Before committing suicide, Hitler named Goebbels his successor as Chancellor in his will. Goebbels along with his wife Magda killed their six young children, and then committed suicide. The couple’s bodies were burned in a shell crater.
