Joseph Goebbels: biography, role in Nazism, death

Joseph Goebbels has been marked in history as one of the minds behind the Nazism. It was the minister of Nazi Germany Propaganda and, therefore, he led all the publicity of the regime, promoting the exaltation of the personality of adolf hitler and its ideology. He provided the “cultural revolution” proposed by the Nazism and carried out the censorship and persecution of all anti-Nazi ideas that did not fit the ideal of culture proposed by Hitler.

He created the Nazi aesthetic in order to valorization of Nazi ideology and the image of Hitler. He carried out the burning of books considered "anti-German" and intensified the anti-Semitism in German society through propaganda. During World War II, he was responsible for producing all Nazi war propaganda. Due to the defeat of Nazism, Goebbels committed suicide in 1945.

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Youth

Paul Joseph Goebbels was born on October 29, 1897, in the town of Rheydt, located in the Rhineland region of western Germany. The father of the future minister of propaganda was called Fritz Goebbels and worked in a candle factory. His mother was called Katharina Odenhausen and worked in the field. He had five siblings: Hans, Maria (died young), Elisabeth, Konrad and Maria. THE

family life was humble.

Joseph Goebbels was marked by the health problems in the childhood. He had a foot deformity caused by metabolic disturbances, as noted by historian Peter Longerich|1|. Physical problems ended up making him a dedicated student and, after finishing high school, he entered the University of Bonn. He initially wanted to study medicine, but was persuaded to study German and history. In 1921 he obtained the title of doctor in romantic literature by the University of Heidelberg.

After becoming a doctor, Goebbels devoted himself to a literary career, but ended up failing. With the German defeat in First World War, like many in that society, he ended up embracing conservative extremism. Some historians argue that physical handicaps led him to adopt a lifestyle based on bohemianism and the extravagance of love affairs.

Historian Richard J. Evans argues that between 1919 and 1920, Goebbels spent a semester in the city of Munich, a stronghold of the german far right and probably there he was heavily influenced by the atmosphere of the city|2|. In the 1920s, Goebbels came to identify with a rising party: the Nazi Party.

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Goebbels in the Nazi Party

In the 1920s, Goebbels came into contact with various ultranationalist groups and, for this reason, he ended up being officially introduced to the Nazi Party. The period 1923-24 was crucial in the development of Goebbels within the political, cultural and artistic perspectives of the German extreme right. By the end of 1923, he had already shown some admiration for Hitler and, on April 4, 1924, he had started working with the Nazis.

Joseph Goebbels rose quickly through the Nazi hierarchy. In the image, Goebbels is second to Hitler's left, seated in the first row of chairs.[1]

In Rheydt, Goebbels actively participated in the development of a Nazi nucleus in the region to promote Nazi candidates in local elections. He started to gain influence thanks to his speeches. THE rhetoric de Goebbels was so good that Hitler himself invited him to speak in Munich in the spring of 1926.

That same year, he was named director of Volkische Freheit, an ultranationalist newspaper that extolled the values ​​of the extreme conservatism of Nazism. Goebbels' growth within the party caused him to become involved in a small disagreement over the direction of the party. This disagreement was eventually resolved by Hitler and brought the two together definitively.

Due to the contact with Hitler, Goebbels took on important roles. Also in 1926, he was appointed to head the Nazi Party in Berlin and, in 1928, he was eventually elected deputy, assuming a post in the German Parliament, the Reichstag. The actions of Goebbels and other important members of the party, such as Strasser, Göring and Himmler, raised the Nazi Party to the status of one of the most important in Germany.

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Goebbels as a propagandist

From 1930 onwards, Goebbels became the responsible for advertising of the Nazi Party and prospered considerably in the position. It was through him that Nazism managed to promote a veritable brainwashing to manipulate the German population and lead to a massive mobilization of the people in favor of Nazism.

Goebbels was also one of the big names who strengthened anti-Semitism in Germany. Regarding Goebbels' anti-Semitism, Peter Longerich highlights the following statement by Goebbels: “I am on the nationalist side: I hate the Jew by instinct and by reason. For me, deep in my soul, he is detestable and repulsive […]. All the cons against Jews are pros in favor of the national community"|3|.

Anti-Semitism was part of Goebbels' ideological tools for rally supporters of Nazism. This strategy was very influential among generations born before World War I and advocates of a more nationalist vision.

In this sense, Goebbels played a crucial role in the development of anti-Semitic actions in Germany, such as the night of crystals, O pogrom against Jews held across Germany in November 1938. This attack started the imprisonment of the Jews in concentration camps. Goebbels was also one of the supporters of “Long Knives Night”, purge carried out in 1934 that murdered several opponents of Hitler, inside and outside the Nazi Party.

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Goebbels held prominent positions in the regime. he became minister of propaganda from Germany and headed the Reich Chamber of Culture. Thus, everything that involved the cultural issue in that country passed through the hands of Joseph Goebbels.

The Nazis' control over all art in the country was extensive, and Goebbels began to persecute all Jewish artists, such as writers and musicians. Goebbels' concern with the so-called “modern art” and everything that did not represent “German values” generated enormous repression. In May 1933, for example, he ordered a big book burning, destroying thousands of books written by different authors, such as Albert Einstein, Erich Maria Remarque, Sigmund Freud, between others.

On the cultural issue, Goebbels sought to achieve a real cultural revolution in Germany, and the goal, according to Richard J. Evans, was to "deep and strengthen the conquest of Nazi political power through the conversion of the German people as a whole to their way of thinking"|4|. To convert children, education was fundamental; for adults, advertising.

THE advertising designed by Goebbels it aimed to propagate the Nazi ideology in a positive way and demonstrate it as receiving the support of the entire nation. It was through propaganda that Nazism engaged the population to actively participate in the regime. The holding of public events, boycotts of Jews and the practice of acts of violence against this group demonstrate how the people were mobilized to support Nazism.

The propaganda carried out by Goebbels promoted a scathing exaltation of Hitler, creating a cult of the Nazi leader's personality.[1]

Goebbels elevated the figure of Hitler to a position of high esteem and created an image for Hitler as the new savior of Germany, the “new Bismarck” (Prussian Prime Minister who led the german unification process and inaugurated an empire in 1871). Through Goebbels, the greeting heilhitler (meaning Save Hitler) became popular in Nazi Germany. His systematic action of manipulating popular opinion expressed the idea that the repetition of a lie often turned it into a truth.

Goebbels participated in one of the most famous Nazi propaganda films known as “The Triumph of the Will”, and also produced a number of other films when the Second World War broke out from September 1939. The films carried out war propaganda to expand the popular mobilization effort in favor of Wehrmacht (German army) and also attracted those who were anti-Semitic as they focused on intensifying the persecution of the Jews.

defeat in war

As Germany was defeated in the war, Goebbels's speech against the Jews widened and he started to defend the total mobilization of the population – even if the country was moving towards defeat. He was one of the great encouragers that Jews should be totally exterminated from Europe through a “Final Solution”. With regard to the Holocaust, Goebbels left the following record, which demonstrates all his cruelty: "the Jews are being punished in a barbaric manner, but they fully deserve it."|5|

Due to events in the Soviet Union, in particular the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, Goebbels came to believe in the possibility of defeat. After the Valkyrie Operation was held in July 1944, the Minister of Propaganda started to encourage the mobilization of the population for a wartotal.

In the last weeks of the war in Europe, in 1945, Hitler, Goebbels and the highest echelons of Nazism hid in a bunker. Before committing suicide, Hitler directed Goebbels to flee Berlin, but Goebbels refused. With Hitler's death, Goebbels became chancellor of Germany, but held the post for only one day.

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Death

On May 1, 1945, Joseph Goebbels and his wife, Magda Goebbels, decided commit suicide. The decision was made by Goebbels because he believed his life was worthless if he couldn't use it in Hitler's service.|6|. Before committing suicide, he named the admiral Karl Donitz to succeed him in the power of the country.

Joseph and Magda Goebbels decided to kill their children before committing suicide. The children were put to sleep with doses of morphine and then killed by ingesting hydrocyanic acid. Later, Joseph and Magda ingested their own hydrogen cyanide capsules, and soldiers shot their bodies to ensure their death. Finally, their bodies were set on fire.

Grades

|1| LONGERICH, Peter. Joseph Goebbels: A Biography. To access, click on here.

|2| EVANS, Richard J. The Arrival of the Third Reich. São Paulo: Planet, 2016, p. 263.

|3| LONGERICH, Peter. Joseph Goebbels: A Biography. To access, click on here.

|4| EVANS, Richard J. The Third Reich in Power. São Paulo: Planet, 2014, p. 150-151.

|5| EVANS, Richard. The Third Reich at War. São Paulo: Planet, 2016, p. 313.

|6| Idem, p. 833.

Image credits:

[1]Everett Historical and Shutterstock

By Daniel Neves
History teacher

Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/joseph-goebbels.htm