Goebbels: A Biography

by Peter Longerich

  8. Weekly activity reports by the head of the propaganda department, BAB, R 55/601, Stichtag 30 October, 7 November 1944.

  9. TB, 3 November 1944; see also 22 November 1944. On 24 November he wrote that he wanted “to bring [the Soviet atrocities] to the attention of the public, at least to a certain extent,” but this was not evident in the propaganda.

  10. This is clear from BAB, R 43 II/666b, press statement, 2 November 1944. The announcement was strongly criticized by the Reich Chancellery because to some extent it was contrary to the facts. (ibid., Vermerk vom 4. November 1944). See also TB, 5 October 1944, where Goebbels complained that the deployment of women in the armaments industry was not going ahead because of Speer’s and the industrialists’ “laxity.”

  11. BAB, R 43 II/666b, press statement 10 October 1944.

  12. BAB, R 43 II/666b, press statement 2 November 1944, as published, for example, in the VB (N), 5 November 1944.

  13. TB, 10 November 1944.

  14. TB, 11 January 1945.

  15. TB, 7 November 1944.

  16. TB, 28 November 1944.

  17. TB, 29 October, 17 November 1944.

  18. TB, 7 December 1944; see also 25 November 1944.

  19. TB, 3 November 1944.

  20. TB, 16 November 1944.

  21. TB, 7 December 1944, and 16 November 1944.

  22. TB, 30 September, 30 December 1944; on the continuing poor relationship with the Foreign Ministry, see TB, 31 October, 2, 7, and 11 November 1944.

  23. On the investigation of the Foreign Ministry, see TB, 4, 5, and 6 January 1945; on the assignment of investigating the Foreign Ministry to Staatssekretär a. D. Mussehl, see TB, 16 January 1945; on the report produced by Mussehl, see 20 March 1945. On the Ministry of the Eastern Territories, see TB, 16 and 18 March 1945.

  24. TB, 27 and 29 September 1944.

  25. TB, 4 March 1945; Uziel, Propaganda Warriors, 205.

  26. TB, 12 and 20 September 1944: During a discussion Speer had become “very insolent”; see also 23, 24, and 26 September, 3, 5, and 10 October 1944.

  27. TB, 10 October 1944, and 5 October 1944.

  28. TB, 11 and 16 November 1944.

  29. TB, 1 December 1944.

  30. TB, 4 January 1945.

  31. TB, 5, 12, and 19 January 1956; Kunz, Wehrmacht und Niederlage, 256ff.; Overmans, Deutsche militärische Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg, 225.

  32. Published in Mammach, Volkssturm, 168ff. The decree was dated 25 September 1944. TB, 12 September 1944.

  33. TB, 21 September, and 26 September 1944. On the formation of the Volkssturm in Berlin, see 24 and 29 October, 7 November 1944.

  34. TB, 13 November 1944; VB (N), 14 November 1944, “Geist von 1813—Waffen von 1944. Dr. Goebbels sprach zu den Tausenden Berliner Volkssturmmänner [sic].”

  35. Kershaw, Hitler. 1936–1945, 962; TB, 24 November 1944.

  36. TB, 24 November 1944.

  37. TB, 30 September, 6 (quotation), 8, 9, and 30 October (after recuperation) 1945; Kershaw, Hitler. 1936–1945, 945.

  38. Previously: complaints about the lack of a public statement by Hitler: TB, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, and 30 September, 4, 9, 10, and 13 November, 3 December 1944.

  39. TB, 2 December 1944.

  40. TB, 23 September 1943.

  41. TB, 19 and 21 May 1944.

  42. TB, 22 May 1944.

  43. TB, 6–8 July 1944. A few months later, at the end of December, Hanke visited the Goebbelses at home in Berlin (TB, 31 December 1944).

  44. TB, 4 December 1944.

  45. Particularly concerned entries in the TB for 9, 11, 17, 20, 21, 22, and 29 November 1944. On military developments, see Vogel, “Kriegführung,” 614ff.

  46. TB, 17 and 18 December 1944.

  47. TB, 19 December 1944. See the reports of the VB (B), which emphasized the offensive on 18 December, but during the following days was cautious in providing details.

  48. TB, 19 December 1944.

  49. TB, 23 December 1944.

  50. TB, 29 December 1944.

  51. Vogel, “Kriegführung,” 625ff.

  52. TB, 21 January 1945.

  53. TB, 1 February 1945. On the Soviet offensive, see Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung zwischen Ostsee und Karpaten,” 516ff.

  54. Tagesberichte, 2 and 7 January; TB, 4, 9, and 10 January 1945.

  55. Gröhler, Bombenkrieg, 423; Tagesberichte, 3 February 1945; on the number of victims, see Demps, “Luftangriffe,” 21ff.; TB, 5 and 12 February 1945.

  56. Gröhler, Bombenkrieg, 400ff.

  57. TB, 9 November also 7 and 10 December 1944.

  58. However, in agreement with Bormann, Himmler and the relevant military agencies: Erlaß des Führers zur Überprüfung der Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS und Polizei im Heimatkriegsgebiet zur Freimachung von Soldaten für die Front vom 10. Dezember 1944 (Moll, “Führer-Erlasse,” no. 377); on the appointment, see TB, 11 December 1944; on taking up the position, see TB, 12, and 15 December 1944; on further activity, see 20, 22, and 29 December 1944.

  59. TB, 30 December 1944; see also 3, 11, 18, and 19 January 1945.

  60. Overmans, Deutsche militärische Verluste, 239.

  61. TB, 21 January 1945.

  62. TB, 26 January 1945.

  63. TB, 7 February 1945; this figure is confirmed by the surviving files of the OKW: According to Kunz, Wehrmacht und Niederlage, 166: BAM, RH 2/923, Notiz für Reichsbevollmächtigten als Unterlage zur Führerinformation vom 6. Februar 1945.

  64. TB, 11 February 1945, also 8 February 1945 concerning Bormann’s and Himmler’s alleged agreement to his being given this authority.

  65. Kunz, Wehrmacht und Niederlage, 155.

  66. TB, 6 February 1945.

  67. TB, 4 January 1945.

  68. TB, 23 January 1945.

  69. TB, 26 January 1945.

  70. TB, 28 January 1945.

  71. TB, 30 January, 1 February 1945; Fest, Speer, 321f.; Janssen, Das Ministerium Speer, 301f.

  72. TB, 29 January 1945.

  73. TB, 30 and 31 January, 1, 2, and 5 February 1945.

  74. TB, 30 January 1945.

  75. TB, 11 February 1945.

  76. TB, 5 Feburary 1945.

  77. TB, 6 February 1945. On the preparations for the defense of Berlin, see also TB, 7, 8, 11, 12, and 13 February 1945.

  78. TB, 1 March 1945.

  79. TB, 15 March 1945.

  80. Das Reich, 18 March 1945, “Berlin, Ein Riesenigel.”

  81. TB, 1 February 1945: He learned from Ley that Hitler had spoken to him in similar terms and Hewel told him that Ribbentrop had tried in vain to get permission from Hitler to put out feelers.

  82. TB, 12 February 1945.

  83. TB, 13 February 1945.

  84. TB, 4, 26, and 29 January 1945.

  85. TB, 25 and 29 January, 28 February, 12, 21, 22, and 28 March 1945.

  86. TB, 5, 12, and 24 March 1945.

  87. TB, 29 January 1945.

  88. TB, 1 March 1945.

  89. TB, 7 January 1945.

  90. Das Reich, 21 January 1945, “Die Urheber des Unglücks der Welt.”

  91. TB, 25 January 1945; see also 26 January 1945.

  92. TB, 6 February 1945.

  93. TB, 8 and 10 February 1945; Dietrich, 12 Jahre, 115.

  94. Heiber (ed.), Goebbels Reden, no. 30; quotations 430, 444, 437, 431f., 446.

  95. TB, 2 March 1945.

  96. TB, 5 and 12 March 1945.

  97. Deutsche Wochenschau, no. 754; VB (N), 13 March 1945; TB, 9 March 1945.

  98. See the reports in the VB (N) for February and March; despite being prominent, the atrocities were not the dominant topic: 9 February 1945, “Bilder des Grauens hinter den Sowjetlinien,” 1; 10 February 1945, “Humanitäre Phrasen und grausige Wirklichkeit” (headline) and “Der bolschewistische Blutsumpf”; 20 February 1945, “Moskau deportiert deutsche Arbeiter” (headline); 8 March 1945, “Generaloberst Guderian über die Schandtaten der Bolschewisten: Morden, plündern schänden, sengen” (headlin
e); 10 March 1945, “Tragödien hinter dem Sowjetvorhang,” 1; 11 March 1945, “Stalins Gesetz: Mord und Deportation”; 13 March 1945, “Ab nach Sibirien!”; 20 March 1945, “Schwester auf Panzer gebunden.”

  99. TB, 27 and 28 March 1945.

  100. TB, 31 March 1945.

  101. TB, 20 and 24 March 1945.

  102. TB, 1 February 1945; for criticism of Göring by Hitler, see in particular 4, 15, 16, and 23 January 1945.

  103. TB, 1 February 1945, similarly 12 February 1945.

  104. TB, 28 February 1945.

  105. TB, 31 January, 5 March 1945.

  106. TB, 14 March 1945.

  107. TB, 14 March 1945. For criticism of Göring by Hitler, see also 21, 22, and 23 March 1945.

  108. TB, 22 March 1945.

  109. TB, 5 March 1945.

  110. TB, 12 and 14 March 1945.

  111. TB, 15 March 1945, and 16 March 1945.

  112. TB, 3, 13, and 24 March 1945.

  113. TB, 14 March 1945, and 15, 23, and 28 March 1945.

  114. TB, 28 March 1945.

  115. TB, 4 and 28 March 1945. On Hitler’s poor health, see also 12 February 1945.

  116. TB, 6 February, 22 March 1945.

  117. TB, 5 March 1945.

  118. TB, 12 March 1945; on Himmler’s possible promotion, see 23 January 1945.

  119. TB, 8 March 1945.

  120. TB, 17, 18, and 22 March 1945.

  121. TB, 12 March 1945.

  122. TB, 8 April 1945.

  123. Ungváry, “Kriegsschauplatz Ungarn,” 926ff.; TB, 6–21 March 1945.

  124. TB, 9 March 1945; Henke, Die amerikanische Besetzung Deutschlands, 347f.

  125. TB, 23 and 25 March 1945; Henke, Besetzung, 385ff.

  126. TB, 25 March 1945.

  127. TB, 26 March 1945.

  128. TB, 22 March 1945.

  129. Gröhler, Bombenkrieg, 423; Demps, “Luftangriffe,” 21ff.; TB, 19, 20, and 25 March 1945.

  130. TB, 14 March 1945.

  131. Gröhler, Bombenkrieg, 422; TB, 20, 21 (quotation) and 25 March 1945.

  132. TB, 15 March 1945.

  133. TB, 15 March 1945; Ursachen und Folgen, no. 3607f., dated 15 March 1945; see also Fest, Speer, 336ff.

  134. Moll (ed.), “Führer-Erlasse,” no. 394.

  135. TB, 28 March 1945.

  136. TB, 31 March 1945; Ursachen und Folgen, no. 3604c, Durchführungserlaß Hitlers vom 30. März 1945.

  137. TB, 28 March 1945; 4 April 1945 (on Bormann): “In the Party too we lack a clear leadership that is rooted in the people.”

  138. TB, 12, 15, and 16 March 1945.

  139. TB, 31 March, 1 and 4 April 1945.

  140. TB, 29 March 1945; see also 12 March. On the Werwolf movement, see Biddiscombe, Werwolf!; Arendes, “Schrecken aus dem Untergrund. Endphaseverbrechen des ‘Werwolf,’ ” 149–71.

  141. TB, 11 March 1945.

  142. TB, 29 and 30 March 1945, also 1 April 1945.

  143. TB, 1 and 2 April 1945.

  144. TB, 31 March 2, 3, and 4 April 1945.

  145. TB, 29 March 1945.

  146. TB, 1 February 1945.

  147. TB, 5 and 6 February 1945.

  148. Heiber (ed.), Goebbels Reden, no. 30, 435.

  149. TB, 5 March 1945.

  150. Das Reich, 15 April 1945.

  151. TB, 30 November 1944: Goebbels found out about the new microfiche process. On the filming of the diaries, see Elke Fröhlich, “Einleitung zur Gesamtedition,” in Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels, Teil III, Register 1923–1945. Teilband I: Sachregister A–G, 7–178; on the complicated history of the survival of the various parts of the diaries, 36ff.

  152. TB, 19 and 30 March 1941.

  153. See also TB, 8 April 1945 (resistance).

  154. This was reported by Steengracht, the former state secretary in the Foreign Ministry, in a postwar statement; see IMT 10, 128.

  155. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch,” 633ff.

  156. Heiber (ed.), Goebbels Reden, no. 447, quotations 448, 454, 455.

  157. Kershaw, Hitler. 1936–1945, 1027ff.

  158. Koller, Der letzte Monat, 43f.

  159. Oven, Mit Goebbels bis zum Ende, vol. 2, 308. By contrast, the account by Hans Fritzsche appears implausible because of his desire to exonerate himself. See Springer, Es sprach Hans Fritzsche, 28ff.: “Why did you work for me?! Now you’re going to get your throat cut” (30).

  160. OKW KTB IV, 1453.

  161. Oven, Mit Goebbels bis zum Ende, 22 April 1945, vol. 2, 310f.; LA Berlin, Rep. 058, no. 6012, Statement by Günther Schwägermann, Hannover, 16 February 1948.

  162. Kershaw, Hitler. 1936–1945, 1034ff.; Joachimsthaler, Hitlers Ende, 148ff.; on the battle for Berlin, see Lakowski, “Zusammenbruch,” 656ff.

  163. Domarus II, 2228.

  164. Statement by Speer in IMT 16, 582f.; Speer, Erinnerungen, 485f.

  165. Der Spiegel, 10 January 1966 (excerpt from Hitler military conferences from 23, 25, and 27 April 1945), 34 (25 April).

  166. Ibid., 37 (25 April).

  167. Ibid., 39 (25 April). He takes a similar line in the second military conference on 25 April (ibid.).

  168. OKW KTB IV, 1461ff.

  169. Joachimsthaler, Hitlers Ende, 185; Registry Office certificate published in Domarus II, 2234.

  170. Domarus II, 2241.

  171. Magda reports this in a letter to Harald.

  172. On Hitler’s suicide, see Joachimsthaler, Hitlers Ende, 201ff.; final conversation with Magda according to a statement by Günsche, 221f.

  173. Joachimsthaler, Hitlers Ende, 233 (statement by Axmann).

  174. Kempka, Die letzten Tage mit Adolf Hitler, 97f.

  SOURCES

  1. Elke Fröhlich (ed.), Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels, 32 vols. The last volume of text came out in 2006. This work was preceded by a first edition, also edited by Elke Fröhlich, covering the period from 1924 to 1941: Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels. Sämtliche Fragmente. In addition, in 1992, Ralf Georg Reuth published a five-volume selection from previously unknown diary texts discovered in Moscow in that year: Joseph Goebbels, Tagebücher 1924–45.

  2. Osobyi-Archiv, 1363–3.

  3. Boelcke (ed.), Kriegspropaganda 1939–1941.

  4. BAK, ZSg 101, 102 and 109.

  5. Semmler (properly “Semler”), Goebbels; Borresholm (ed.), Dr. Goebbels nach Aufzeichnungen aus seiner Umgebung; Stephan, Joseph Goebbels; Oven, Mit Goebbels bis zum Ende; Schaumburg-Lippe, Dr. G.

  6. Riess, Goebbels.

  7. Fraenkel and Manvell, Goebbels.

  8. Heiber, Joseph Goebbels.

  9. Reimann, Dr. Joseph Goebbels.

  10. Reuth, Goebbels.

  11. Bärsch, Der junge Goebbels.

  12. Gathmann and Paul, Narziss Goebbels.

  13. Thacker, Joseph Goebbels.

  14. Bering, Kampf um Namen.

  15. Höver, Joseph Goebbels.

  16. Barth, Goebbels und die Juden.

  17. Michels, Ideologie und Propaganda.

  PHOTO CREDITS

  1.1: Courtesy of The Granger Collection

  2.1: Courtesy of Agentur Karl Hoffkes

  3.1: Courtesy of Art Resource

  4.1: Courtesy of Mary Evans Picture Library

  5.1: Courtesy of The Granger Collection

  6.1: Courtesy of The Granger Collection

  7.1: Courtesy of AKG Images

  8.1: Courtesy of Art Resource

  9.1: Courtesy of AKG Images

  10.1: Courtesy of The Granger Collection

  11.1: Courtesy of Getty Images

  12.1: Courtesy of Ullstein Bild

  13.1: Courtesy of Art Resource

  14.1: Courtesy of The Granger Collection

  15.1: Courtesy of Art Resource

  17.1: Courtesy of Suddeutsche Zeitung Photo

  18.1: Courtesy of Mary Evans Picture Library

  19.1: Courtesy of The Granger Collection

  20.1: Courtesy of The Granger Collection

  21.1: Courtesy of The Gran
ger Collection

  22.1: Courtesy of Mary Evans Picture Library

  23.1: Courtesy of Art Resource

  24.1: Courtesy of The Granger Collection

  25.1: Courtesy of AKG Images

  26.1: Courtesy of The Granger Collection

  27.1: Courtesy of Suddeutsche Zeitung Photo

  28.1: Courtesy of Bayerisch Staatsbibliothek

  29.1: Courtesy of The Granger Collection

  BY PETER LONGERICH

  Goebbels: A Biography

  Heinrich Himmler

  Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews

  The Unwritten Order: Hitler’s Role in the Final Solution

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PETER LONGERICH is professor of modern German history at Royal Holloway, University of London, and founder of Royal Holloway’s Holocaust Research Centre. He has published extensively on Nazi Germany, including the acclaimed Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews, The Unwritten Order: Hitler’s Role in the Final Solution, and Heinrich Himmler.

  ABOUT THE TRANSLATORS

  ALAN BANCE is an emeritus professor at the University of Southampton, England. He has a BA degree from University College London and a PhD from Cambridge. He has taught in seven British and German-speaking universities. For twenty years, until his retirement in 2004, he was head of German studies at Southampton. His books include work on Theodor Fontane, Weimar Germany, and postwar Germany. His translations include Brigitte Hamann’s biography of Winifred Wagner and the novel Kaltenburg by Marcel Beyer.

  JEREMY NOAKES is an emeritus professor of history at the University of Exeter, U.K. He is the author of The Nazi Party in Lower Saxony 1921–1933 (Oxford, 1971) and of numerous articles and edited books on various aspects of Nazism and the Third Reich.

  LESLEY SHARPE is an emeritus professor of German at the University of Exeter, U.K., and has published extensively on eighteenth-century literature. She is the author of Friedrich Schiller: Drama, Thought and Politics (Cambridge, 1991) and edited The Cambridge Companion to Goethe (Cambridge, 2001).