Joseph Goebbels | |
|---|---|
 Goebbels in 1933 | |
| Chancellor of Germany | |
| In office 30 April – 1 May 1945 | |
| President | Karl Dönitz |
| Preceded by | Adolf Hitler |
| Succeeded by | Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk (as Leading Minister)[1] |
| Stadtpräsident of Berlin | |
| In office 7 April 1944 – 1 May 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Ludwig Steeg |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Reichsminister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda | |
| In office 14 March 1933 – 30 April 1945 | |
| Chancellor | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Werner Naumann |
| Gauleiter of Berlin | |
| In office 26 October 1926 – 1 May 1945 | |
| Führer | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Ernst Schlange |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Additional positions | |
| 1944–1945 | Commander of the Volkssturm in Gau Berlin |
| 1944—1945 | Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War |
| 1933–1945 | Reichsleiter of the National Socialist German Workers' Party |
| 1933—1945 | Member of the Greater German Reichstag |
| 1928–1933 | Member of the Reichstag |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Paul Joseph Goebbels 29 October 1897 Rheydt, German Empire |
| Died | 1 May 1945 (aged 47) Berlin, Germany |
| Cause of death | Suicide (cyanide poisoning or gunshot) |
| Political party | Nazi Party (from 1924) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Goebbels children |
| Education | |
| Occupation |
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| Signature |  |
| ^ Formally titled "Leading Minister" or "Chief Minister" (Leitender Minister) | |
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Legacy |
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Paul Joseph Goebbels (German: [ˈpaʊ̯l ˈjoːzɛf ˈɡœbl̩s] ; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician and philologist who was the Gauleiter (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 1945. He was one of Adolf Hitler's closest and most devoted followers, known for his skills in public speaking and his deeply virulent antisemitism which was evident in his publicly voiced views. He advocated progressively harsher discrimination, including the extermination of the Jews in the Holocaust.
Goebbels, who aspired to be an author, obtained a doctorate in philology from the University of Heidelberg in 1921. He joined the Nazi Party in 1924, and worked with Gregor Strasser in its northern branch. He was appointed Gauleiter of Berlin in 1926, where he began to take an interest in the use of propaganda to promote the party and its programme. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Goebbels's Propaganda Ministry quickly gained control over the news media, arts and information in Nazi Germany. He was particularly adept at using the relatively new media of radio and film for propaganda purposes. Topics for party propaganda included antisemitism, attacks on Christian churches, and (after the start of the Second World War) attempts to shape morale.
In 1943, Goebbels began to pressure Hitler to introduce measures that would produce "total war", including closing businesses not essential to the war effort, conscripting women into the labour force, and enlisting men in previously exempt occupations into the Wehrmacht. Hitler finally appointed him as Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War on 23 July 1944, whereby Goebbels undertook largely unsuccessful measures to increase the number of people available for armaments manufacture and the Wehrmacht.
As the war drew to a close and Nazi Germany faced defeat, Magda Goebbels and the Goebbels children joined Hitler in Berlin. They moved into the underground Vorbunker, part of Hitler's underground bunker complex, on 22 April 1945. Hitler committed suicide on 30 April. In accordance with Hitler's will, Goebbels succeeded him as Chancellor of Germany; he served one day in this post. The following day, Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide, after having poisoned their six children with a cyanide compound.