Paul Joseph Goebbels (* October 29th, 1897 in Rheydt, Rhineland) is the infamous minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany. His Propaganda manipulated many Germans into being enthusiastic about the Nazi Regime - or wondering whether there might be something true about the crazy Nazi accusations against the Jews.
At the Age of four years, he suffered from a disease which gave him a deformed right foot. This is why he was and is mocked as "Schrumpfgermane" (shrunken Germanic - he's just 1.65 meters tall) and „Humpelstilzchen“ (pun on "hobble" and "Rumplestiltskin"). Because of his disability, he was rejected for the Military service ("dauerhaft ungeeignet"), when he volunteered for the First World War.
During 1917-22, he studied German studies and History, finishing with a Ph.D. ("Doktor" in German), and definitely insists on it. He also dabbled in creative writing, wrote e.g. the three-parted novel Michael, which didn't become a success though.
Politically, he was torn for a long time between the extreme Left and Right. When Adolf Nazi re-founded the NSDAP in the spring of 1925, Goebbels immediately joined it (Member number 8,762).
As the Gauleiter of Berlin (since 1926) and as Reichspropagandaleiter (since 1930) he was responsible to a good part for the rise of the NSDAP in the late phase of the Weimar Republic. His propaganda turned the SA leader Horst Wessel, who had been killed by a Communist, into a Martyr of the Nazi movement.
In Power[]
After the Nazis took power on March 13th of 1933, the "Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda" was founded and Goebbels appointed its Minister. He used his Position as the lord of Germany's Media to get many actresses in his bed, including Czech Lída Baarová, which almost destroyed his marriage, until the "Führer" gave him an unmistakable order to fix it. His passion is well-known, which is why people call him the "Bock (=buck) von Babelsberg".
Starting in May 1940, he published the weekly newspaper "Das Reich".
He even did warfare support by clandestine radio stations, which were supposed to create confusion among the population during the campaign in France in May/June of 1940.
His Family[]
In November 1930, he met Magda Quandt, an enthusaistic Nazi woman, whom he married on December 19th in 1931, with Adolf Nazi as the groomsman. Together, they have five Kids, and a sixth one is on the Way: Helga Susanne (* September 1st, 1932), Hildegard "Hilde" Traudel (* April 13th, 1934), Helmut Christian (* October 2nd, 1935), Holdine "Holde" Kathrin (* February 19th, 1937), and Hedwig "Hedda" Johanna (* May 5th, 1938). The "H" in all of their Names is standing for their godfather Hitler. Additionally, there's Harald Quandt (* 1921), the Son of Magda's earlier marriage.
Since 1924, he has been writing voluminous diaries which would reveal a lot.
