Joseph Goebbels Biography

Joseph Goebbels was born on 29 October 1897, in Rheydt, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire, to Fritz, a factory clerk, and Katharina Maria, into a Catholic family. Due to a deformity in his right leg, he could not serve in the German Army during ‘World War I.’

He attended ‘Christian Gymnasium’ from where he completed his university entrance examination in 1917. The next year, he took admission into the ‘German Franciscan brother’s boarding school’ in Bleijerheide, Netherlands.

From June to October 1917, he worked as an office soldier in Rheydt’s ‘Patriotic Help Unit.’ In the meantime, he lost faith in Catholic religion and studied German literature and philosophy at the ‘University of Bonn.’ After attending ‘Wurzburg University,’ he took admission at ‘Freiburg University.’

He completed his Ph.D. on Wilhelm von Schutz, a romantic dramatist, from ‘Heidelberg University’ in 1921. After completing his studies, he tried to pursue a career in journalism. He also dreamt of becoming a novelist and playwright.

During this time, he penned ‘Michael,’ a semi-autobiographical novel. He gave up on his dream of becoming a novelist when several newspapers and publishing houses rejected his writings. Later, he worked as a bank clerk. After that, he also worked as a caller on the stock exchange for a brief period of time.

In the later part of 1924, he joined the ‘Nazi Party.’ At that time, the ‘Nazi Party’ was promoting German pride and anti-Semitism. Adolf Hitler was impressed with his works on German economy.

In 1926, he served as Nazi Party’s district leader in Berlin. In the next year, he founded ‘The Attack,’ a weekly newspaper, which he used to represent the party’s philosophy.

In 1928, he was elected to the German Parliament. Hitler made him the propaganda director of the ‘Nazi Party.’ In 1933, he served as minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda when Hitler served as the chancellor.

He utilized his authoritative power to supervise the content of the country’s newspapers, magazines, books, music, plays, films, radio, and fine arts. He used these medium to promote Hitler’s philosophy and to spread hatred against Jewish people.

In April 1933, with Hitler’s initiative, he took measures to boycott Jewish businesses. As part of his job, he organized a public ceremony at the ‘Opera House of Berlin’ to destroy “un-German” books. As a result of this destructive activity, a number of valuable books, written by personalities like Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, and H.G. Wells, were damaged.

In September 1933, he worked as the director of the ‘Reich Chamber of Culture.’ This institution was used to control the cultural life of Germany. This organization was instrumental in causing unemployment among Jewish artists. Moreover, the ‘Reich Press Law’ ordered the dismissal of Jewish and non-Nazi editors of German publishing houses.

In 1939, when the ‘World War II’ broke out, he took up the responsibility of inspiring German people to support the war. In order to do so, he effectively utilized the power of media.

The release of ‘The Eternal Jew,’ a propaganda film of the ‘Nazi Party’ in 1940, was his planned initiative to provoke hatred against Jewish groups. This film depicted Jews as worthless parasites.

Through the production of ‘Jud Suss,’ another propaganda film of the ‘Nazi Party,’ he attempted to project the Jews in bad light.

By organizing ‘The Soviet Paradise,’ a Nazi propaganda exhibition, in 1942, he tried to expose the dishonesty of Jewish ‘Bolsheviks.’ In order to disrupt his attempt, Herbert Baum, a German-Jewish Resistance leader, attacked his exhibition. Interestingly, Goebbels decided to keep the news of this attack a secret. He continued his effort to campaign for the war.

In August 1944, he urged the Germans to support Germany’s war effort. After Hitler’s suicide on April 30, 1945, he became the chancellor of Germany.

On May 1, 1945, he asked dentist Helmut Kunz to inject morphine into his children to render them unconscious. He then poisoned them with cyanide. Thereafter, he committed suicide along with his wife Magda.

Joseph Goebbels was known for his love of literature and was a published author himself, writing several novels and plays before he became heavily involved in Nazi propaganda.

Despite his role as the Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany, Goebbels had a deep admiration for the arts and culture, particularly film. He was known to have a keen interest in promoting German cinema during his tenure.

Goebbels was a skilled public speaker and had a talent for delivering powerful and persuasive speeches. His oratory skills played a significant role in advancing the Nazi propaganda machine.

He was one of the few high-ranking Nazi officials who remained loyal to Hitler until the very end, even accompanying him in his last days in the bunker before Hitler's suicide.

Goebbels had a close-knit family and was known to be a loving father to his six children, despite his ruthless and controversial actions as a Nazi propagandist.