Joseph Goebbels

Paul Joseph Goebbels (English <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ˈ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ɡ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ɜr</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >b</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >əl</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >z</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a>; German: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_German" title="Help:IPA for German" >[ˈɡœbəls]</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Joseph_Goebbels.ogg" title="File:Paul Joseph Goebbels.ogg" ><img src="/69e4ef51-e25e-54ce-b333-cc5d47178b75.png"/></a> <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Paul_Joseph_Goebbels.ogg" class="internal" title="Paul Joseph Goebbels.ogg" >listen</a>);<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels#cite_note-1" >[1]</a> 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germans" title="Germans" >German</a> politician and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Public_Enlightenment_and_Propaganda" title="Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda" class="mw-redirect" >Reich Minister of Propaganda</a> in<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany" >Nazi Germany</a> from 1933 to 1945. As one of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler" title="Adolf Hitler" >Adolf Hitler</a>'s closest associates and most devoted followers, he was known for his zealous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_speaking" title="Public speaking" >orations</a> and deep and virulent<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism" title="Antisemitism" >antisemitism</a>, which led to him strongly supporting the extermination of the Jews when the Nazi leadership developed their "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Solution" title="Final Solution" >Final Solution</a>".

Goebbels came to power in 1933 after Hitler was appointed chancellor; within six weeks Hitler arranged his appointment as Propaganda Minister. One of Goebbels' first acts was to organize the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_book_burnings" title="Nazi book burnings" >burning of "decadent" books</a>. Under Goebbels' leadership, the Propaganda Ministry quickly gained and exerted controlling supervision over the news media, arts and information in Germany.

From the beginning of his tenure, Goebbels organized actions against German Jews, commencing with a one-day boycott of Jewish businessmen, doctors and lawyers<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels#cite_note-2" >[2]</a>on 1 April 1933.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels#cite_note-3" >[3]</a> These actions eventually led to the outright violence of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht" title="Kristallnacht" >Kristallnacht</a> (Night of Broken Glass) on the night of 9–10 November 1938, an open and unrestrained <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogrom" title="Pogrom" >pogrom</a> unleashed by the Nazis across Germany in which synagogues were burned, Jewish-owned businesses trashed, Jews assaulted (many killed) and thousands of them arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels#cite_note-Evans-4" >[4]</a>

During <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II" >World War II</a>, Goebbels increased his power and influence through adroit and shifting alliances with other Nazi leaders. By mid-1943, the tide of war was turning against the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_powers_of_World_War_II" title="Axis powers of World War II" class="mw-redirect" >Axis</a> powers; Goebbels responded to major defeats on the Russian front in a series of highly-orchestrated, emotionally manipulative speeches urging the Germans to embrace the idea of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_war" title="Total war" >total war</a> and total mobilization. He remained with Hitler in Berlin to the end. Before he committed suicide, Hitler named him his successor as Chancellor in his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_will_and_testament_of_Adolf_Hitler" title="Last will and testament of Adolf Hitler" >will</a>. On 1 May 1945, the day after Hitler had committed suicide with his new wife <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Braun" title="Eva Braun" >Eva Braun</a>, Goebbels and his wife <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magda_Goebbels" title="Magda Goebbels" >Magda</a> killed their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goebbels_children" title="Goebbels children" >six young children</a> by giving them poison (in the form of cyanide pills or capsules) in their sleep, then committed suicide themselves. The couple's bodies were burned in a shell crater, but due to the lack of petrol the burning was only partially effective.

Joseph Goebbels

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