Authors: Heinrich Fraenkel,Roger Manvell
CHAPTER SIX
During the early and middle period of the war the more intimate sources for Goebbels' opinions and characters are the published sections of his diary edited by Lochner and starting in January 1942, and the personal diary of his aide Rudolf Semmler, starting in January 1941, and subsequently published in an English translation as
Goebbels—the Man next to Hitler
(Westhouse, London, 1947). Dr. Semmler (whose name should in fact be spelled Semler, and not as published in his book) has also given us much valuable information in conversation with H.F.
The Goebbels Experiment
(see introductory note to Chapter Five) gives a useful analysis of the organisation of Goebbels' Ministry at this time.
Following are the page references in Semmler's
Goebbels
for those numbered quotations in our text which have no other indication (such as dates) as to where they may be found:
22, pp. 13 and 15; 23, p. 17; 25, p. 18; 26, p. 29; 29, pp. 35-6; 30, pp. 40-1; 31, p. 20; 32, p. 49; 33, p. 31; 34, pp. 56-7; 35, p. 28; 36, p. 24.
Following are the page references in Lochner's
The Goebbels Diaries
(Hamish Hamilton, London, 1948) for those numbered quotations in our text which have no other indication (such as dates) as to where they may be found:
38, p. 90; 39, p. 91; 40, p. 115; 41, p. 84; 42, p. 27; 43, p. 87; 44, p. 93; 45, p. 94; 46, p. 148; 48, p. 31; 49, p. 22; 50, p. 50; 51, p. 86; 52, pp. 97-8; 53, p. 188; 54, p. 117; 55, p. 18; 56, p. 169; 57, p. 244; 58, p. 133; 59, p. 29; 60, p. 38; 61, p. 190; 62, p. 55; 63, p. 35; 64, p. 51; 65, p. 17; 66, p. 37; 67, p. 229; 68, p. 55; 69, p. 43; 72, p. 170; 73, p. 142; 74, p. 165; 75, p. 151; 76, p. 159; 77, p. 190 (see also Semmler,
Goebbels,
pp. 60-1).
The remaining notes are:
1.
See Bullock's
Hitler,
pp. 520-1.
2.
Idem, p. 543.
3.
See Semmler,
Goebbels,
p. 27.
4.
Bullock's
Hitler,
p. 617.
5.
Quoted by Riess,
Joseph Goebbels,
p. 216.
6.
Shirer,
Berlin Diary,
p. 182.
7.
The form of this ‘Service’ is given in
The Goebbels Experiment,
p. 62.
8.
Dietrich in
The Hitler I Knew
(p. 117) claims that his high-sounding title merely covered “publicity” and “keeping Hitler informed on press matters”. He adds: “In the sphere of culture Goebbels and Rosenberg quarrelled incessantly; in art Göring and Goebbels were rivals; in the control of German writers Goebbels, Rosenberg and Bouhler tilted against one another.” Divide and misrule!
9.
See Shirer's
Berlin Diary,
p. 521.
10.
See
The Goebbels Experiment,
p. 22.
11.
Idem, p. 117.
12.
Idem, p. 118.
13.
See Riess,
Joseph Goebbels,
p. 222.
14.
C. J. Rollo,
Radio Goes to War
(Faber and Faber, London, 1943), p. 51. See Chapter Five for an account of Germany's invasion by radio.
15.
Von Oven in his diary (VoL I, p. 230) claims that Goebbels thought the radio interval-signal sounded too lugubrious and after much trial and error himself composed a more cheerful series of notes—c, g, e, c.
16.
See
The Goebbels Experiment,
p. 152.
17.
Idem, p. 170.
18.
Idem, p. 217.
19.
Idem, p. 36.
20.
Idem, p. 20.
21.
See
Sight and Sound
(British Film Institute, London), Vol. 10, No. 37, p. 5.
24.
Quoted
by Riess,
Joseph Goebbels,
pp. 48-9.
27.
In conversation with H.F., Semmler said of Goebbels: “He had no heart.” This he felt lay at the root of Goebbels' failure as a man.
28.
Fritzsche in conversation with H.F.
37.
Frau Otte in conversation with H.F.
47.
See Bullock,
Hitler,
pp. 617-18.
70.
There is further information about Lord Haw-Haw in C. J. Rollo's
Radio Goes to War,
Shirer's
Berlin Diary,
and J. W. Hall's
Trial
of William Joyce.
71.
Shirer,
Berlin
Diary, p. 524.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The principal sources for this chapter are Goebbels' own diary, together with Semmler and von Oven.
Following are the page references in Lochner's
The Goebbels Diaries
for those numbered quotations in our text which have no other indication (such as dates) as to where they may be found:
2, p. 216; 3, p. 219; 4, p. 266; 5, p. 257; 6, p. 385; 7, p. 221; 8, p. 314; 9, p. 370; 10, p. 293; 11, p. 217; 12, p. 227; 14, p. 296; 16, p. 349; 17, p. 281; 18, pp. 276, 332, 385; 19, p. 96; 20, p. 197; 21, p. 200; 22, pp. 235-6; 24, p. 430; 25, pp. 435, 436, 440-1; 26, p. 299; 27, p. 302; 28, p. 298; 29, pp. 386-7; 30, p. 298; 31, p. 300; 32, p. 214.
Following are the page references in Semmler's
Goebbels
for those numbered quotations in our text which have no other indication (such as dates) as to where they may be found:
39, p. 68; 41, p. 88; 42, p. 98; 43, pp. 87-8; 44, p. 107; 45, p. 104; 47. p. 103; 48, p. 128; 49, p. 127; 52, pp. 206-7; 53, pp. 146-7.
The remaining notes are:
1.
See Bullock,
Hitler,
pp. 642-3.
13.
See von Oven, Vol. I, p. 61.
15.
Idem, Vol. II, p. 299.
23.
Quoted by Riess,
Joseph Goebbels,
pp. 302-3.
33.
See von Oven, Vol. I, p. 68.
34.
See von Oven, Vol. I, p. 17. The daily routine of Goebbels' life is described in Vol. I, p. 43 et seq.
35.
Goebbels was always liable to nervous irritation. Semmler told H.F. how this characteristic increased when, every six months, Goebbels' orthopedic surgeon and his shoe-maker paid their visits to attend him. Goebbels was quite prepared to lie about his handicap when he could bring himself to mention it; he would claim, for instance, that he had been run over as a child.
36.
Told to H.F. by Frau Otte.
37.
Semmler told H.F. of a revealing incident in connection with this routine journey. One morning Goebbels, who was always fiddling with something or other (he never kept his hands still, according to Semmler) accidentally released the catch on the door, which swung open as the car turned a corner. Goebbels fell out, and was dragged a few yards before Rach could stop. He suffered some bruises, but later was heard by Semmler boasting of his calm at the time of the accident.
38.
Semmler in conversation with H.F. recollects how Goebbels would deliberately stand about in the open during raids to show off his courage.
40.
This typical exaggeration was frequently quoted by Goebbels and his aides. Semmler told H.F. that he was present at this speech and went home afterwards with Goebbels, who was bathed in sweat. But his only interest, like an actor, was in how his speech had gone over. Semmler added that for all his big speeches there were flower decorations on the rostrum to hide his legs. He was abnormally sensitive about his handicap on these occasions.
46.
Gutterer in conversation with H.F.
50.
The main account of the July Plot is taken from Bullock and Semmler, but supplemented by many unpublished details supplied by Dr. Hagen. Hagen is relatively unknown, but in his double capacity as Remer's adjutant and Goebbels' friend he was in fact the one person really instrumental in saving the day for the Nazi régime on 20th July. He was a much-wounded man who combined great scholarship in music with utter devotion to militarism—the blend of scholar and soldier that traditionally appeals to the German imagination. When H.F. met him the question rose whether his vital part in the prolongation of the war and the consequent loss of life weighed on his conscience. He assured Fraenkel that he took his sacred oath of loyalty to Hitler as absolute. For him Hitler was, as he put it, the
Eidträger,
the sacred person to whom a soldier's obedience was due without doubt or question. But, he added, had Hitler been killed by Staulfenberg's bomb, his duty would then have been to obey the generals in the Bendlerstrasse. “I would have shot Goebbels, even though he was my friend,” he said.
51.
Naumann told H.F. that at this time he was addressing an important meeting in Hamburg at the request of Kaufmann, the city's Gauleiter. A telephone call from Goebbels of the utmost urgency forced him to break away from the meeting. Goebbels told him to get into a plane and return to Berlin at once. “There's been an attempt on the Führer's life,” he said, “and we don't know whether we'll be alive or dead in five minutes.” Naumann returned in the only plane immediately available—an old training machine in the charge of a young pilot who had never flown solo before!
CHAPTER EIGHT
The history of the final period of Hitler's life has been told in detail by Professor H. R. Trevor-Roper in
The Last Days of Hitler
(Macmillan, London, 1947). Other sources for this chapter include Semmler's diary, Gerhard Boldt's account of his experiences as a member of Hitler's staff in
In the Shelter with Hitler
(Citadel Press, London, 1948) and the private testimonies to H.F. of Naumann, Semmler, Hans Meyer and Hitler's secretary, Frau Christian.
Following are the page references in Semmler's
Goebbels
for those numbered quotations in our text which have no other indication (such as dates) as to where they may be found:
2, p. 177; 4, p. 162; 6, pp. 174-5; 8, p. 159; 14, pp. 166-7; 18, p. 164; 19, p. 181; 21, p. 186; 24, p. 190; 26, p. 178; 29, p. 194.
The remaining notes are:
1.
Boldt,
In the Shelter with Hitler,
p. 5.
3.
Idem, p. 21.
5.
Frau Kimmich in conversation with H.F.
7.
Frau Kimmich in conversation with H.F.
9.
Quoted by Riess,
Joseph Goebbels,
p. 385.
10.
Quoted by Riess, p. 373.
11.
Quoted by Riess, p. 373.
12.
See Riess, idem, p. 398.
13.
The story of the microfilm of Goebbels' diaries was told H.F. by Naumann.
15.
Quoted by Trevor-Roper,
The Last Days of Hitler,
p. 56.
16.
Quoted by Riess, p. 380.
17.
Quoted by Riess, p. 384.
20.
Semmler in conversation with H.F. affirmed that Magda was a very lonely woman, well aware that her husband “had no heart”.
22.
Documentation Wiener Library.
23.
Told to H.F. by Maria Kimmich. Both Semmler and Naumann agree with this explanation of Magda's decision to die with her family. To Semmler she said: “Das kann ich meinem Mann nicht antun.” (“I can't do that to my husband.”)
25.
See Boldt,
In the Shelter with Hitler,
p. 27.
27.
See Trevor-Roper,
The Last Days of Hitler,
pp. 106-9.
28.
See Semmler,
Goebbels,
p. 192 and Trevor-Roper,
The Last Days of Hitler,
p. 110.
30.
Told to H.F. by Maria Kimmich.
31.
Told to H.F. by Naumann.
CHAPTER NINE
The detailed record of what took place during the last days in the Bunker is given by Professor Trevor-Roper in
The Last Days of Hitler
(see introductory note to the previous chapter). The final events in the life of Goebbels and his family have been told us in detail by Naumann who was a constant visitor to the Bunker and was with Goebbels and Magda until their deaths. Schwaeger- mann, with whom we established contact, felt unable to say more than that these last moments in the Bunker were so painful in his memory that he will never speak of them to anyone again. Frau Christian, one of Hitler's two principal secretaries in the Bunker, has also added some information.
1.
Semmler in statement to H.F.
2.
This recording is mentioned by Riess,
Joseph Goebbels,
p. 422.
3.
Dr. Winckler in a statement to H.F.
4.
Otte in a statement to H.F.
5.
Quoted by Riess,
Joseph Goebbels,
p. 423.
6.
According to Naumann in conversation with H.F.
7.
Boldt,
In the Shelter with Hitler,
p. 15.
8.
Idem, p. 48.
9.
Idem, p. 63.
10.
Idem, p. 61.
11.
Idem, p. 51.
12.
Idem, p. 60.
13.
These letters are given in von Oven,
Mit Goebbels bis zum EnJe,
VoL II, pp. 312-13.
14.
Quoted by Trevor-Roper,
The Last Days of Hitler,
pp. 202-3.
15.
Both Naumann and Frau Christian have emphatically denied the allegations that have frequently been made that as soon as Hitler was dead, the relief experienced by everyone in the Bunker led to drunkenness and other excesses. Naumann admits that the survivors in the Führerbunker lit cigarettes, but, he says, “almost with a sense of desecration”. Any excesses that might have taken place, he adds, would have been confined to the “soldateske” bunkers some distance away.
16.
This telegram is signed by Goebbels alone in the version quoted by Trevor-Roper,
The Last Days of Hitler,
p. 229. Grand-Admiral Doenitz in his recent Memoirs gives the telegram as signed by both Bormann and Goebbels.
17.
The details of the children's deaths are those believed to be true by Naumann. The Goebbels family were alone when the poison was administered.