38 Facts About Magda Goebbels

Johanna Maria Magdalena Goebbels was the wife of Nazi Germany's Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels.

When Magda Goebbels was five, her mother sent her to Cologne to stay with her ex-husband.

In 1908, her mother married Richard Friedlander, a wealthy Jewish merchant who lived in Brussels, and adopted Magda Goebbels to give her his surname.

In Brussels, Magda Goebbels was enrolled at the Ursuline Convent in Vilvoorde where she was remembered as "an active and intelligent little girl".

The family moved to Berlin, where Magda Goebbels attended the high school Kolmorgensche Gymnasium.

Magda Goebbels demanded that she change her surname back to Ritschel, when converting from Catholicism to Quandt's Protestantism.

Magda Goebbels soon grew frustrated in her marriage; Quandt spent little time with her, as his main interest was the expansion of his business empire.

In 1929, Quandt discovered that Magda Goebbels was having an affair, so they separated and divorced later in the year.

In 1930, Magda attended a meeting of the Nazi Party, where she was impressed by one of the speakers, Joseph Goebbels, then the Gauleiter of Berlin.

Magda Goebbels joined the party on 1 September 1930, and became leader of a local Nazi women's group.

Magda Goebbels decided to advance their wedding date, and the couple were married on 19 December 1931, with Hitler as a witness.

Otto Wagener claims that Magda's marriage to Goebbels was somewhat arranged; since Hitler intended to remain unmarried, it was suggested that as the wife of a leading and highly visible Nazi official she might eventually act as "first lady of the Third Reich".

Hitler grew very fond of the Magda Goebbels' six children and enjoyed staying at their Berlin apartment, where he could relax and would often arrive there late at night, sitting and talking with Magda Goebbels, with their baby Helga was born on 1932 and on his lap.

Magda Goebbels had thus a close relationship with Hitler, and became a member of his small coterie of female friends.

Magda Goebbels acted as an unofficial representative of the regime, receiving letters from all over Germany from women with questions about domestic matters or child custody issues.

Joseph and Magda Goebbels had six children: Helga, Hilde, Helmut, Holde, Hedda, and Heide.

In 1936, Magda Goebbels met the Czech actress Lida Baarova and by the winter of 1937 began an intense affair with her.

Magda Goebbels had a long conversation with Hitler about the situation on 15 August 1938.

Magda Goebbels had affairs, including relationships with Kurt Ludecke in 1933 and Karl Hanke in 1938.

Magda Goebbels was involved with entertaining the wives of foreign heads of state, supporting the troops and comforting war widows.

Privately Magda Goebbels expressed doubts, especially after the war began to go badly on the Eastern Front.

Afflicted with a weak heart and "delicate health", Magda Goebbels would have extended periods of illness.

In late April 1945, the Soviet Red Army entered Berlin, and the Magda Goebbels family moved into the Vorbunker, connected to the lower Fuhrerbunker under the Reich Chancellery garden.

Magda Goebbels wrote a farewell letter to her son Harald, who was in a POW camp in North Africa:.

Magda Goebbels added a postscript to Hitler's last will and testament of 29 April 1945 stating that he would disobey the order to leave Berlin, "[f]or reasons of humanity and personal loyalty".

Magda Goebbels was among the last to see both Hitler and Eva Braun before they committed suicide on the afternoon of 30 April 1945.

Author James P O'Donnell concluded that although Stumpfegger was probably involved in drugging the children, Magda killed them herself.

Magda Goebbels appears to have contemplated and talked about killing her children a month in advance.

Magda Goebbels appears to have refused several offers, such as one by Albert Speer, to have the children smuggled out of Berlin and insisted that the family must stay at her husband's side.

Straight after Hitler's death, Mrs Magda Goebbels came down to the bunker with her children.

Magda Goebbels then went back up to the Vorbunker with the children.

About two hours later, Magda Goebbels came back down to the Fuhrerbunker, alone.

Magda Goebbels looked very pale, her eyes very red and her face was "frozen".

Magda Goebbels sat down at a table and began playing patience.

Magda Goebbels then came over to her, but did not say a word at that time.

Magda Goebbels waited in the stairwell and heard the shots sound.

Magda Goebbels's face was unrecognizable compared to that of her husband.

Magda Goebbels has been portrayed by the following actresses in film and television productions.