Joseph Goebbels (WL)

Joseph Goebells is a major antagonist in Warring Legends' World War II. He was the German Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. He was one of Adolf Hitler's close associates and most devoted followers, and was known for his skills in public speaking and his deep, virulent antisemitism, which was evident in his publicly voiced views. He advocated progressively harsher discrimination including the extermination of Jews in the Holocaust.

Defeat and Death
In the final months of the war, Goebbels' speeches and articles took on an increasingly apocalyptic tone. By the beginning of 1945, with the Soviets on the Oder River and the Western Allies preparing to cross the Rhine, he could no longer disguise the fact that defeat was inevitable. Berlin had little in the way of fortifications or artillery, as almost everything had been sent to the front. Goebbels noted in his diary on 21 January that millions of Germans were fleeing westward. He tentatively discussed with Hitler the issue of making peace overtures to the Western Allies, but Hitler again refused. Privately, Goebbels was conflicted at pushing the case with Hitler since he did not want to lose the confidence of his Fuhrer.

When other Nazi leaders urged Hitler to leave Berlin and establish a new center of resistance in the National Redoubt in Bavaria, Goebbels opposed this, arguing for a heroic last stand in Berlin. His family moved into their house in Berlin to await the end. He and Magda may have discussed suicide and the fate of their young children in a long meeting on the night of 27 January. He knew how the outside world would view the criminal acts committed by the regime, and had no desire to subject himself to the "debacle" of a trial. He burned his private papers on the night of 18 April.

Goebbels knew how to play on Hitler's fantasies, encouraging him to see the hand of providence in the death of United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 12 April. By this time, Goebbels had gained the position he had wanted so long: at the side of Hitler. Goring was utterly discredited, although he was not stripped of his offices until 23 April. Himmler, whose appointment as commander of Army Group Vistula had led to disaster on the Oder, was also in disgrace with Hitler. Most of Hitler's inner circle including Goring, Himmler, Speer and Ribbentrop, prepared to leave Berlin immediately after Hitler's birthday celebration on 20 April. Evan Boremann was not anxious to meet his end at Hitler's side. On 22 April, Hitler announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then shoot himself. Goebbels moved with his family into the Vorbunker, connected to the lower Fuhrerbunker under the Reich Chancellery garden in central Berlin, that same day. He told Vice Admiral Hans-Erich Voss that he would not entertain the idea of either surrender or escape.

After midnight on 29 April, with the Soviets advancing ever closer to the bunker complex, Hitler married Eva Braun in a small civil ceremony within the Fuhrerbunker. Afterwards, Hitler hosted a modest wedding breakfast with his new wife. Hitler then took secretary Traudi Junge to another room and dictated his last will and testament. Goebbels and Bormann were two of the witnesses.