Goebbels children: Difference between revisions
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==Aftermath== |
==Aftermath== |
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[[Image:Voss-called-to-identify.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Voss identifying the children.]] |
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[[Image: |
[[Image:VOss-Goebbels.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Voss at the site.]] |
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[[Image:Bscap007.jpg|thumb|right|140px|Helmut and Magda's bodies.]] |
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On [[May 3]], [[1945]], the day after Russian troops led by Lt. Col. [[Ivan Klimenko]] had discovered the burned bodies of their parents in the courtyard above, they found the bodies of the six children in their beds, dressed in their nightgowns, the girls wearing bows in their hair<ref>Gott, Richard, [http://www.newstatesman.com/200205060045 The Child Killer] News Statesman 6 May, 2002</ref>. |
On [[May 3]], [[1945]], the day after Russian troops led by Lt. Col. [[Ivan Klimenko]] had discovered the burned bodies of their parents in the courtyard above, they found the bodies of the six children in their beds, dressed in their nightgowns, the girls wearing bows in their hair<ref>Gott, Richard, [http://www.newstatesman.com/200205060045 The Child Killer] News Statesman 6 May, 2002</ref>. |
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Revision as of 09:49, 2 August 2007
Magda and Joseph Goebbels had six children. Some writers have claimed that their names all began with "H" as a tribute to Adolf Hitler, but there is no evidence to support this, and Magda's mother Auguste Behrend claimed that after the birth of Harald (Magda's first child from an earlier marriage to Günther Quandt) and Helga, the family made an innocent hobby of searching for new baby names beginning with "H" for each successive child.[1]
Children
Harald
Magda married Günther Quandt in 1921 and ten months later Harald Quandt was born to the couple. Magda and Günther Quandt's marriage ended in divorce in 1929 and in 1931 Magda married Joseph Goebbels (Adolf Hitler was witness).
Harald not only attended his mother's wedding to Goebbels, but also formed quite an attachment with him, sometimes accompanying him to gatherings, standing on the platform near to "Uncle Josef" wearing his Hitler Youth uniform[2]. After his appointment as Minister, Goebbels demanded that Harald's father release Magda from her obligation, under their divorce settlement, to send Harald to live with him in the event of her remarriage[3].
He would later serve as a Lieutenant in the Luftwaffe, was the only family member to survive the war and became a leading West German industrialist during the 1950s and 1960s.
Harald died in 1967, when his personal aircraft crashed over Italy. He was survived by five children.
Helga Susanne
Born September 1, 1932, Joseph was proud of his eldest daughter and would go straight to her cot as soon as he returned from his office, to take her on his lap. She was reported to be a lovely baby which never cried and just sat listening uncomprehendingly to the Nazi bigwigs with "her blue eyes sparkling". It was not unusual for Hitler, who was fond of children, to take her on to his own lap while he talked late into the night[2].
She was photographed with Hilde presenting Hitler with flowers on his birthday April 20 1936. [4]
Helga was 12 years old when she died[5]. Bruises found on her arms postmortem led to wide speculation that she had struggled against receiving (according to most accounts) an injection of morphine, which was used to quickly sedate the children before they were apparently killed with cyanide capsules.
Hildegard Traudel
Born April 13, 1934, Hildegard was commonly called "Hilde". In a 1939 diary entry, Joseph referred to her as "a little mouse".
Hilde was eleven years old at the time of her death[5].
Helmut Christian
Born October 2, 1935, Helmut was considered sensitive and something of a dreamer[6]. When his teacher at the Lanke primary school reported, to his father's dismay, that his promotion to a higher form was doubtful, he responded so well to intense tuition from his mother, and his Governess that he not only achieved promotion, but also excellent marks.[6] He wore braces on his teeth.
On April 26 1945, Helmut read aloud his father's birthday speech to Hitler, and responded to Helga's protests that he was copying their father, by arguing impertinently that no, Joseph had copied him.[7]
Traudl Junge, relates that, upon hearing Hitler's gunshot, Helmut shouted "That was a direct hit!" mistaking it for the sound of a mortar landing near the Führerbunker.
Helmut was nine years old at the time of his death[5].
Holdine Kathrin
Born prematurely, February 19, 1937, it is claimed that Holde got her name when the Doctor who delivered her, Stoeckel, bent over her and exclaimed "Das ist eine Holde!" ("that's a pretty one!")[8] Meissner claims that Holde was the "least lively" of the children and was somewhat "pushed aside" by the others to her considerable distress. He claims Goebbels responded to this by making her something of a favorite, to which she responded with devotion.[9]
She was eight years old at the time of her death[5].
Hedwig Johanna
Born May 1, 1938, she was commonly called "Hedda". She had insisted, in 1944, that when she grew up she was going to marry SS Adjutant Günther Schwägermann, having been captivated by the fact he had a fake eye.
The children were killed on the eve of Hedwig's seventh birthday[5].
Heidrun Elisabeth
Born October 20, 1940, "Heide" was four years old at the time of her death[5].
Temperaments
Magda once described the temperaments of five of her children to her sister-in-law Eleanore (Ello) Quandt by describing how each would react to learning they had been deceived by their spouse[9]:
- Helga- Would seize a revolver and shoot the unfaithful husband out of hand, or at least try to.
- Hilde- Would collapse altogether, sobbing and weeping, but would soon appear to be reconciled if her husband expressed remorse and swore to be faithful in future.
- Helmut- Would never believe that his wife would deceive him
- Holde- Would never quite get over the infidelity, but would be too proud to reproach her husband. Finally, through the breach of confidence on the part of her husband she would go to pieces altogether.
- Hedda- On the other hand, would give a peal of laughter and say "Come here you rascal and give me a kiss"
Family Life
In 1934, in search of privacy for himself and his family, Joseph bought Schwanenwerder, an imposing house in its own grounds on a peninsula on Lake Havel. He also bought a motor Yacht Baldur for use on the lake. Harald had his own nursery on the first floor while Helga and Hilde shared another. The children not only had ponies, but also a little carriage to ride around the gardens in. Two years later he purchased a neighboring property and extended the park and include a private "citadel" as his own personal retreat[9].
Later, the City of Berlin placed a second lakeside house at his disposal, a small castle, Lanke am Bogensee, as an official residence, which was only really large enough for the family to use as a weekened retreat. Though later Joseph added a large modern house on the opposite shore of the Bogensee[9].
When the Goebbels marriage reached crisis point in the summer of 1938, over Goebbels´ affair with Czech actress Lída Baarová, Hitler himself intervened and negotiated an agreement whereby the actress would be banished and the couple would keep up public appearances for a year subject to any reasonable conditions Magda might make. One of her conditions was that Joseph would only be able to visit Schwanenwerder and see the children with her expressed permission. If, after that year, Magda still wanted a divorce, Hitler would allow it, with Joseph as the guilty party, and she would retain Schwanenwerder, custody of the children, and a considerable income.[10]
Joseph abided scrupulously by the agreement, always calling for permission before visiting and expressing his regret at missing Magda if she was not there, or taking his place, amiably, with his family at the tea table, if she was. It is claimed that the children at no time seemed to be aware that their parents were living separately at this time.[10]
In the media
In 1937, Helga and Hilde were photographed with their father at the Berlin Frühjahrsregatta[11].
The public reconciliation agreement, in August 1938, was cemented by the appearance of Helga, Hilde and Helmut, with their parents, in front of the cameras of UFA, as a cinematic image of domestic reconciliation[12].
In 1939 Joseph used a concealed camera to film his children as "healthy" contrast to the handicapped children in a propaganda film intended to promote the euthanasia of handicapped children[12].
During 1942 the children appeared 34 times in the weekly newsreels, going about their lives, helping their mother, playing in the garden or singing to their father on his 45th bithday[12], that October, when Joseph was presented with a film of his children playing as a gift from the German Newsreel Company[13].
On February 18, 1943, Helga and Hildegard were photographed along with Magda at one of Joseph's best-known events, the Total War speech[4].
Towards the end of 1944, Joseph sent Magda and his two eldest daughters into a Military Hospital to be filmed for the weekly newsreels but abandoned the project on realising that the terrible injuries of the soldiers were too traumatic for his daughters.[12]
The last days
As the Red Army moved closer at the end of January, 1945, Joseph ordered the removal of his family from the Lanke Castle estate to the relative safety of Schwanenwerder. From where the children could soon hear the rumble of artillery in the east and wonder why not rain ever followed the "thunder"[6]
By April 22, 1945, the Red Army was entering Berlin and the Goebbels brought their children to the Führerbunker where Adolf Hitler and a few personnel were also staying to direct the final defence of Berlin. Red Cross leader Karl Gebhardt approached Joseph about taking the children out of the city with him, but was dismissed.[citation needed]
General Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven later described the children as "sad" but Erna Flegel, with whom they had much contact in the bunker, characterised them as "charming" and "absolutely delightful"[14] as did their young governess "Frau K"[6].
Hitler was very fond of the children, and even in the last week of his life still took great pleasure in sharing chocolate with them as well as giving them the use of his bathroom [15].
They are reported to have played with Hitler's dog Blondi during their time in the Führerbunker[16], where they slept in a single room. While many reports suggest there were three separate bunk beds, secretary Traudl Junge insisted there were only two. The children are said to have sung in unison while in the bunker, performing for both Hitler and the injured Robert Ritter von Greim, as well as having been conducted in play-song by pilot Hanna Reitsch. Junge said that she was with the children on April 30 when Hitler and Eva Braun killed themselves.
Death
Stories of brutality and rape by the advancing Soviet troops were circulating in Berlin, and there was much discussion in the Führerbunker about suicide as a means to escape humiliation or punishment from the Soviets.
Joseph's last testament, appended to Hitler's, claimed that his wife and children supported him in his refusal to leave Berlin qualifying this by asserting that the children would support the decision if they were old enough to speak for themselves[16]. Both pilot Hanna Reitsch (who had left the bunker on April 29) and Junge (who would leave on May 1) carried letters to the outside world from those remaining. Included was a letter from Magda to Harald who was in an Allied POW camp[16].
The following day, on May 1, 1945, the Goebbels' six children were allegedly drugged with morphine and killed with cyanide capsules broken in their mouths. Accounts differ over how involved Magda was with the killing of her children. The children were reportedly told they would be leaving for Berchtesgaden in the morning and Ludwig Stumpfegger (or possibly Helmut Kunz) was said to have provided Magda with morphine to sedate the children. Erna Flegel claims that Magda reassured the children about the morphine by telling them that they needed inoculations because they would be staying in the bunker for a long time[15]. Erich Kempka reported after the war that he believed the children had been "taken away by a nurse" that day, just before he left the bunker[17]. Some witnesses claimed SS doctor Ludwig Stumpfegger crushed the cyanide capsules into the children's mouths, but as no witnesses to the event survived it is impossible to know. O'Donnell[18] concluded that although Stumpfegger was probably involved in drugging the children, it was Magda who killed them. He suggested that witnesses blamed the deaths on Stumpfegger because he was a convenient target, having disappeared (and died, it was later learned) the following day. Moreover, as O'Donnell recorded, Stumpfegger may have been too intoxicated at the time of the deaths to have played a reliable role.
Meissner claims that Stumpfegger refused to take any part in the deaths of the children, and that a mysterious "country Doctor from the enemy occupied eastern region" appeared and "carried out the fearful task" before disappearing again [16] , but this explanation may owe more to Meissner's characteristic diplomacy and consideration than any reality.
Magda appears to have contemplated and talked about killing her children at least a month in advance. After the war, Günther Quandt's sister-in-law Eleanore recalled Magda saying she did not want her children to grow up hearing their father had been one of the century's foremost criminals and that reincarnation might grant her children a better future life[19]. Reitsch, who stayed in the bunker after flying von Greim to meet Hitler, said Magda asked her in the last days to help ensure she did not back away from killing the children if it came to that.
She also refused several offers from others, such as Albert Speer, to spirit the children out of Berlin. There was evidence (in the form of bruises) that the eldest child, twelve year old Helga, had awakened and struggled before she was killed. The children's bodies, in nightclothes, with ribbons tied in the girls hair, were found in the two-tiered bunk beds where they were killed, when Russian troops entered the bunker a day later.
Aftermath
On May 3, 1945, the day after Russian troops led by Lt. Col. Ivan Klimenko had discovered the burned bodies of their parents in the courtyard above, they found the bodies of the six children in their beds, dressed in their nightgowns, the girls wearing bows in their hair[20].
Vice Admiral Hans Voss was brought to the bombed out Chancellery garden to identify the bodies, as was Hans Fritsche, a leading German radio commentator who had answered directly to Goebbels, the following day. Their bodies were brought to the Buchau Cemetery in Berlin for autopsy and inquest by Russian Doctors. In spite of repeated attempts, even Frau Behrend, the children's Grandmother, never learned what became of the bodies. Reputedly, in 1970, the remains of the six children, as well as those of Joseph, Magda, Hitler and Braun were burned and scattered in the Elbe River by the Soviets.[16].
Vintage footage of the children was used in the film Eye of the Dictator (1988), compiled from Nazi era footage.
In 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, historians and journalists were allowed to enter the Fuhrerbunker before its demolition - and it was reported that the children's room and its furnishings was still perfectly intact[21]
Gallery
In popular culture
The 1997 historical fiction book The Karnau Tapes by German author Marcel Beyer was told from the point of view of Helga Susanne and the fictitious Hermann Karnau.
In the 2004 film Der Untergang,
- Helga Susanne was played by Aline Sokar
- Hildegard Traudel was played by Charlotte Stoiber
- Helmut Christian was played by Gregory Borlein
- Hedwig Johanna was played by Julia Bauer
- Holdine Kathrin was played by Laura Borlein
- Heidrun Elisabeth was played by Amelie Menges
External links
- A short film about the Goebbels family (showing home movie footage of the children, followed by Russian footage of the corpses of Goebbels and the children (from the BBC & various sources via Youtube))
- Home movies of Magda and her children, summer 1942
- Trimph of the Will clips with children
References
- ^ Behrend, Auguste. "My daughter Magda Goebbels", Schwaebische Illustrierte, 26 April 1952
- ^ a b Meissner, Hans Otto, Magda Goebbels, First Lady of the Third Reich, pp.95 - pp.105
- ^ Meissner, Hans Otto, Magda Goebbels, First Lady of the Third Reich, pp.125
- ^ a b Klabunde, Anja, Magda Goebbels, illustrations between pp182 and pp183
- ^ a b c d e f Meissner, Hans Otto, Magda Goebbels, First Lady of the Third Reich, Illustrations between pp.240 - pp.241
- ^ a b c d Meissner, Hans Otto, Magda Goebbels, First Lady of the Third Reich, pp.242 - pp.249
- ^ Galante, Pierre and Eugene Silianoff. Voices from the Bunker, 1989
- ^ Klabunde, Anja, Magda Goebbels
- ^ a b c d Meissner, Hans Otto, Magda Goebbels, First Lady of the Third Reich, pp.134 - pp.144
- ^ a b Meissner, Hans Otto, Magda Goebbels, First Lady of the Third Reich, pp.195- pp.205
- ^ Photo, Helga, Hilde and Goebbels, 1937 Berlin Frühjahrsregatta
- ^ a b c d Joseph Goebbels: Bio Nationalsozialismus.de Rechercheportal für Schule, Studium und Wissenschaft
- ^ Home movies of Magda and her children, summer 1942(The original title is Josef's birthday, "To 29 October, 1942")
- ^ Harding, Luke, Interview: Erna Flegel, Guardian Unlimited May 2, 2005
- ^ a b Statement of Erna Flegel RN. Red Cross Nurse from the training school "Markisches Haus" Scharnhorststrasse 3, Born 1911. Made to the CIA 23 November, 1945 Cite error: The named reference "flegel" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b c d e Meissner, Hans Otto, Magda Goebbels, First Lady of the Third Reich, pp.260 - pp.271 Cite error: The named reference "kinder3" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Testimony of AIr. Erich Kempka on the last days of Hitler, Berchtesgaden, 20th June, 1945
- ^ O'Donnell, J, P, Bunker
- ^ Meissner, Hans Otto, Magda Goebbels, First Lady of the Third Reich, pp.242
- ^ Gott, Richard, The Child Killer News Statesman 6 May, 2002
- ^ Exploring Berlin's Underground, Travel Intelligence Website