Magda Goebbels
Magda Goebbels was the divorced mother of a son when she first heard Joseph Goebbels, then Gauleiter of Berlin (Nazi Party Leader) speak publicly. By the autumn of 1930 she was serving as his personal secretary. In the spring of 1931 they were romantically involved and planning marriage, although Goebbels was concerned over her increasingly close relationship with Adolf Hitler. Goebbels and Magda were married in December 1931, with Hitler in attendance. Hitler had encouraged the marriage and intended Magda to serve as his official hostess, in effect being the First Lady of Nazi Germany, since it was his intention not to marry.
Hitler remained close with the Goebbels’ during the years leading up to the Second World War, often staying at their luxurious Berlin apartment. Eventually the Goebbels’ had six children together, along with Magda’s son by her first marriage. Hitler was fond of the children, relaxing by playing with them while visiting the apartment. Magda in turn remained close to Hitler and at his request served as the representative of the proper Aryan wife and mother, devoted to her children, submissive to her husband, and committed to the Nazi party and the Third Reich.
Joseph Goebbels was a womanizer and philanderer, entering into several affairs with actresses he encountered as part of his work making propaganda films. One such affair grew serious and Magda being aware of it discussed it with Hitler, who ordered Goebbels to end it in 1938. Although the Goebbels remained together and at least publicly appeared at peace with each other by the end of 1938 Hitler again intervened, refusing to allow the couple to consider divorce and arranging for photo sessions in which he posed with the couple and their children. Magda continued to solicit support for her marriage from the unmarried Hitler.
Magda too had extramarital affairs, which Hitler either didn’t know about or chose to ignore. She continued to be among his close female friends. When the war began Magda demonstrated the patriotic duty of German women by taking work in a war industry, using public transportation to commute in order to save fuel. Her son joined the Luftwaffe, a fact exploited by the propaganda machine run by his stepfather. The Goebbels continued to support Hitler wholeheartedly until 1942, when Magda began to privately express doubts about the situation with the Russians.
She remained within Hitler’s inner circle through to the end. By 1944 she was confiding to other friends that Hitler was no longer listening to anyone who spoke out against what the Fuhrer believed. Hitler considered only what he wanted to hear. Both Magda Goebbels and Joseph joined the Fuhrer in his bunker in 1945. The day following the deaths of Hitler and Eva Braun, Goebbels and his wife committed suicide, after Magda administered poison to their six children, killing them. Their partially burned bodies were found the next day, May 2 1945, by Soviet troops as they overran Berlin.