The Goebbels Diaries: The Last Days (1945)

414 Pages·1978·32.09 MB·English

by  Joseph Goebbels

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goebbel:
DIARIES:
THE
EAST
day;
EDITED AND INTRODUCED BY
HUGH TREVOR-ROPER
a«tt«!SiSS:
Oaft^W^*
edited, introduced and annotated by
Hugh Trevor-Roper
The
Goebbels Diaries
The Last Days
translatedfromtheGermanby
RichardBarry
PanBooksLondonand Sydney
FirstpublishedinGermanyunderthetitle
JosephGoebbels, Tagebücherjg4S: DieLetzenAufzeichnungen
©HoffmanundCampeVerlag,Hamburg1977
FirstpublishedinGreatBritain1978byMartinSeeker&WarburgLtd
Thiseditionpublished 1979byPanBooksLtd,
CavayePlace,Londonswio9PG
Englishtranslation ©MartinSeeker&WarburgLtd1978
ISBN o 330 25883 4
Reproduced,printedandboiindinGreatBritainby
Cox&WymanLtd,Reading
Thisbookissoldsubjecttotheconditionthatit
shallnot,bywayoftradeorotherwise,belent,re-sold,
hiredoutorotherwisecirculatedwithoutthepublisher'sprior
consentinanyformofbindingorcoverotherthanthatinwhich
itispublishedandwithoutasimilarconditionincludingthis
conditionbeingimposedonthesubsequentpurchaser
CONTENTS
Introduction by Hugh Trevor-Roper xv
The Story ofthe 1945 Goebbels Diaries by Peter
Stadelmayer xxv
Translator's Note xliii
THE DIARY
Tuesday 27 February 1945 I
AtalkwithHitlerintheReichChancellery-Criticism
ofGoring - Praise for Dönitz
Wednesday 28 February 1945 4
General Vlasov visits Goebbels - StaHn's character -
Dangerous bolshevist propaganda— Goebbels Hstens
tobroadcastofhisspeech-Comparisonofthepresent
day with the Punic Wars and Seven Years' War
Thursday i March 1945 13
International press reaction to the Yalta Conference—
Francoa "pompous ass"-A fresharmyfromunits of
theReplacementArmy-Theairwar"acrazyorgy"—
"The Reich will gradually be turned into a desert" -
"To all our people's miseries that ofhunger will now
be added."
Friday 2 March 1945 20
SeppDietrichcriticisesHitler'smeasures-Theairwar
"the great tale ofwoe" — Some six million dwellings
totally destroyed in the Reich — Goebbels favours
stoppage ofleave - Speer the right man in the right
VI CONTENTS
place — Power supply in Berlin becoming worse —
Goebbels reads memoranda by Gneisenau and
Scharnhorst about the People's War of1808
Saturday 3 March 23
Strikesinthe USAandBritain—No moreevacuation
from the West — Hitler visits the Eastern Front —
BroadcastbyGauleiterHankefromencircledBreslau
Sunday 4 March 1945 36
"A difficult problem": the reception accorded to the
AUiesby thepeopleoftheoccupiedwesternregions—
LonginterviewwithHitler-heagreestoformationof
women'sbattaUons—Hitlerthinksanaccommodation
with Stahn possible — Goring the scapegoat — Rib-
bentrop "the Führer's evil genius"
Monday 5 March 1945 47
White flags in Goebbels' home town of Rheydt —
German high-speed aircraft over London - Reim-
position of black-out there - Starvation in Western
Europe arouses hope — Goebbels demands weekly
defencestock-takingforBerlin-Speernowincontrol
ofthe railways - Rhine bridges blown
Tuesday 6 March 1945 54
Western miHtary experts eulogise German rearguards
-Hope placedin the U-boat war-No poUtical pros-
pects for Germany at present — Memorandum on
reform ofthe diplomatic service - Tito a high-grade
popular leader — Goebbels in favour ofradical sim-
plification ofcall-up system
Wednesday 7 March 1945 65
ChurchillwithBritishtroopsontheRhine—Goebbels*
pity for the "decadent bourgeois world" — no trains
heldready to evacuateOKW and OKHfromBerlin—
Visit to Himmler, sick in Hohenlychen—Complaints
about the sinking morale of the troops — Hitler in
favour ofevacuating high-level agencies from Berlin
CONTENTS VU
Thursday 8 March 1945 74
Churchill expects an end to the war in two months —
Details ofenemy propaganda— "The Italian people is
notworthyoftheDuce"-DrLey"notthesortofman
we want writing in the press" — Visit to Görlitz and
Lauban — Meeting with Colonel-General Schörner -
Visit tofrontline-Nightdrivehomealongthefront
Friday 9 March 1945 84
American bridgehead over the Rhine at Remagen —
Goebbels receives a "large delegation of foreign
workerswithoccupationsintheReich"andhopesthat
theywillproduceagoodpropagandaeffect—Göring's
continued retention ofhis offices a "sign ofa latent
crisisofstate"-A militaryvictory asessentialas daily
bread
Saturday 10 March 1945 92
VexationoverthebehaviourofthepeopleofRheydt-
Preparation for action against the Oberbürgermeister
— Western correspondents report that German pris-
oners are "filled with a mystical faithinHitler"-The
1928 class to go into action at the front — "The
Luftwaffe is not worth a row ofbeans" - Berlin has
eight weeks' supplies
Sunday 11 March 1945 99
WillStalinallowhimselftobedraggedintothePacific
adventure? - Goebbels visits Hitler - Frederick the
Greatthemostsignificantexample-Sharpcriticismof
Himmler- Use ofterrorist groups behind the enemy
lines-WasthefailuretoblowtheRemagenbridgedue
tosabotage?-Whyhas theFührerformedno circleof
Gneisenaus and Schamhorsts around him?
Monday 12 March 1945 ' iii
Uninterruptedairterrormakesthepeoplethoroughly
despondent-Antagonismbetweenthepopulationand
the troops - Will the USA declare the Japanese
Emperor a war criminal? - Mosquitos over Berlin
CONTENTS
every evening for three weeks — The Foreign Office
resists examination by the Total War staff
Tuesday 13 March 1945 119
StaUn's 300OrdersoftheDay—"Auniquecalendarof
misfortune" — The German military machine largely
smashed to atoms - Pioneers prepare demolitions in
BerUn-The Führer wishes to continue evacuation in
theWest-"Inpracticeitcannotbedone"—Speerbases
hiscriticismofHitler's measuresonMeinKampf—The
Ministry ofPropaganda falls victim to the bombs
Wednesday 14 March 1945 130
English bishops warn against the bolshevisation of
Europe- Stahn fetes Soviet Marshals like film stars—
Dr Ley's memoranda on reorganisation of the
Wehrmacht — Speer considers the war lost econom-
ically—No doubt aboutthe "possibiÜtyofvictoryfor
ourcause" - NeitherLeynor Speerpossesses astates-
manlike view — Mistaken methods ofcommand the
causeofGermandefeats-theFührershouldnotreason
but command
Thursday 15 March 1945 139
Starvation in enemy-occupied regions - Soviet mili-
tary leaders' background superior to that ofthe Ger-
mans- Systematic fresh propaganda to the troops on
theWesternandEasternFronts-Rosenbergunwilling
to disband his Ministry for the East — "Sheer non-
sense" — Hitler wishes "so to reform the Wehrmacht
that it will emerge from the war fundamentally
National-Sociahst"
Friday 16 March 1945 147
Churchill insists onunconditionalsurrender-Armis-
tice rumours-Ribbentrop tries to contact the British
in Stockholm-Great reception forthepress in Goeb-
bels'house-20,000menforthejetfighterprogramme
orasaRailTransportDefenceBrigade?—Deep-seated
lethargy among the German people — Press con-
ferences should take place more frequently in future
CONTENTS IX
Saturday 17 March 1945 156
"Herr von Ribbentrop's peace soundings have been a
totalfailure"—"Theenemy'sthirstfordestructionhas
now reached extraordinary heights" - Churchill the
HerostratusofEurope-BenesinMoscow—Aseriesof
acts ofsabotage and assassinations in Norway — The
stupidity ofso-called prominent people
Sunday 18 March 1945 162
"A solitary piece ofgood news" —the collapse ofthe
Rhine bridge at Remagen - The front-line situation
horrifying both in East and West- Heavy air raid on
Berlin—Telephone conversationwithHitler—Evacu-
OKW
ation of Kolberg not to be mentioned in the
reportsince the propaganda filmKolberg is runningin
the cinemas
Monday 19 March 1945 168
The Saar territory nearly lost - Churchill "about
as well suited to our century as a dinosaur" -
Upheavals in Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and
Rumania — Orsenigo, the Papal Nuncio, shrugs his
shoulders - The Luftwaffe's luxury in personnel and
material — Over-bureaucratisation of the Foreign
Service - Situation increasingly critical in Danzig
and East Prussia - The Führer receives Hitler Youth
winners ofthe Iron Cross
Tuesday 20 March 1945 178
The food crisis everywhere is reaching an intolerable
level—"HowwilltheSoviets treattheGermanpeople
iftheylayhandsonthem?"-Switzerlandbreaksoffall
economic relations with the Reich - Goring shoots a
bison for the benefit of refugees — The Luftwaffe
should relinquish three-quarters of its personnel —
Soviet assault on Berlin imminent
Wednesday 21 March 1945 186
"The worse things are for us militarily, the more will
thepeoples ofthe continent reaÜsethataneworderin
CONTENTS
Europe is only possible under German leadership" —
353,000 air raid casualties in Germany to date - With
HitlerintheReichChancellery-ARussiannegotiator
in Stockholm? — Hitler's great hope — the new jet
aircraft
Thursday 22 March 1945
"The Anglo-Americans have good reason to think
themselves at theheight oftheir triumph"—"My war
propaganda is now being eulogised quite openly in
London" — GrafSchwerin von Krosigk pleads for a
positive Russian policy - Hitler wants the threatened
western regions evacuated in all circumstances
Friday 23 March 1945
British and American aircraft already taking offfrom
German airfields - nineteen million people rehoused
to date - Severe criticism of the Reichsbahn -
Decentralisation ofthe armaments industryhas many
disadvantages — Criticism ofAdolfHitler increasing
continuously - Enemy propaganda getting the upper
hand - Own propaganda having a difficult time
Saturday 24 March 1945
British troops cross the Rhine on a broad front —
Churchill present — Gauleiter Koch reports on the
desperatesituationinEastPrussia-Searchesfordeser-
ters on leave trains — The National-Socialist Lead-
ership Organisation under new management - Graf
Schwerin von Krosigk suggests Carl Burckhardt
J.
and Salazar as mediators between Germany and the
West
Sunday 25 March 1945
The Anglo-Americans' victory will be a Pyrrhic
victory - Spring in Berlin starts with lovely weather
and an air-raid alert-"where will things come to rest
in the end?" — State Secretary Naumann reports on
morale in southern Germany- Hitler gives Goebbels
fuUpowers to streamlinethe Luftwaffe's organisation
CONTENTS XI
Monday 26 March 1945 230
"We are poor folk and have only limited resources
with which to oppose the enemy" — Severe loss of
authority by the Führer - The Werwolfmovement -
Troops from Berlin for the Eastern front - The
East-West Axis to be used as a runway - The new
Wochenschau "makes one heavy at heart" - Hitler
shouldspeakovertheradio-"itwouldbeasgoodasa
victorious battle today"
Tuesday 27 March 1945 238
"Our anti-bolshevist atrocity campaign" recon-
solidated the Eastern Front — "Very highly coloured
anti-Anglo-American propaganda" should improve
morale in the West - Dr Ley wishes to set up a Free
Corps — The Finance Minister's tax reform is anti-
social — Long talk with Hitler - On Hitler's orders
Himmler has to remove armbands from the SS for-
mationsinHungary-Apresentimentofdoomamong
the Führer's entourage - Hitler criticises Speer
Wednesday 28 March 1945 255
Enemy public relations policy "extraordinarily
adroit" - The Western Allies' supply problems -
"German partisans" shoot the Oberbürgermeister of
Aachen — Dissatisfaction with the Werwolf organ-
isation— Walter Lippmann criticises the Morgenthau
Plan-Revivalofthe U-boat war-Somefourmillion
refugees on the move—"Only a speechby the Führer
can bring the people back to order"
Thursday 29 March 1945 263
A "frenzy ofrejoicing" in the enemy camp — Stock
exchange boom in German securities - Churchill's
1935 essay on Hitler-Defeatism among theJapanese
in BerUn - "News ofstarvation and epidemics from
every quarter" — Fascism in Italy totally impotent —
Revolutionary language required for the Werwolf —
Thirty Party speakers despatched to the West - The
"drone-likeparasiticalexistence" ofprominentartists