Goebbels: A Biography (106 page)

1.
TB, 25 October 1924. The diary entries for 11 October 1924 to 14 March 1925 have been available only since 2004 in the Fröhlich edition and were first used by Thacker,
Goebbels
, 44ff.

2.
Goebbels wrongly has it as Neuhöfer.

3.
TB, 4 November 1924.

4.
TB, 12 November 1924, also already in 11 October 1924.

5.
TB, 22 November about events in Mönchengladbach and in Rheydt, 27 November Hamborn, 6 December Velbert.

6.
TB, 22 and 29 November, 4 December 1924.

7.
TB, 4, 9, 12 (quotation), and 19 December 1924, 2 February 1925. On Kaufmann, see Bajohr, “Hamburgs ‘Führer.’ ” See also the portrait of Kaufmann that Goebbels published in the
NS-Briefe
, 15 June 1926.

8.
TB, 9, 12, and 19 December, 6 January 1925 (quotation).

9.
TB, 12 January, 9 February 1925.

10.
TB, 9 December 1924.

11.
VF
, 20 December 1924, “Das Gebot der Stunde: Sammeln!”; see also Reuth,
Goebbels
, 85.

12.
TB, 12 and 15 December 1924

13.
TB, 12 December 1924.

14.
TB, 19 December 1924.

15.
TB, 23 December 1924.

16.
TB, 30 December 1924, 2 January 1925.

17.
TB, 30 December 1924.

18.
VF
, 8 November 1925, “Gebt Adolf Hitler dem deutschen Volke wieder” and hero worship (“Der Persönlichkeitsgedanke ist die innere Triebkraft jeder großen völkischen und nationalen Bewegung”).

19.
TB, 23 December 1924.

20.
“Opfergang,” 10 January 1925.

21.
VB
(B), 20 April 1935. On Goebbels’s relationship to Hitler, see Bärsch,
Goebbels
, 193ff.

22.
TB, 8 January 1925.

23.
“Der Geist des Westens,” in
VF
, 17 January 1925. On the origins, see also TB, 8 January 1925; partial reprint in
VB
, 24 May 1925. Goebbels read the article “Arbeiterpartei?” in the
Reichswart
of 17 January 1925 as the “best response to his attack on Reventlow”; 19 January 1925. However, this article was not a direct reply.

24.
TB, 23 December 1924.

25.
TB, 23 December 1924.

26.
TB, 14 January 1925; also 17 and 26 January 1925.

27.
TB, 29 January, 3 (quotation), 5, and 9 February 1925.

28.
TB, 12 February 25; also 14 and 21 February 1925.

29.
TB, 26 February 1925.

30.
TB, 2 and 6 March 1925.

31.
Jablonsky,
The Nazi Party
, 158.

32.
TB, 14 February 1925.

33.
Kershaw,
Hitler. 1889–1936
, 339.

34.
TB, 23 February 1925. Albrecht Tyrell,
Führer befiehl
, no. 39: Presseerklärung der NSDAP, Gau Hannover, 23. Februar 1925 betr. die auf der Tagung in Hamm verabschiedete Entschließung (quotation).

35.
TB, 26 February 1925.

36.
TB, 23 February 1925.

37.
TB, 3 March 1925. The announcement was published in the
VB
of 26 February 1925: Aufruf an die ehemaligen Angehörigen der Nationalsozialistischen Deutschen Arbeiterpartei.
Adolf Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 1, doc. 3.

38.
15 Entwürfe für Schriftplakate oder Flugblätter zur Ankündigung von Vorträgen für die NSDAP (Schrift)
.

39.
TB, 28 March 1925. On his activities, see Reuth,
Goebbels
, 88f.

40.
Goebbels,
Das kleine ABC des Nationalsozialisten
(Greifswald 1925).

41.
TB, 21 October 1925.

42.
TB, 2 and 6 May 1925. The organization was finally founded on 7 May in Hattingen: TB, 8 May 1925; also 11 and 12 May, 18 June 1925.

43.
TB, 20 March 1943: “Reich presidential election. We should elect Ludendorff. Is it worth it?” 12 March 1925: “We’re going to elect Ludendorff as Reich President. Hitler’s a really good chap.” See also Kershaw,
Hitler. 1889–1936
, 346.

44.
TB, 18 March 1925.

45.
TB, 7 April 1925.

46.
TB, 16 April 1925; on the struggle with Ripke, see also 30 March, 14 and 28 April 1925.

47.
TB, 4 April 1925.

48.
Deutsche Wochenschau, Nachrichtendienst der nationalsozialistisichen Freiheits-Bewegung Großdeutschlands
, 21 June 1925, “Der Nationalsozialismus im Westen.”

49.
TB, 27 April 1925; see also 28 April 1925, where he was rather more skeptical about Hindenburg’s future role. On the election meetings, see TB, 22 to 27 April 1925.

50.
TB, 8 May 1925.

51.
TB, 22 May 1925 (Relaxation); TB, 23, 27, and 28 May, 9 and 15 June 1925 suggest a relationship that was once again becoming critical.

52.
TB, 15 June 1925.

53.
See the speeches that Hitler made in June 1925 in Plauen and Stuttgart:
RSA
, vol. 1, docs. 48–51, e.g. doc. 48, Speech in Plauen, 11 June 1925: “National and social are two identical concepts. No socialism without ardent love of our nation, no National Socialism without a desire for real social justice.”

54.
On 24/25 May the
VB
published a long quotation from the article embedded in an article signed by Willi Hess, an acquaintance of Goebbels, entitled “National Socialism on the Rhine and Ruhr.”

55.
“Idee und Opfer,” 14/15 June 1925, also in
Deutsche Wochenschau
of 23 August 1925, and in Goebbels,
Zweite Revolution
, 17–21. The reprints have slight variations from the original.

56.
“Verkalkte Intelligenz,” 21/22 June 1925, also in
Zweite Revolution
, 21–25.

57.
“Volksgemeinschaft und Klassenkampf,” 26/27 July, also in
Deutsche Wochenschau
, 11 October 1925 as “Volksgemeinschaft oder Klassenkampf,” also (as “Klassenkampf und Volksgemeinschaft”) in Goebbels,
Zweite Revolution
, 13–16. The article was written after a visit by Goebbels to the national conference of the
Völkische Freiheitsbewegung in Elberfeld (TB, 20 June 1925); on the article, see also TB, 1 July 1925: “Another blow at the rotten bourgeoisie.”

58.
“Der Freiheitsgedanke,” 17 October 1925, also in Goebbels,
Zweite Revolution
, 48–51; “Weihnachtsbrief an einen Zuchthäusler,”
VB
, 25/26 December, also as “Zuchthaus” in Joseph Goebbels,
Wege ins Dritte Reich. Briefe und Aufsätze für Zeitgenossen
, 56–60.

59.
TB, 23 June 1925; see also 10 July 1925.

60.
TB, 18 and 29 June, Ripke was shocked by the article “Verkalkte Intelligenz.” On Ripke, see also 1, 6, and 8 July 1925.

61.
TB, 2 April 1925. On financial worries, see among others 30 March, 4, 7, 11, and 28 April, 6 May 1925.

62.
TB, 16 April 1925.

63.
TB, 22 April 1925.

64.
TB, 18 April 1925.

65.
TB, 18, 20, and 22 April 1925; see also 23 June 1925: “Elisabeth Gensicke writes me a despairing letter. How can I help the poor thing?”

66.
TB, 7, 18, and 25 April, 22 and 29 May 1925; Whitsun vacation with Else: 4 June 1925.

67.
TB, 8 June 1925.

68.
TB, 14 July 1925. Ulrich Höver claims that Goebbels first met Hitler in the second week in June 1925, which can be ruled out in the light of the complete edition of the diary. Höver,
Joseph Goebbels. Ein nationaler Sozialist
, 279. It confirms the assumption already made by Reuth that their first meeting occurred on 12 July. Reuth,
Goebbels
, 90; see also Thacker,
Goebbels
, 53.

69.
TB, 10 July 1925, “No money in the kitty. That’s what they’re saying. We’re prevented from checking.” On Ripke’s fall, see also Reuth,
Goebbels
, 90f., TB entries between 15 and 25 July 1925.

70.
TB, 27 July 1925.

71.
TB, 3 August 1925.

72.
Klein, “ ‘Mekka des deutschen Sozialismus’ oder ‘Kloake der Bewegung’?” 120.

73.
TB, 29 July 1925.

74.
TB, 31 July 1925.

75.
TB, 29 July 1925.

76.
TB, 15 August 1925.

77.
TB, 21 August 1925. BAB, NS 1/340, Strasser to J.G. 29 August 1925, reply 31 August 1925. On the role of Goebbels in the “West block,” see Reuth,
Goebbels
, 91ff.; Thacker,
Goebbels
, 56ff.

78.
TB, 31 August, 7 September 1925.

79.
TB, 29 August 1925, see also 10 August: “I’m reading Hitler’s book,
Mein Kampf
, and I’m shaken by this political message.”

80.
TB, 11 September 1925; Reuth,
Goebbels
, 92; Schildt,
Die Arbeitsgemeinschaft Nord-West
, 105f. On Hagen, see BAB, NS 1/340, Strasser telegram, 9 September 1925, Goebbels to Strasser, 1 September 1925 (with a report on the meeting), also MS in Schildt,
Die Arbeitsgemeinschaft Nord-West
, viii and after; Hermann Fobke, “Aus der nationalsozialistischen Bewegung. Bericht über die Gründung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der nord- und westdeutschen Gaue der NSDAP,” 11 September 1925, published in Jochmann (ed.),
Nationalsozialismus und Revolution
, no. 66.

81.
TB, 11 September 1925.

82.
TB, 28 September 1925; Reuth,
Goebbels
, 92.

83.
TB, 30 September, 2 October 1926.

84.
BAB, NS 1/340, 9 October 1925, published in Jochmann,
Nationalsozialismus
, no. 67.

85.
TB, 16, 25, 26, and 28 September, 12, 15, and 21 October 1925.

86.
On the letters, see Schildt,
Arbeitsgemeinschaft
, 115ff.

87.
“Das russische Problem,” in
NS-Briefe
, 15 November 1925. The article is in the form of a letter to the imaginary Iwan Wienurowski, with Goebbels using parts of the “Michael” manuscript. Similar ideas are contained in the article “Nationalsozialismus oder Bolschewismus,” in
NS-Briefe
, 15 October 1925. See also Höver,
Goebbels
, 184ff.

88.
VB
, 14 November 1925, “Rede und Gegenrede über das russische Problem.” Originally the article was intended to have already appeared in the
VB
in August. TB, 10 August 1925.

89.
TB, 12 October 1925.

90.
TB, 14 October 1925.

91.
Adolf Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, 358, 154; see also Reuth,
Goebbels
, 92f.

92.
TB, 6 November 1925 concerning the meeting that took place on the 4th; see Reuth,
Goebbels
, 93f.

93.
BAB, NS 1/340, 5 November 1925.

94.
TB, 23 November 1925. Hitler’s speech is documented in
RSA
, doc. 82, 4 November 1925.

95.
Goebbels, “Die Führerfrage,”
Zweite Revolution
, 5–8.

96.
Kershaw,
Der Hitler-Mythos
, 40ff.

97.
TB, 23 November 1925, see also Reuth,
Goebbels
, 94. On the discussion of the program at the start of the year, see Wörtz,
Programmatik und Führerprinzip
, 86ff.; on the Hanover meeting, see Schildt,
Arbeitsgemeinschaft
, 118ff.; report on the meeting by Goebbels in the
NS-Briefe
, 1 December 1925.

98.
TB, 18 and 23 December 1925, 4 January 1926. On Strasser’s draft program, see Schildt,
Arbeitsgemeinschaft
, 127ff. The draft is discussed in Reinhard Kühnl, “Zur Programmatik der nationalsozialistischen Linken.” The original, together with various comments by Party members, is in BAB, NS 26/896.

99.
TB, 29 December 1925.

100.
TB, 16 and 29 December 1925.

101.
TB, 11 and 16 January 1926. On the agreement with Pfeffer, see TB, 29 December 1925.

102.
NS-Briefe
, 15 January 1926; see also TB, 20 January 1926: “I have a long think about the foreign policy problem. We can’t avoid Russia. Russia is the beginning and the end of any serious foreign policy.”

103.
Deutsche Wochenschau
, 29 December 1925.

104.
Work on the speech: TB, 24 and 30 December 1925, 4 and 6 January 1926.

105.
NS 1/339II, manuscript sent to the publishers on 3 April.

106.
Goebbels,
Lenin oder Hitler?;
Schildt,
Arbeitsgemeinschaft
, 174f.

107.
Schildt,
Arbeitsgemeinschaft
, 140ff.

108.
Feder to Goebbels, 23 December 1925, BAB, NS 1/341I.

109.
TB, 25 January 1926; see also Reuth,
Goebbels
, 96; BAB, NS 1/340, Resolution (appendix to a letter from O. Strasser to Goebbels, 26 January 1925), both published in Jochmann,
Nationalsozialismus
, no. 72.

110.
TB, 20 January, 6 and 11 February 1926.

111.
Otto Strasser had opposed the compensation for the princes in the
NS-Briefe
under the pseudonym “Ulrich von Hutten” (15 December 1925), which Goebbels considered “terrific.” Goebbels to Strasser, 11 December 1925, BAB, NS 1/340.
On the compensation for the princes, see Jung,
Demokratie
, 49ff.; Schüren,
Der Volksentscheid zur Fürstenenteignung 1926
.

112.
TB, 15 February 1926. On Bamberg, see Reuth,
Goebbels
, 98f.; Horn,
Der Marsch zur Machtergreifung
, 240ff.; Schildt,
Arbeitsgemeinschaft
, 155ff. Hitler’s speech is documented in
RSA
, doc. 101.

113.
Only a short entry in the TB, 7 March 1926. See
NS-Briefe
, 1 March 1926, “Essen, eine Etappe” (announcement signed by Goebbels for the unity party conference in Essen on 6 and 7 March). See Schildt,
Arbeitsgemeinschaft
, 169ff.