Goebbels: A Biography (129 page)

1.
TB, 15 August 1942; also 16 and 19 August 1942: “The excessive optimism of the German people about the situation at the front, which is growing grotesquely day by day, is positively disastrous.” See also 22 and 25 August 1942.

2.
Wegner, “Krieg,” 976ff.

3.
TB, 15 September 1942. On the start of the battle, see 28 August, 5, 6, 7, and 14 September 1942.

4.
MK, 15 September 1942.

5.
Press directives BAK, ZSg 109/37, 15 September 1942, TP 1;
BW
, 369, gives as an example a special edition of the Stuttgart
NS-Kurier
.

6.
TB, 16 September 1942; see also MK, 16 and 17 September 1942.

7.
BAK, ZSg 102/40, 16 September 1942 (M), 1 TP 1.

8.
MK, 19–21, also 23, 24, and 26 September 1942.

9.
MK, 26 September 1942.

10.
TB, 1 October 1942.

11.
TB, 27 September 1942, and 1 October 1942 (reproaches about Dietrich’s staff). For his remarks to Colonel Martin, see TB, 1 October 1942.

12.
TB, 4 October 1942.

13.
TB, 29 September 1942;
Meldungen aus dem Reich
, 5 October 1942, 4279; Kershaw,
Der Hitler-Mythos
, 230.

14.
TB, 2 October 1942; and 4 October 1942, on a meeting with Hitler in which the latter once again reiterated his goals.

15.
TB, 2 October 1942.

16.
Das Reich
, 18 October 1942, “Der Segen der Erde”; TB, 8 October 1942.

17.
TB, 27 and 29 September 1942 (about a conversation with Luftwaffe officers) and 30 September 1942 (about conversations with Hewel und Schaub).

18.
TB, 12 October 1942.

19.
TB, 8, 11, 15, 16, and 23 October 1942. See
Meldungen aus dem Reich
, 8 October 1942, 4291f., 12 October 1942, 4309ff., 15 October 1942, 4329ff.; reflecting on the seriousness of the situation on the Eastern Front, ibid., 19 October 1942, p. 4342f.

20.
TB, 26 October 1942.

21.
Das Reich
, 1 November; see also TB, 23 October 1942.

22.
TB, 15 and 21 October 1942.

23.
TB, 30 October 1942.

24.
TB, 6 October 1942, also 8 and 20 October 1942.

25.
Wegner, “Krieg,” 994ff. The deteriorating situation is clearly reflected in the diary entries between 21 and 24 October.

26.
Stumpf, “Die alliierte Landung in Nordwestafrika,” 702ff.; TB, 25 October 1942, also 26 and 27 October 1942.

27.
Stumpf, “Landung,” p. 704; TB, 2–4 November 1942.

28.
Das Reich
, 30 January 1942, “Der 30. Januar”; examples from the year 1941: TB, 1 and 11 January, 9 and 16 July 1941; also TB, 13 January 1942 (in a speech to Berlin Party functionaries); 30 May 1942 (to Hitler).

29.
Das Reich
, 8 November 1942, “Vor die Probe gestellt”; see also TB, 26 October 1942.

30.
Thus, for example, in his article “Der Totale Krieg” (
Das Reich
, 17 January 1943), in his speech on the tenth anniversary of the “seizure of power” on 30 January 1943, published in Goebbels,
Der steile Aufstieg. Reden und Aufsätze aus den Jahren 1942/43
, 138–50, and in his article “Damals und heute,”
Das Reich
, 7 March 1943.

31.
TB, 23 January, 10 September, 27 October 1943 (with Hitler).

32.
TB, 8 November 1942; Stumpf, “Landung,” 710ff.

33.
TB, 9 November 1942. “The Führer is not yet quite clear about what he should do.”

34.
This offer, which Abetz was supposed to submit to the French government on Hitler’s behalf, is published in
ADAP
E IV, no. 151, Weizsäcker to Ribbentrop, 8 November 1942.

35.
TB, 9 November 1942; text of the speech in
Domarus II
, 1933ff.

36.
TB, 10 and 11 November 1942.

37.
Stumpf, “Landung,” 743ff.; TB, 11, 12, and 13 November 1942.

38.
Stumpf, “Landung,” 721.

39.
TB, 15 November 1942.

40.
Stumpf, “Landung,” 725ff.; TB, 14–19 November 1942.

41.
TB, 16 November 1942.

42.
Westdeutscher Beobachter
, 18 November 1942 (E), “Der Feind zerbricht an unserer Härte!”

43.
TB, 18 and 19 November 1942.

44.
TB, 26 November 1942, and 27 November. Eighteen Gauleiters had already been appointed Reich Defense Commissioners on 1 September 1939; on 16 November this arrangement was extended by declaring all the Party Gaus to be Reich defense districts. Up until then the Brandenburg Gauleiter, Sturz, had been responsible for the Defense District III (Berlin).

45.
TB, 28 November 1942.

46.
TB, 24 October, 30 November 1942.

47.
TB, 24 November 1942.

48.
Longerich,
Davon
, 240ff., 255ff.

49.
MK, 8 December 1942; the press was informed: BAK, ZSg 102/41; MK, 9 December 1942 (betr. Kundgebungen schwedischer Studenten gegen die deutsche Judenverfolgung). See the ministerial briefings of 12, 14, and 16 December and also the excerpts from the minutes published in
Wollt Ihr den totalen Krieg?

50.
MK, 12 December 1942; see TB, 13 and 14 December 1942.

51.
MK, 14 December 1942, also 16 December; see also TB, 17 and 18 September 1942.

52.
BAK, ZSg 102/41, 17 December 1942 (daily slogan); ibid., 18 December 1942 (daily slogan).

53.
Details in Longerich,
Davon
, 260.

54.
MK, 18 December 1942.

55.
MK, 19 and 29 December 1942; BAK, ZSg 109/40, 17 and 19 December 1942; Longerich,
Davon
, pp 260f.

56.
TB, 23 November 1942.

57.
Wegner, “Krieg,” 1026ff.

58.
E.g. TB, 27 November, 4 and 18 December 1942.

59.
TB, 22 and 23 December 1942.

60.
TB, 18 and 23 December 1942.

61.
Das Reich
, 27 December 1942, “Die Vollendeten”; TB, 16 December 1942.

62.
TB, 29 December 1942.

63.
He spoke to Ley about this on 28 November and 17 December: TB, 29 November, 18 December 1942.

64.
TB, 5 January 1943.

65.
TB, 3 January 1943; BAB, R 43 II/655; see Herbst,
Der Totale Krieg und die Ordnung der Wirtschaft
, 199ff.

66.
TB, 5 January 1943, with Unruh and with Lammers.

67.
BW
, 4, 5, and 6 January 1943.

68.
TB, 5, 7, and 8 January 1943.

69.
BAB, R 43 II/655 (invitation); on this and the following measures, see also Rebentisch,
Führerstaat und Verwaltung im Zweiten Weltkrieg
, 474ff.; Herbst,
Der Totale Krieg
, 199ff.; Kroener, “ ‘Menschenbewirtschaftung,’ ” 847ff.; Reuth,
Goebbels
, 511ff.

70.
TB, 10 and 13 January 1943 concerning conversations with Bormann and Speer; the diaries during these days are full of further statements by Goebbels on the need for “total war.”

71.
On the background to the article, see TB, 3 January 1943. See also “Die Heimat im Kriege,” 3 January 1943, also in
Zeit ohne Beispiel
, 113–20, in which he had written generally in positive terms about the home front’s performance.

72.
Das Reich
, 24 January 1943; TB, 13 January 1943.

73.
Moll,
“Führer-Erlasse,”
doc. 222. Registration for conscription was envisaged for men from 17 to 65, for women from 17 to 50; TB, 15 January 1943.

74.
TB, 5 January (after a conversation with Lammers) and 15 January 1943.

75.
TB, 8 January 1943; see also 17 January 1943.

76.
TB, 21 January 1943.

77.
On the state of morale, see TB, 3, 4, 8, 9, 13 January 1943. This still relatively stable state of morale is also reflected in
Meldungen aus dem Reich
, 4 January 1943, 4617f.; the reports for 7 January 1943, 4628ff., 11 January 1943, 4650ff., 14 January 1943, 4670ff. reveal an increasing sense of disorientation. On the deterioration in morale, see TB, 15 and 16 January 1943.

78.
TB, 17 January 1943. On the deterioration in morale, see 20 and 24 January 1943.

79.
TB, 24 January, also 25 and 31 January 1943.

80.
TB, 23 January 1943.

81.
BAK, ZSg 109/40, VI, 23 January 1943.

82.
TB, 24 January 1943.

83.
TB, 26 January 1943.

84.
TB, 2 and 5 February 1943.

85.
TB, 27 January 1943.

86.
RGBl
. 1943 I, 67f.

87.
TB, 29 January 1943. At this meeting the final version of the Decree to Release Labor for Deployment in Work Important for the War Effort (
RGBl
. 1943 I, 75f.) was implemented by three edicts of 30 January (R 43 II/662). The final report of the Committee of Three of summer 1944 estimated that 150,000 workers had been released by the closure program (R 3II/664a); Herbst,
Der totale Krieg
, 212ff.

88.
TB, 28 January 1943.

89.
7 February 1943, also published in
Aufstieg
, 159–66. Similar views are expressed in the article “Der Blick nach vorne,” which was published on 31 January (also published in
Aufstieg
, 151–58).

90.
TB, 19, 21, and 23 January 1943.

91.
TB, 30 January 1943 on its drafting.

92.
VB
(N), 31 January, “Die Proklamation des Führers am 30. Januar 1943: Deutschlands Antwort: Kampf und Sieg!” (headline). The text of the Goebbels speech was
published on the following day: “Reichsminister Dr. Goebbels im Berliner Sportpalast: ‘Wilde Entschlossenheit erhebt unsere Herzen.’ ”

93.
TB, 31 January 1943.

94.
TB, 4 February 1943, and 5 February.

95.
TB, 5 February 1943. The assessment of the impact of the speech in the
Meldungen aus dem Reich
of 1 Februay 1943, 4732f., is by contrast much less euphoric.

96.
VB
(N), 23–29 January 1943; TB, 25 January 1943: “The situation in Stalingrad is developing more and more into a major national tragedy.” See also 26 and 27 January 1943.

97.
TB, 31 January/1 February 1943.

98.
TB, 3 February 1943.

99.
TB, 3 February 1943.

100.
TB, 4 February 1943; BAK, ZSg 109, 4 Februar 1943, TP 1. This is confirmed by the
Meldungen aus dem Reich
of 4 February, 4750ff.

101.
Das Reich
, 14 February 1943, “Unser Wille und Weg”; TB, 4 February 1943.

102.
TB, 6 February 1943, and 7 February 1943.

103.
1739-PS, published in
IMT
27, 584ff.

104.
TB, 8 February 1943.

105.
TB, 13 February 1943.

106.
BAB, R 43 II/655, Vermerke Lammers, 6 March, 10 May 1943.

107.
TB, 12 February 1943. The
Meldungen aus dem Reich
do not, in any case, confirm this impression. The report of 11 February 1943 shows that the demand for an increase in the war effort was certainly combined with criticism of the regime’s policies (4783); see also the reports of 15 February 1943, 4799ff., and 18 February 1943, 4821ff., which give no indication of vigorous calls for “total war.”

108.
TB, 15 February 1943.

109.
TB, 18 February 1943.
Meldungen aus dem Reich
, 11 February 1943, 4783, 15 February 1943, 4799ff., 18 February 1943, 4821ff.

110.
TB, 15 February 1943, also 16 and 18 February 1943. On the rally in the Sportpalast, see Fetscher,
Joseph Goebbels im Berliner Sportpalast 1943;
Kegel,
“Wollt Ihr den totalen Krieg”;
Bohse,
Inszenierte Kriegsbegeisterung und ohnmächtiger Friedenswille;
Boelcke, “Goebbels und die Kundgebung im Berliner Sportpalast vom 18. Februar 1943”; Moltmann, “Goebbels’ Rede zum totalen Krieg am 18. Februar 1943.”

111.
BAK, ZSg 109/41, VI vom 18. Februar 1943, II. Erläuterungen zur TP.

112.
BAK, ZSg 102/42, 18 Februar (M), 10. On the day before the speech he wrote an editorial for
Das Reich
, in which, under the title “Die Krise Europas,” he referred to the “danger from Bolshevism” in an equally drastic fashion and attacked “international Jewry” as the “spiritus rector for the whole of the spiritual and intellectual confusion, the ferment of decomposition affecting states and nations”: 28 February 1943, in
Aufstieg
, 205–12; TB, 18 February 1943.

113.
Text of the speech in
VB
(N), 20 February 1943, also published in Heiber (ed.),
Goebbels Reden
, no. 17.

114.
This is noted in particular by Bohse,
Kriegsbegeisterung
, 130ff.

115.
In the months before he had still been emphasizing in his editorials that this war was not about “thrones and altars” and that the era of religious wars had finally been left behind.
Das Reich
, 26 August 1942, “Vom Sinn des Krieges,” and 18 October 1942, “Der Segen der Erde.” See Hockerts, “Kreuzzugsrhetorik,” 234ff.

116.
TB, 19 February 1943.

117.
TB, 14 February, 23 February to 21 March 1943.

118.
TB, 20 February 1943, on the reaction at home and abroad.

119.
TB, 21 February 1943.

120.
TB, 24 February 1943. See also 9 March 1943, according to which Hitler had described the speech as “a psychological and propagandistic masterpiece.”

121.
TB, 21 February 1943. The
Meldungen aus dem Reich
of 18 February do not, however, comment on his speech, which Goebbels himself noted on the following day (TB, 22 February 1943).