Dr. Joseph Goebbels was appointed minister. The high status of the new ministry was revealed by the location of its seat – just opposite Hitler’s office in the Wilhelmstrasse.
On this day the Hitler’s government established a new ministry in Berlin. It was called the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda). Dr. Joseph Goebbels was appointed minister. The high status of the new ministry was revealed by the location of its seat – just opposite Hitler’s office in the Wilhelmstrasse (the street where German government was located – the extremely important “Regierungsviertel”).
One of the first actions of the new ministry was the burning of about 20,000 books written by Jewish and anti-Nazi authors. The burning took place in the Opernplatz next to the entrance to the famous Berlin University. Among others, the books of Karl Marx, Thomas Mann, Erich Maria Remarque, and Heinrich Heine were burned.
Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels was an intellectual and a Doctor of Philosophy. He stayed with Hitler until the very end in the Führerbunker. Goebbels and his wife Magda killed themselves the day after the suicide of Hitler and Eva Braun. Magda previously had their six children killed with poison. It is interesting that before her marriage to Goebbels, Magda was married to Gunther Quandt, the millionaire whose business empire included BMW and VARTA companies. The Quandt family is still today one of the richest in Germany and holds in its possession a large part of the BMW company.
