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Final Entries 1945: The Diaries of Joseph Goebbels
Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda kept a diary throughout his time as a member of the Nazi Party and this covers the period of the last weeks of WW2 from February-April, 1945.
Edited, Introduced and annotated by Professor Hugh Trevor-Roper, this is a remarkable account from within of the crumbling of the Nazi empire by its arch-apologist.
Edited, Introduced and annotated by Professor Hugh Trevor-Roper, this is a remarkable account from within of the crumbling of the Nazi empire by its arch-apologist.
390 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
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About the author
Joseph Goebbels
100 books166 followersGerman politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism.
He played a hand in the Kristallnacht attack on the German Jews, which historians consider to be the beginning of the Final Solution, leading towards the genocide of the Holocaust.
Goebbels earned a Ph.D. from Heidelberg University in 1921, writing his doctoral thesis on 18th century romantic drama; he then went on to work as a journalist and later a bank clerk and caller on the stock exchange. He also wrote novels and plays, but they were rejected by publishers. Goebbels came into contact with the Nazi Party in 1923 during the French occupation of the Ruhr and became a member in 1924. He was appointed Gauleiter (regional party leader) of Berlin. In this position, he put his propaganda skills to full use, combating the local socialist and communist parties with the help of Nazi papers and the paramilitary Stormtroopers, aka, Brownshirts, SA. By 1928, he had risen in the party ranks to become one of its most prominent members.
Goebbels rose to power in 1933 along with Hitler and the Nazi Party and he was appointed Propaganda Minister. One of his first acts was the burning of books rejected by the Nazis. He exerted totalitarian control over the media, arts and information in Germany.
From the beginning of his tenure, Goebbels organized attacks on German Jews, commencing with the one-day boycott of Jewish businessmen, doctors, and lawyers on April 1, 1933. His attacks on the Jewish population culminated in the Kristallnacht assault of 1938, an open and unrestrained pogrom unleashed by the Nazis all across Germany, in which scores of synagogues were burned and hundreds of Jews were assaulted and murdered. Goebbels used modern propaganda techniques to psychologically prepare the German people for aggressive war and the annihilation of civilian populations.
During World War II, Goebbels increased his power and influence through shifting alliances with other Nazi leaders. By late 1943, the tide of the war was turning against the Axis powers, but this only spurred Goebbels to intensify the propaganda by urging the Germans to accept the idea of total war and mobilization. Goebbels remained with Hitler in Berlin to the end; just hours after Hitler's suicide, Goebbels and his wife, Magda, killed their six young children. Then, they both committed suicide as well.
He played a hand in the Kristallnacht attack on the German Jews, which historians consider to be the beginning of the Final Solution, leading towards the genocide of the Holocaust.
Goebbels earned a Ph.D. from Heidelberg University in 1921, writing his doctoral thesis on 18th century romantic drama; he then went on to work as a journalist and later a bank clerk and caller on the stock exchange. He also wrote novels and plays, but they were rejected by publishers. Goebbels came into contact with the Nazi Party in 1923 during the French occupation of the Ruhr and became a member in 1924. He was appointed Gauleiter (regional party leader) of Berlin. In this position, he put his propaganda skills to full use, combating the local socialist and communist parties with the help of Nazi papers and the paramilitary Stormtroopers, aka, Brownshirts, SA. By 1928, he had risen in the party ranks to become one of its most prominent members.
Goebbels rose to power in 1933 along with Hitler and the Nazi Party and he was appointed Propaganda Minister. One of his first acts was the burning of books rejected by the Nazis. He exerted totalitarian control over the media, arts and information in Germany.
From the beginning of his tenure, Goebbels organized attacks on German Jews, commencing with the one-day boycott of Jewish businessmen, doctors, and lawyers on April 1, 1933. His attacks on the Jewish population culminated in the Kristallnacht assault of 1938, an open and unrestrained pogrom unleashed by the Nazis all across Germany, in which scores of synagogues were burned and hundreds of Jews were assaulted and murdered. Goebbels used modern propaganda techniques to psychologically prepare the German people for aggressive war and the annihilation of civilian populations.
During World War II, Goebbels increased his power and influence through shifting alliances with other Nazi leaders. By late 1943, the tide of the war was turning against the Axis powers, but this only spurred Goebbels to intensify the propaganda by urging the Germans to accept the idea of total war and mobilization. Goebbels remained with Hitler in Berlin to the end; just hours after Hitler's suicide, Goebbels and his wife, Magda, killed their six young children. Then, they both committed suicide as well.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
May 9, 2021
4 stars
خاطرات روزهای آخر یوزف گوبلز( 63 روز قبل از خودکشی هیلتر و 64 روز قبل از خودشی گوبلز و 6 فرزندش) وزیر تبلیعات رایش سوم
او در این خاطرات به طور جدی وضعیت وخیم ارتش نازی را به دلیل ضعف نیروی هوایی ( هرمان گورینگ ) و ضعف وزیر امور خارجه ( ریبن تروپ) میداند
عملا ورود آمریکا به جنگ در سال ۱۹۴۲ با ژاپن و اجبار آلمان برای جنگ در جبهه غرب با نیروهای آمریکا و انگلیس و در جبهه شرق با نیروهای شوروی ارتش المان رو با چالش جدی مواجه کرد....
گوبلز و همسرش تا آخرین ساعات، وفادارانه در کنار هیلتر ماندند
خودکشی هیلتر به همراه همسرش ، اوا براون ، مانع محاکمه او در دادگاه نورنبرگ و مواجه او با جنایت های ارتش آلمان و به ویژه اس اس در سال های جنگ و نسل کشی در اردوگاه های کار اجباری شد
هرمان گورین و هیملر که فرمانده اس اس بود نیز خودکشی کردند
خاطرات روزهای آخر یوزف گوبلز( 63 روز قبل از خودکشی هیلتر و 64 روز قبل از خودشی گوبلز و 6 فرزندش) وزیر تبلیعات رایش سوم
او در این خاطرات به طور جدی وضعیت وخیم ارتش نازی را به دلیل ضعف نیروی هوایی ( هرمان گورینگ ) و ضعف وزیر امور خارجه ( ریبن تروپ) میداند
عملا ورود آمریکا به جنگ در سال ۱۹۴۲ با ژاپن و اجبار آلمان برای جنگ در جبهه غرب با نیروهای آمریکا و انگلیس و در جبهه شرق با نیروهای شوروی ارتش المان رو با چالش جدی مواجه کرد....
گوبلز و همسرش تا آخرین ساعات، وفادارانه در کنار هیلتر ماندند
خودکشی هیلتر به همراه همسرش ، اوا براون ، مانع محاکمه او در دادگاه نورنبرگ و مواجه او با جنایت های ارتش آلمان و به ویژه اس اس در سال های جنگ و نسل کشی در اردوگاه های کار اجباری شد
هرمان گورین و هیملر که فرمانده اس اس بود نیز خودکشی کردند
January 9, 2013
In college I learned that Josef Goebbels had written not only a novel, but a critical study of Dostoevsky. Reading about the Nazi hierarchy at a later time I learned that he had, as a young man, almost joined the Communist Party in Berlin, it being a decision between them and the Berlin National Socialists--much more workerist than the Munich branch that Hitler dominated at the time. He was neither an unintelligent nor an undereducated person. As such, excepting Finance Minister Schacht, he was exceptional in a movement which counted few intellectuals in its ranks.
How did an intellectual come to accept the racism of Nazism? This question intrigues me. Some of it likely has to do with being brought up to think of your highest identity as being with your nation, or, as the Germans liked to put it, "folk". Some of it likely has to do with the general acceptance of race "sciences" of the day. But these two factors taken together aren't sufficient for me to ken a person like Goebbels.
How did an intellectual come to accept the racism of Nazism? This question intrigues me. Some of it likely has to do with being brought up to think of your highest identity as being with your nation, or, as the Germans liked to put it, "folk". Some of it likely has to do with the general acceptance of race "sciences" of the day. But these two factors taken together aren't sufficient for me to ken a person like Goebbels.
September 29, 2022
"If this war is lost and it accomplished nothing else, at least it did away with the stupidity of the European bourgeois world." ---Dr. Joseph Goebbels.
It sounds strange and ironic to say so, but the Third Reich's Minister of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment was the last man in the Nazi hierarchy to be taken in by Party propaganda. These final diary entries, invaluable for understanding not only Nazi Germany but the endurance of fascism today, show that Goebbels knew all along the real fight in Europe between 1939-1945 was not democracy versus dictatorship but whether the continent would cling to the aristocratic and plutocratic past or move forward to a future fusion of nationalism and socialism. Ever-loyal to Hitler, Goebbels blames his arch-enemy Goering for Germany's impending defeat. The Luftwaffe chief had promised no German city would ever be bombed and now even Berlin lay in rubble. Herr Doktor is surprisingly blunt; condescending towards Mussolini ("He is not a revolutionary like the Fuhrer"), and brutally dismissive of Franco, "a pompous clown who promised us aid throughout the war and did nothing." Goebbels was also a savage prophet. Think Winston Churchill coined the phrase "an Iron Curtain" to describe the aftermath of Soviet rule over Central and Eastern Europe? Nope, it's right here the in Doc's notes for a speech; a year before Winston trotted it out in Missouri, USA.
FINAL ENTRIES depicts one world going down in flames, another, Soviet not American dominated, taking its place, and after that? It's still too early to tell.
It sounds strange and ironic to say so, but the Third Reich's Minister of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment was the last man in the Nazi hierarchy to be taken in by Party propaganda. These final diary entries, invaluable for understanding not only Nazi Germany but the endurance of fascism today, show that Goebbels knew all along the real fight in Europe between 1939-1945 was not democracy versus dictatorship but whether the continent would cling to the aristocratic and plutocratic past or move forward to a future fusion of nationalism and socialism. Ever-loyal to Hitler, Goebbels blames his arch-enemy Goering for Germany's impending defeat. The Luftwaffe chief had promised no German city would ever be bombed and now even Berlin lay in rubble. Herr Doktor is surprisingly blunt; condescending towards Mussolini ("He is not a revolutionary like the Fuhrer"), and brutally dismissive of Franco, "a pompous clown who promised us aid throughout the war and did nothing." Goebbels was also a savage prophet. Think Winston Churchill coined the phrase "an Iron Curtain" to describe the aftermath of Soviet rule over Central and Eastern Europe? Nope, it's right here the in Doc's notes for a speech; a year before Winston trotted it out in Missouri, USA.
FINAL ENTRIES depicts one world going down in flames, another, Soviet not American dominated, taking its place, and after that? It's still too early to tell.
August 29, 2008
A unique view into Goebbels' soul. It's inevitable that what he was writing was put on paper with a view to future readers, and therefore it's accordingly shaped, but still there's so much to be gleaned... A must-read for all interested in the history of the third Reich.
June 1, 2016
Interesting look into the last month or so of the Third Reich. The military situation reports are extremely dull and hard to get through but I suppose they could be entertaining to someone that focuses on military history.
The sections after the military situation reports are fascinating because it shows Goebbels trying to deal with/comprehend/explain away Germany's imminent defeat. He seems to relish in blaming Goering and the Luftwaffe for most of Germany's problems and brings this to Hitler's attention quite often throughout March of 1945. The inner bickering among the top brass of the Third Reich along with the devastating effect of the Anglo-American bombing campaign make for compelling reading.
The most intriguing part to me is when Goebbels is going on and on about the rift between the Allied powers (namely Britain and the US versus the Soviet Union) and how Germany could use this to its advantage. Goebbels is basically outlining the Cold War before World War II is even over. He interprets Stalin's political moves and consequently analyzes the Anglo-American responses. In fact there are a couple places within his entries he even mentions an 'iron curtain' regarding the Soviet Union's territorial ambitions (and subsequent severance of the countries from the rest of the European community) which predates Churchill's use of the phrase.
All in all, a unique read into the Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda of the Third Reich.
The sections after the military situation reports are fascinating because it shows Goebbels trying to deal with/comprehend/explain away Germany's imminent defeat. He seems to relish in blaming Goering and the Luftwaffe for most of Germany's problems and brings this to Hitler's attention quite often throughout March of 1945. The inner bickering among the top brass of the Third Reich along with the devastating effect of the Anglo-American bombing campaign make for compelling reading.
The most intriguing part to me is when Goebbels is going on and on about the rift between the Allied powers (namely Britain and the US versus the Soviet Union) and how Germany could use this to its advantage. Goebbels is basically outlining the Cold War before World War II is even over. He interprets Stalin's political moves and consequently analyzes the Anglo-American responses. In fact there are a couple places within his entries he even mentions an 'iron curtain' regarding the Soviet Union's territorial ambitions (and subsequent severance of the countries from the rest of the European community) which predates Churchill's use of the phrase.
All in all, a unique read into the Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda of the Third Reich.
September 15, 2019
Except for the historical importance of this book, there is not much in it except the ramblings and ravings of a deluded armchair analyst...Goebbels and Hitler by this time were getting filtered information and were deluding themselves into thinking they would resume their work after the fog of war would lift. Lots of very transactional stuff.
December 28, 2025
For such a prominent name in Nazi Germany's leadership, Goebbels' journal is a major disappointment. We see nothing of the master propagandist's skill. We have dry information about troop movements and fervent accusations. He lives in illusions and fleeting moments drawn from the international press.
March 25, 2025
Oooooeeeee the shade! The self righteousness! Just goebbels being goebbels. Some notables he came for:
Göring: “Anyway Göring's whole entourage is not worth a row of beans. It encouraged instead of restraining his tendency to effemmacy and pleasure-seeking. By contrast the Führer had high praise for the simplicity and purity of my family life.”
(Of course he did.)
the Duce: “what a piteous spectacle the Duce is.”
(Eh kind of agree)
Churchill: “the gravedigger of Europe, as well suited to this century as a dinosaur. One day he will go down to history as the destroyer of the European continent.”
(Talk about projecting)
Ley: “Ley has become somewhat hysterical under the impact of recent developments. It shows that he is not a naturally strong personality. He is only strong when there is some external cause to be so. Moreover he oscillates like a windsock when times are serious and critical.”
(Brain damage found upon this guy’s autopsy checks out)
Rosenberg: “reasoning is no good when so-called prominent people are so stupid that they refuse to see plain common sense.”
(Would appear he hated Rosenberg, too, like everyone else. I have yet to read anything anywhere positive to say about the man- will probably have to wait til I read his own memoirs to see anything close)
Hitler’s inability to delegate or trust his staff: “neither in the military nor the civilian sector have we strong central leadership because everything has to be referred to the Führer and that can only be done in a small number of cases.”
(Classic micromanager)
Perhaps the most surprising to me was even Goebbel’s observation that his almighty Fuhrer did not see things how they actually were toward the end: “Since the Führer consistently refuses to make changes here, there is gradually developing not only a leadership crisis but a definite Führer crisis.”
(🫠)
“There is no one either in the Ministry of the Interior or the Party Chancellery who has the courage to tell the Führer this to his face.”
(And what about the ministry of propaganda?)
“Here again, however, it is noticeable that, though the Führer correctly perceives what has happened, he seldom draws the right conclusions.”
(Popular opinion at this point in the game it seems)
And more cow metaphors! : “It is a pity that the Party is represented, not by a man like that but by Göring, who has as much to do with the Party as a cow with radiology.”
And of course the thing that they all say: “But what can one do?”
I’ll close my review with a passage from the intro written by HTR: “As Goebbels himself remarked with cynical candour, even the German people would never have voted for the Nazis if it had known what they intended to do.”
(Mmm I wouldn’t be so sure about that given everything above).
Thick read but interesting to get inside the head of this delusional little man.
Göring: “Anyway Göring's whole entourage is not worth a row of beans. It encouraged instead of restraining his tendency to effemmacy and pleasure-seeking. By contrast the Führer had high praise for the simplicity and purity of my family life.”
(Of course he did.)
the Duce: “what a piteous spectacle the Duce is.”
(Eh kind of agree)
Churchill: “the gravedigger of Europe, as well suited to this century as a dinosaur. One day he will go down to history as the destroyer of the European continent.”
(Talk about projecting)
Ley: “Ley has become somewhat hysterical under the impact of recent developments. It shows that he is not a naturally strong personality. He is only strong when there is some external cause to be so. Moreover he oscillates like a windsock when times are serious and critical.”
(Brain damage found upon this guy’s autopsy checks out)
Rosenberg: “reasoning is no good when so-called prominent people are so stupid that they refuse to see plain common sense.”
(Would appear he hated Rosenberg, too, like everyone else. I have yet to read anything anywhere positive to say about the man- will probably have to wait til I read his own memoirs to see anything close)
Hitler’s inability to delegate or trust his staff: “neither in the military nor the civilian sector have we strong central leadership because everything has to be referred to the Führer and that can only be done in a small number of cases.”
(Classic micromanager)
Perhaps the most surprising to me was even Goebbel’s observation that his almighty Fuhrer did not see things how they actually were toward the end: “Since the Führer consistently refuses to make changes here, there is gradually developing not only a leadership crisis but a definite Führer crisis.”
(🫠)
“There is no one either in the Ministry of the Interior or the Party Chancellery who has the courage to tell the Führer this to his face.”
(And what about the ministry of propaganda?)
“Here again, however, it is noticeable that, though the Führer correctly perceives what has happened, he seldom draws the right conclusions.”
(Popular opinion at this point in the game it seems)
And more cow metaphors! : “It is a pity that the Party is represented, not by a man like that but by Göring, who has as much to do with the Party as a cow with radiology.”
And of course the thing that they all say: “But what can one do?”
I’ll close my review with a passage from the intro written by HTR: “As Goebbels himself remarked with cynical candour, even the German people would never have voted for the Nazis if it had known what they intended to do.”
(Mmm I wouldn’t be so sure about that given everything above).
Thick read but interesting to get inside the head of this delusional little man.
March 4, 2014
Could stretch to 2.5 stars.
Probably the least informative of the three volumes published from the Goebbels wartime diaries -- mostly because he pretty much was a prisoner in Berlin and its immediate vicinity. I found the military updates less-than-accessible because they were very detailed . . . it was like looking at an elephant through a microscope . . . and often the words did not match up with the nearby maps in the book -- and the maps were very hard to read, too . . . small print and too much shading that obscured much of the information.
Most surprising thing was how prescient Goebbels was about future relations between the Soviets and the West. Also, very surprising how informed he was about events happening "outside."
No shortage of ego and wishful thinking. But at bottom, clearly he knew the game was up, short of a miracle . . . which he kept wishing for.
Of the three volumes, the 1942-43 were the most interesting and informative.
Probably the least informative of the three volumes published from the Goebbels wartime diaries -- mostly because he pretty much was a prisoner in Berlin and its immediate vicinity. I found the military updates less-than-accessible because they were very detailed . . . it was like looking at an elephant through a microscope . . . and often the words did not match up with the nearby maps in the book -- and the maps were very hard to read, too . . . small print and too much shading that obscured much of the information.
Most surprising thing was how prescient Goebbels was about future relations between the Soviets and the West. Also, very surprising how informed he was about events happening "outside."
No shortage of ego and wishful thinking. But at bottom, clearly he knew the game was up, short of a miracle . . . which he kept wishing for.
Of the three volumes, the 1942-43 were the most interesting and informative.
January 7, 2018
Disquieting but riveting. The sections where he tries to get Hitler to 'speak to the people' as a booster to morale make for fascinating reading. Hitler's response that he has 'nothing new to say'.....says it all.
November 22, 2023
Goebbels’s final diary entries cover a very specific period of time. It seems abridged, covering mainly the military situation and Goebbels’s reactions to foreign policy and how the war is going. A lot of the military descriptions are boring, and the diary doesn’t include, or perhaps this edition edited out, details of Goebbels’s daily life that could be used to analyze his character. Some of the pages and entries, especially at the end, are missing. Despite the missing information, Goebbels’s opinions still shine through, and I hate his opinions.
My God. Goebbels is delusional. He seems almost pitiable when dealing with Germany’s war losses, and then he says something terrible about the Allies, Jews, or “bolshevists” and then I realize he’s Goebbels, the propaganda guy. I cannot take his war reports at face value, but they still make a remarkable insight into the mind of this deplorable man.
Goebbels worships Hitler, at one time even calling him a deus ex machina. The introduction implies Goebbels had some self-awareness about his propaganda, but while he did know he was lying about the war to the masses, he was believing his own lies by the time these diary entries were written. None of this was surprising, but it was still sad how deep Goebbels’s delusions lay. I can’t feel sorry for this bastard, but I can feel sorry for the Germans who fell for his propaganda.
Goebbels’s diary is an important primary historical source, offering a view of the last days of WW2 that is obviously tainted by Goebbels’s propaganda-addled mind. However, you can see the situation get worse and worse for Nazi Germany and Goebbels coping harder and harder. The diary stops in the middle of April, but additional material is added detailing the rest of Goebbels’s life.
Goebbels keeps accusing the Allies of atrocities the Nazis committed. Goebbels’s antisemitism shines through always, even at the beginning of this edition, where Germany isn’t losing that badly and Goebbels doesn’t mention the Jews a lot. Goebbels’s propaganda at least was trying to keep German morale up, which is about the only good thing you could say about his propaganda.
Goebbels is dead, but what he represented lives on. With the rise in antisemitism and war misinformation being spread on the Internet, it sadly seems I read this book at the right time. Screw you, Goebbels. You would have loved the Internet.
My God. Goebbels is delusional. He seems almost pitiable when dealing with Germany’s war losses, and then he says something terrible about the Allies, Jews, or “bolshevists” and then I realize he’s Goebbels, the propaganda guy. I cannot take his war reports at face value, but they still make a remarkable insight into the mind of this deplorable man.
Goebbels worships Hitler, at one time even calling him a deus ex machina. The introduction implies Goebbels had some self-awareness about his propaganda, but while he did know he was lying about the war to the masses, he was believing his own lies by the time these diary entries were written. None of this was surprising, but it was still sad how deep Goebbels’s delusions lay. I can’t feel sorry for this bastard, but I can feel sorry for the Germans who fell for his propaganda.
Goebbels’s diary is an important primary historical source, offering a view of the last days of WW2 that is obviously tainted by Goebbels’s propaganda-addled mind. However, you can see the situation get worse and worse for Nazi Germany and Goebbels coping harder and harder. The diary stops in the middle of April, but additional material is added detailing the rest of Goebbels’s life.
Goebbels keeps accusing the Allies of atrocities the Nazis committed. Goebbels’s antisemitism shines through always, even at the beginning of this edition, where Germany isn’t losing that badly and Goebbels doesn’t mention the Jews a lot. Goebbels’s propaganda at least was trying to keep German morale up, which is about the only good thing you could say about his propaganda.
Goebbels is dead, but what he represented lives on. With the rise in antisemitism and war misinformation being spread on the Internet, it sadly seems I read this book at the right time. Screw you, Goebbels. You would have loved the Internet.
December 19, 2017
Honestly this book, to start off, was a great read for me. This is because this book explained mainly the things happening around the Reich from the start of March to the final final days of 1945, ending at April 18th, where Joseph Goebbels writes notes to one of his surviving sons which tells him to 'survive for Germany'.
Unfortunately, Joseph Goebbels is no longer alive since he committed suicide on May 1st, 1945. The war in Europe had ended on May 7th, 1945. However this book is continued with a list of annexes and such in which another author had pasted into the book (in which I have a 1978 edition black cover with gold text).
Ultimately it emphasizes how the last months of the war were with constant Mosquito raids on Berlin, and bombings beware from all sides, including what is today parts of Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany all around.
This book can't possibly contain spoilers, since the book is informative and actually copied from Joseph Goebbels' moments.
Unfortunately, Joseph Goebbels is no longer alive since he committed suicide on May 1st, 1945. The war in Europe had ended on May 7th, 1945. However this book is continued with a list of annexes and such in which another author had pasted into the book (in which I have a 1978 edition black cover with gold text).
Ultimately it emphasizes how the last months of the war were with constant Mosquito raids on Berlin, and bombings beware from all sides, including what is today parts of Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany all around.
This book can't possibly contain spoilers, since the book is informative and actually copied from Joseph Goebbels' moments.
March 19, 2018
It's hard to give a "rating" to a book by an evil person, and about evil. It's in a piece with The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire
by Andrew O'Shaughnessy, about the much less evil, and eventual American allies, the British. But Goebbels is unapologetic to the end. He talks about Britain, the U.S. and the USSR are destroying everything worthwhile in Germany and for that matter the world. He takes no responsibility for Germany's stirring the pot in such a manner as to make destroying Germany as he and Hitler made it a necessity.
He describes an inverted world where evil is greatness, and good is evil. He demonizes those that tried to surrender so as to gain peace
by Andrew O'Shaughnessy, about the much less evil, and eventual American allies, the British. But Goebbels is unapologetic to the end. He talks about Britain, the U.S. and the USSR are destroying everything worthwhile in Germany and for that matter the world. He takes no responsibility for Germany's stirring the pot in such a manner as to make destroying Germany as he and Hitler made it a necessity.
He describes an inverted world where evil is greatness, and good is evil. He demonizes those that tried to surrender so as to gain peace
January 11, 2019
Awful and fascinating. By the time these entries start, the war is lost. Massively destructive bombing raids on German cities are a nightly event, the Battle of the Bulge has failed, they're steadily losing territory in every direction, and Goebbels is engaged in denial, scapegoating, projection, and wishful thinking to an extraordinary degree. It's like a bad car crash you can't stop from looking at, but it's mildly nauseating.
November 1, 2023
No idea how to rate this. I give it 3 stars for the people that put it all together I guess.
However, I cannot say it was a bad experience, in fact is is quite fascinating to get into the mindset of someone like this - de delusion, the narcissism, the powerlessness in front of Hitler's incompetence, the gossip, the occasional glimmers of rationality (mostly about the Soviets). It is also strangely readable. Worth checking out if you are into WW2 history as there is a a lot of military info.
However, I cannot say it was a bad experience, in fact is is quite fascinating to get into the mindset of someone like this - de delusion, the narcissism, the powerlessness in front of Hitler's incompetence, the gossip, the occasional glimmers of rationality (mostly about the Soviets). It is also strangely readable. Worth checking out if you are into WW2 history as there is a a lot of military info.
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September 27, 2025I still miss you.
My heart aches when I think of you.
But only this much.
This feeling is only beautiful this way.
You will always hide inside my memory hutch.
And thus you will always live on far away.
My heart aches when I think of you.
But only this much.
This feeling is only beautiful this way.
You will always hide inside my memory hutch.
And thus you will always live on far away.
August 14, 2018
Wow that was difficult to read.
June 25, 2020
I experienced a feeling like sitting down with evil. To have seen and heard what transpired in Hitler's world is to feel stained by the blood which so readily flowed down the streets of Europe.
August 6, 2019
Para el lector de hoy tiene un extraordinario valor leer El Diario del Dr. Goebbels y también un especial interés, poder en cierto modo escuchar al hombre más elocuente del grupo de dirigentes del Tercer Reich tal como dictaba en borrador. Refleja de forma impresionante el último acto de la tragedia de un pueblo y de un héroe.
June 19, 2025
Joseph Goebbels is often described as the 'only interesting persona in the entirety of the Third Reich - besides Hitler himself.' A man humorously antithetical to the Aryan genome, with his short stature and twisted club foot, Goebbels nonetheless rose through the ranks of Nazism to become perhaps the closest man to Hitler during the last days of the Reich. Blessed with a cunning intellect and a master gift of persuasion, Goebbels channeled his talents to become the Nazis chief propagandist; this diary in specific regards the late years of the Reich, those of 1944-1945. As the Anglo-American alliance smashes through the Rhine to the West, encircling Model and the shattered remnants of the formerly invincible Wehrmacht, and as the Soviets brutalize German land to the East and march on Berlin, these diaries contain the psyche of a man who knows he will not live to see summer. Unlike Hitler, who often lost himself in the comfort of drugs and dreams of extravagant offensives led by elite SS units he simply did not have, Goebbels takes a more pragmatic stance of reality. Germany has lost. He blames the incompetent Göring and ineffective Ribbentrop for Germany's plight; he blames unpatriotic Germans who have betrayed the Vaterland; he blames Jews, communists, Churchill - but his blame never falls on Hitler himself. Hitler can seemingly do no wrong in Goebbel's eyes, an ironic fact considering that it was Goebbels himself that had built up the allure of the Fuhrer's invincibility. Nazism has failed, and the post-war Europe appears to be a continent bowing to the whims of Bolshevism; a real-life hell for Goebbels. He oscillates between defeatism and hope as the weeks bleed into the next and the Americans and Soviets become ever closer to Berlin; it seems fitting that after Hitler's death Goebbels was bestowed as Chancellor of the Reich, if only for a single day - the fact remains that without Goebbels, Hitler would never have risen to the insurmountable heights he had achieved.
August 4, 2012
Интересно было побольше узнать о идейном предводителе Третьего рейха, заглянуть в его мысли, понять и проникнуться его сущностью.
Хотя прекрасно осознавая, что советская цензура поработала над его дневниками так как ей было надо, читая книгу "между строк" всё равно осознаёш, что оправданию автора здесь нет места и быть не может!
Хотя прекрасно осознавая, что советская цензура поработала над его дневниками так как ей было надо, читая книгу "между строк" всё равно осознаёш, что оправданию автора здесь нет места и быть не может!
July 3, 2012
I got it long time ago as a gift and I finished it just recently. It was fascinating to read from historical point of view...but hard to swallow considering who wrote them and the presented ideas were scary.
December 13, 2010
As with all his diaries and the reminiscences of Nazi officials this is a dreary collection of comments that remind us that the Nazis were not special or different just in the place to do the damage.
May 6, 2013
Dejando de lado la horrorosa introducción, es un libro bastante instructivo del carácter de P.J. Goebbels.
July 17, 2015
Engrossing. I stopped watching ashes to finish the book.
July 18, 2016
Utterly insane from (overall) reasonable smart individual.
Interesting denials and history interlacing seen from the second to Hitler.
An historical account to ponder upon.
Interesting denials and history interlacing seen from the second to Hitler.
An historical account to ponder upon.
April 1, 2019
A real insight into the last days of the Reich.
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