Goebbels und die Juden

Describes Goebbels' hatred of the Jews as expressed in his diaries and in his speeches, his press directives, and his policies as the Gauleiter of Berlin and the Minister of Propaganda. Goebbels was greatly influenced by Hitler. Though they differed on other issues, they were in full agreement on the need to rid Europe of the Jews; it was the main topic of their frequent consultations. Judges that Goebbels genuinely detested the Jews, whom he saw as vermin, and was truly convinced that they threatened Germany and European civilization. He believed in an international conspiracy between Jewish Bolsheviks and Jewish plutocrats who, through their power over press and government, especially in Britain and the U.S., had instigated the war (though by 1943 he apparently had doubts about such a collusion). To motivate the army and the home front to total war, he presented it as a war to save Europe from the Jews. As Gauleiter and minister in charge of culture, he pushed to exclude Jews from all areas of German life, and then to deport them; though seemingly uneasy over the mass killings, he was convinced that they were necessary. Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, 2002, under the title "Antisemitismus bei Joseph Goebbels : Erscheinungsformen, Entwicklungsstufen und Einflussfaktoren 1914-1945." 315 pages ; 24 cm