Background
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Josef Goebbels
Positions of Responsibility
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Was born in the Rhineland
Was disabled as was born with a
club foot and walked with a limp
Was a bright student and graduated
university with a PHD in Philosophy
Didn’t fight in WWI due to his
disability
Bitter and suffered from inferiority
complex due to his disability
Highly skilled orator, disliked by
many due to various love affairs
Gauleiter of Berlin
Member of Reichstag
Minister of Public Enlightenment
and Propaganda
1897 - 1945
More facts and rumours about him
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Was a failed journalist and writer who had
his books rejected – maybe this is why he
was so keen on burning the books of others
as part of his censorship activities
He was a committed Jew hater commenting
on the Final Solution: ‘The Jews are
receiving their punishment. It may be
barbaric but they deserve it.’
His family – wife and several kids – were
portrayed as the perfect Aryan family unit
but he used his control of the movie
industry to conduct affairs with actresses
who had to comply or see their careers
ruined.
Role before Nazi rise to power
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Joined NSDAP in 1924
Supported the left wing policies of Gregor Strasser originally but was convinced by
Hitler’s arguments to follow Hitler
Set up a newspaper to spread Nazi propaganda
Made head of propaganda where his genius for the manipulation of the media
helped the Nazis gain support
Role after Nazi rise to power to early days of WWII
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Played a major role in promoting Nazi ideology by setting the
wheels in motion for the burning of un-German books
Ordered the anti-Jewish attacks on property and person that
became known as Kristalknacht
He introduced censorship to dull any non – Nazi messages in
culture or media
He used all possible methods of promoting Nazi ideology
Decline and fall
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Organised help for residents of bombed cities
Helped get Germany ready for ‘Total War’
Maintained civilian morale
Organised last efforts to resist allied advances
Was in Hitler’s bunker when all was lost
Committed suicide after poisoning his five children and
shooting his wife
Background
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Hermann Goering
Positions of Responsibility
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Born into an aristocratic family in
Bavaria
Considered witty, charming but
greedy
Was a fighter pilot in the air force in
WWI
Went to university but dropped out
without finishing his degree
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SA Leader
Minister of the Interior for Prussia
Minister without Portfolio in
Hitler’s government
Commander in Chief of the
Luftwaffe (Air Force)
In charge of Four Year Plan
Appointed Hitler’s successor in
1939
Reichsmarschall (most senior
leader) of the German Armed
forces
1893 - 1946
More facts and rumours about him
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Looted over 2000 works of art from
occupied Europe for his personal collection
Did not rate Himmler. After Himmler
appointed Heydrich as head of the SD, He
said ‘So Himmler has a brain after all – it is
called Heydrich!’
During his time sectioned in an asylum in
Sweden in the throes of morphine
addiction he became violent to the point
where he had to be confined to a
straitjacket!
Role before Nazi rise to power
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Joined the Nazi Party in 1923 after hearing a speech by Adolf Hitler
‘He is the only one of its heads that ran the SA properly. I gave him a dishevelled rabble. In a
very short time he had organised a division of 11,000 men’ – Hitler
During the Munich Putsch, he was shot in the leg. He received surgery and was given
morphine for the pain. This was the beginning of his morphine addiction, which lasted until
his imprisonment at Nuremberg
Remaining overseas to avoid arrest, he was certified a dangerous drug addict and was placed
in Långbro asylum, in Sweden, on 1 September 1925.
After the Reichstag fire on 27 February 1933, immediately called for a crackdown on
communists. In 1942, he confessed to ordering the fire but he denied this later
Role after Nazi rise to power to early days of WWII
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He was appointed to a number of government posts
In November 1933 he established a Prussian police force called
the Geheime Staatspolizei, or Gestapo. Thinking its head was
not ruthless enough to use the Gestapo effectively to
counteract the power of the SA, he handed control to Himmler
in April 1934
He plotted with Himmler and Heydrich to use the Gestapo and
SS to crush the SA, leading to the elimination of the SA
leadership on the Night of the Long Knives. He personally went
over the lists of detainees and determined who else should be
shot
Was placed in charge of the Four Year Plan that moved
Germany’s economy onto a war footing
Decline and fall
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Promised Hitler that the German Luftwaffe would defeat the
British Air Force but they did not and Hitler lost faith in him.
He spent the rest of the war acquiring stolen Jewish art and
belongings for his personal collection
After hearing of Hitler’s intention to commit suicide, he sent a
telegram requesting permission to assume control of the Reich.
Considering it an act of treason, Hitler removed him from all his
positions, expelled him from the party, and ordered his arrest
After Germany’s defeat, he was tried - the second-highest-ranking
Nazi official tried at Nuremberg - and sentenced to death but
avoided justice by committing suicide hours earlier
Background
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Reinhard Heydrich
Positions of Responsibility
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Born in Saxony, Germany
Intelligent, cultured and talented
Played musical instrument, sports
Rumours of Jewish ancestry
attached to him due to big nose
Too young for service in WWI
Arrogant, brutal, cold, ambitious
Joined Navy but was discharged for
inappropriate behaviour
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Leader of SD
Chief of Secret Police
Head of Reich Central Office for
Jewish Emigration
Head of Reich Security Head Office
Reich Protector of Bohemia &
Moravia (Czechoslovakia)
1904 - 1942
More facts and rumours about him
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He was called 'A young, evil god of death'
and 'the Blond Beast',
He was said to be plagued by bitterness and
self-hatred because of suspicions about his
Jewish lineage
‘Highly gifted but also very dangerous man,
whose gifts the movement had to retain.
Such people could still be used so long as
they were kept well in hand and for that
purpose his non-Aryan origins were
extremely useful; for he would be eternally
grateful to us that we had kept him and not
expelled him and would obey blindly.'
- Himmler
Role before Nazi rise to power
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In 1931, at age 27, He joined the Nazi Party and became a member of the SS
Himmler, who was seeking someone to build an SS intelligence service, was
impressed by his self-confidence, and diligent response to the challenge and gave
him the job.
He assembled a vast network of informers that developed dossiers on anyone who
might oppose Hitler and conducted investigations to gather information down to
the smallest details on Nazi Party members and storm trooper (SA) leaders.
He kept folders full of rumours and details of the privates lives and sexual activities
of top Nazis, later resorting to planting hidden microphones and cameras
The success of the SD earned him a quick rise through the SS ranks - appointed SS
Major by December, 1931, then SS Colonel with sole control of the SD by July of
1932
Role after Nazi rise to power to early days of WWII
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In April 1934 he ran the newly created Gestapo and, with Himmler
and Göring, plotted the end of SA chief Ernst Röhm and remaining
opposition
In November 1938, Kristallnacht saw the first widespread attacks on
Jews and mass arrests.. 25,000 were sent to the camps
He formed SS Special Action (Einsatz) Groups to round up and shoot
leading Poles. Polish Jews who were not shot were crammed into
ghettos. Overcrowding and lack of food within these ghettos led to
starvation, disease, and the resulting deaths of half a million Jews by
mid 1941.Einsatz groups now turned their attention to the mass
murder of Jews.
In September 1941 he was appointed Reich Protector of Bohemia &
Moravia (Czechoslovakia)
Decline and fall
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On January, 20, 1942, Heydrich convened the Wannsee
Conference in Berlin with 15 top Nazi bureaucrats to coordinate
the Final Solution in which the Nazis would attempt to
exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe and the Soviet
Union
His actions as Reich Protector of Bohemia & Moravia
(Czechoslovakia) caused anger and resentment amongst resistance
fighters in Czechoslovakia
He was attacked in Prague, The Czech capital, on 27 May 1942 by a
British-trained team of Czechoslovakian soldiers who had been
sent by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile to kill him.
He died from his injuries a week later
Background
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Heinrich Himmler
Positions of Responsibility
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Born in Bavaria
At school he was a top student , but
was clumsy and nearsighted and
unable to do well at sports
Became an officer cadet during the
First World War but didn’t see
combat
Studied agriculture at university
Well organized and hard working
Spent time as a chicken farmer
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Member of Reichstag
Reichsfuhrer SS
Chief of all German Police
Commisar of the Strengthening of
the German Nationhood
Minister of the Interior
Commander in chief of the Home
Army
1900 - 1945
More facts and rumours about him
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Control of the Gestapo was his reward for
the betrayal and murder of his old mentor,
Rohm
It is said there was a small room in his attic
with furniture made from human remains –
Jews. This included stools with human thigh
bones for legs, a lamp with a shade made of
human skin and a copy of ‘Mein Kampf’
hand written on human skin.
Role before Nazi rise to power
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In 1923 he participated in the Munich Putsch, the failed attempt by the Nazi Party
to take over the Bavarian governmentt
In 1925, after the Nazis had regrouped, he became a minor member of the Nazi
Party
In 1929 he became the Reich Leader of the SS, which at the time numbered less
than 200 and was a suborganization of the SA.
He expanded the SS, recruited hundreds of new members, introduced racial
screening of members and changed the uniform to the black jacket with red
armband.
Role after Nazi rise to power to early days of WWII
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In 1934 he orchestrated the destruction of the SA, which both he and
Adolf Hitler had feared was becoming too powerful a force within the
Nazi party
He was made "Reichsfuhrer-SS" and now commanded not only the SS
proper, but also the forces of the SD (internal security service) and
Gestapo (state security police) as well as the fledging military SS
(Waffen-SS).
In 1936 her gained total police authority in the country by being
named as Chief of German Police, and incorporated all of Germany's
regular police forces into the SS.
He set in motion the extermination of all European Jews, the so-called
"Final Solution", in which wholesale genocide was carried out against
groups the Nazis considered "undesirable" or racially inferior, resulting
in the murders of more than six million Jews and hundreds of
thousands of others
Decline and fall
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Late in World War II, Hitler charged Himmler with the
command of two Army Groups. He failed to achieve his
assigned objectives and Hitler replaced him in these posts.
Realising that the war was lost, he attempted to open
peace talks with the western Allies without Hitler's
knowledge.
Hearing of this, Hitler dismissed him from all his posts in
April 1945 and ordered his arrest.
Himmler attempted to go into hiding, but was detained
and then arrested by British forces once his identity
became known.
While in British custody, he committed suicide on 23 May
1945.
Background
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Adolf Hitler
Positions of Responsibility
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Born in Austria
Father died when he was young
Left school with few qualifications
He wanted to enroll in art school to
become an artist
Lived as a tramp in Vienna, surviving
by trying to sell his own paintings
Joined German Army in WWI and
won bravery awards
He was in hospital recovering from
gassing when Germany surrendered
Leader of Nazi Party
German Chancellor
Der Fuhrer
1889 - 1945
Die
More facts and rumours about him
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His first connection with the Nazi
Party was to spy on it for the army
He only had one testicle
His grandfather’s name missing from his
fathers birth certificate but his
grandmother had received regular
payments from a local wealthy Jewish
family she had worked for raising suspicions
he had Jewish ancestry
He had a relationship with his much
younger niece, Geli Raubal. Geli was found
in a room at his Munich apartment, on
September 19, 1931. She was on the floor
dead with a single bullet wound to her
chest. Officially it was declared suicide but
some suspect he murdered her
Role before Nazi rise to power
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He joined the DAP, led by Anton Drexler, after WWI and soon became its leader, changing its
name to NSDAP and drawing up its manifesto – the 25 Points
In 1923, he led his small Nazi party in a failed attempt to seize power – the Munich putsch.
The Putsch failed and Hitler was sentenced to a lenient jail sentence. It was in jail that he
wrote ‘Mein Kampf ‘a rambling exposition of his philosophy which included his growing antisemitic ideology and ideas of an idealised Aryan race.
On his release, Hitler then turned his attentions to gaining electoral support and contesting
the elections of Weimar Germany.
The impact of the Great Depression provided fertile ground for his radical and extremist
policies. Against a backdrop of 6 million unemployed people felt there was a clear choice
between Communism and the Nationalism of the Nazi party. With the help of his powerful
rhetoric and his own private militia, Hitler, led the Nazi party to victory in the 1933 elections
and was made Chancellor
Role after Nazi rise to power to start of WWII
What happened during and after WWII?
In 1934, on the death of Hindenburg, he combined the roles of
president and chancellor and declared himself the supreme leader
ending all pretense to democracy and removing all opposition inside or
outside of his party
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Many ordinary Germans were enthusiastic at the success he started to
achieve, including an extensive programme of road building,
rearmament, which solved the unemployment problem. At the 1936
Olympics in Berlin, her tried to showcase his country as a model of
dynamism and progress.
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But, in addition to the economic successes, Hitler began a systematic
policy of discrimination and harassment of German Jews and any other
segments of society that did not fit in with the Aryan ideal. This
became increasingly vicious. No dissent was tolerated and this
totalitarian state was enforced through a ruthlessly efficient secret
police – the Gestapo and SS
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His determination to gain lebensraum and reverse the Treaty of
Versailles led to WWII
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After early whirlwind successes, the German war effort bogged
down as her cities were carpet bombed by the Allies
Hitler unleashed the Final Solution to eradicate the Jews of Europe
He became increasingly frail and sick as the war went on and
defeat became imminent
Failure to defeat the Soviets and the entry of the United States
into the war forced Germany onto the defensive and it suffered a
series of escalating defeats.
In the final days of the war, during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, he
married his partner, Eva Braun.
On 30 April 1945, less than two days later, the two committed
suicide in the Fuhrer bunker to avoid capture by the Soviet Red
Army, and their bodies were burned to prevent them being
paraded by the enemy.
Background
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Rudolf Hoess
Positions of Responsibility
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Born in Strasburg, Germany
His family was Catholic
He married and had five children
He won bravery awards fighting in
Turkey for the German Army during
WWI where he became its youngest
non-commissioned officer aged 17
He returned to school after WWI
ended
Joined the Freikorps and opposed
French occupation forces in the
Ruhr, 1923
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SS-Obersturmbannführer, Death’s
Head section
Blockführer of Dachau
concentration camp
Commandant of Auschwitz
concentration camp,
1900 - 1947
More facts and rumours about him
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He wrote his autobiography while awaiting
execution; Kommandant in Auschwitz
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He wrote, just before his execution: ‘My
conscience compels me to make the
following declaration. In the solitude of my
prison cell I have come to the bitter
recognition that I have sinned gravely
against humanity. As Commandant of
Auschwitz I was responsible for carrying out
part of the cruel plans of the 'Third Reich'
for human destruction. In so doing I have
inflicted terrible wounds on humanity. I
caused unspeakable suffering for the Polish
people in particular. I am to pay for this
with my life. May the Lord God forgive one
day what I have done.’
Role before Nazi rise to power
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He joined the NSDAP after hearing Hitler speak in Munich.
In May 31, 1923, Höss and members of the Freikorps beat a suspected Communist
to death on the wishes of the local farm supervisor, Martin Bormann, who later
became Adolf Hitler's private secretary.
In 1923, after one of the killers gave the tale of the murder to a local newspaper,
He was arrested, tried, found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
He did not inform on other Nazis involved which made them trust his loyalty
Role after Nazi rise to power to early days of WWII
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On release from prison, he joined the SS and in 1934 he moved
up to the SS - Death's Head Units
In December 1934 he was assigned to the Dachau
concentration camp, where he held the post of Blockführer. He
was good at this job and was recommended by his superiors
for promotion.
In 1938 he received a promotion to SS-Hauptsturmführer and
joined the Waffen-SS in 1939.
In May, 1940, He was appointed commandant of Auschwitz
prison camp in western Poland
Hitler had ordered the physical extermination of Europe's Jews
and Himmler had selected Auschwitz for this purpose.
Decline and fall
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He tested and perfected the techniques of mass killing
which would make Auschwitz the most efficiently
murderous instrument of the Final Solution
Replaced as the Auschwitz commander in December 194
but returned in May 1944 to supervise the killing of
430,000 Hungarian Jews
At close of WWII, evaded arrest for close to a year but on
25 May 1946, he was handed over to Polish authorities and
the Supreme National Tribunal in Poland tried him for
murder.
He was executed on 2 April 1947.
Background
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Ernst Rohm
Positions of Responsibility
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Born in Munich, Germany
In 1914, at the beginning of WWI,
he fought on the Western Front. He
was wounded three times, and was
awarded the Iron Cross First Class.
He was badly hurt in that year
In 1918, he was given the rank of a
captain
Loudmouthed, enjoyed violence,
openly homosexual
After WWI joined Freikorps
Leader of SA
Member of Hitler’s government
1887 - 1934
More facts and rumours about him
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He was the man who, in 1919, first made
Hitler aware of his own political potential,
and the two were close friends for fifteen
years
Hitler was always aware of his
homosexuality but kept it quiet as he was
useful to him
Role before Nazi rise to power
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After the First World War he joined the Freikorps to fight against the Communists in Munich.
With this group, he went to fight against the Bavarian Soviet Republic. In 1919, he joined the
Nazi Party.
He helped Hitler establish relationships with the Bavarian politicians and the industrialists.
Two years later, he and Hitler started the SA, attracting many men from the Freikorps. It was
founded as a paramilitary group for the German Nazi Party. Hitler made him the leader
He took a part in the unsuccessful Munich Putsch in 1923. Röhm was arrested and found
guilty of high treason. He went to prison for five months and lost his job in the army
After an argument with Adolf Hitler he retired as leader of the SA. Between 1928 and 1930,
he worked for the Bolivian military in South America as an advisor.
In 1930, he went back to Germany and rejoined the Nazi Party. In 1931, Adolf Hitler placed
him in charge of the SA once more. In just over a year, he expanded its numbers rapidly
He led the SA in its campaign to disrupt meetings of the Communists and Socialists which
helped the Nazis to gain power
Role after Nazi rise to power to early days of WWII
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In 1933, He became a Nazi minister of the Reichstag.
By 1934, the SA had over 4,500,000 members.
The power of the SA increased making Hitler worried it
presented a threat to his power.
The SA was about 20 times greater in membership than the
Reichswehr (German Army); He wanted to take over the
Reichswehr by merging it with the SA, with him as leader.
He also wanted a "second Nazi revolution" to make Germany
more socialist. He was an anti-capitalist, and at this time, Hitler
was trying to befriend Germany's industrialists.
Decline and fall
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Hitler determined to curb the power of the SA
Himmler, Heydrich and Göring used Röhm's anti-Hitler
comments to show he was plotting to overthrow Hitler.
They built a dossier of fabricated evidence to suggest that
Röhm had been paid by France to overthrow Hitler
The Night of the Long Knives saw, Hitler fly to Munich to
arrest Röhm and the other SA leaders.
From 30 June to 2 July 1934 the entire leadership of the SA
was purged, along with many other political adversaries of
the Nazis.
Rohm was offered the option of suicide but refused so was
shot
Background
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Hjalmar Schacht
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Born in North Germany
Emerged from University with a
degree in Political Economy
Aided Stresemann in setting up the
new currency and helping end
hyper-inflation
Built a reputation as an economic
genius
Friendly with notable bankers and
industrialists
In 1929 he headed the German
delegation that negotiated the
Young Plan but he did not accept
the finished plan
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His middle names were‘Horace
Greeley’as his father named him after
a prominent American campaigner
against slavery.
When he was arrested for being a Nazi
by the Allies at the end of WWII he
was already in Dachau awaiting trial
for involvement in the July bomb plot
to kill Nazis – Hitler!
Director of the German National
Bank
President of the Reichsbank
Minister of Economics in Nazi
government
Minister without Portfolio
1877 - 1970
More facts and rumours about him
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Positions of Responsibility
Role before Nazi rise to power
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He developed right-wing political ideas and in 1930 was converted to Nazism after reading
Mein Kampf.
In January, 1931 Goering arranged a meeting with Hitler where this man agreed to raise
funds for the Nazi Party.
He had had good contacts with Germany's industrialists and persuaded Albert Voegler
(United Steel Works) Gustav Krupp and Alfried Krupp to join people such as Fritz Thyssen,
Emile Kirdorf, Carl Bechstein and Hugo Bruckmann in providing money for the party.
In November, 1932, he organized the letter signed by Germany's leading industrialists that
urged President Hindenburg to appoint Adolf Hitler as chancellor.
This was successful and on 20th February, 1933, Schacht arranged a meeting of the
Association of German Industrialists that raised 3 million marks for the Nazi Party in the
forthcoming election.
Role after Nazi rise to power to early days of WWII
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After Adolf Hitler passed his Enabling Bill, he toured the United States
where he made speeches, appeared on radio and wrote several
articles claiming that Hitler would soon return Germany to democracy
In August, 1934, Hitler appointed him as his minister of economics.
Deeply influenced by the economic ideas of John Maynard Keynes and
Roosevelt's New Deal, he encouraged Hitler to introduce a programme
of public works, including the building of the Autobahns
He also introduced the New Plan which rigorously controlled
everything that was imported into Germany.
He was hostile to Germany's Jews and had doubts about the large cost
of re-armament. He warned Hitler that the cost was far beyond the
country's economic capacity.
He found it increasingly difficult working under Hermann Goering, who
fully supported the government's policy on military spending, so
resigned as Minister of Economics in 1937
Decline and fall
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Became unhappy with Nazi economic policy and policy in
general
Linked with opposition and arrested after plot to kill Hitler
Held in Nazi concentration camp until end of WWII
Charged with war crimes at Nuremburg but found not
guilty
Acted as an international economic consultant to various
countries
Died of natural causes in Germany in 1970