GOEBBELS MAGDA: (1901-1945) German Nazi Party member, wife of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels an

GOEBBELS MAGDA: (1901-1945) German Nazi Party member, wife of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels an

‘it was like the exodus of the children of Israel!!’

GOEBBELS MAGDA: (1901-1945) German Nazi Party member, wife of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and herself a close ally, companion and political supporter of Adolf Hitler. Magda Goebbels is sometimes referred to as the unofficial 'first lady' of Nazi Germany. An interesting war date A.L., unsigned, lacking the conclusion, four pages, 8vo, Schwanenwerder, 8th June 1941, to Marina Chaliapin, in German. Goebbels commences her letter by remarking 'You will think that I am a faithless and ungrateful friend for not giving you an answer in so long. I've thought so much of you and always wanted to write', adding that her correspondent's first letter was delayed, but she has now received everything, '6 wonderful stockings, two more in the envelope, and both letters. I thank you a thousand times both for the wonderful, extremely thin, and yet durable stockings and much more for your dear letters'. Goebbels continues to send her own news, in part, 'On May 1st I went to the children, and they were all doing wonderfully. But the house was really too primitive and so I made up my mind and moved the entire household and children, 16 people. I simply rented a large van for 28 people and stowed everything, children, staff, my mother and me. All the luggage, strollers, beds, in short it was like the exodus of the children of Israel!! Now, they are at the Grundlsee…..It's a paradise for the kids! They are doing wonderfully…..You know, Marina, if you feel like it in the summer, we'll go to visit them together. You will be delighted!' and also writes of her eldest son, 'With Harald I had a lot of worries, but now I also feel a lot of joy and pride. He participated in the whole military entry into Crete, and for 14 days it was not possible to learn anything from him. The day before yesterday, I received a wonderful letter from him full of victorious pride and joy in life, and today a message from his general that he is fine and that he is still on duty. It was a very difficult day for me. The fear that something would happen to him or that he would be taken prisoner by the English made me very sick and I didn't want to see or speak to anyone. I was all alone in Schwanenwerder and had even sent the staff away.' The final line of text in the letter as it exists today refers to her former sister-in-law, Ella Quandt, 'a dear friend of mine'. A partial letter of extraordinary content for its references to the biblical book of Exodus (in which Moses liberates the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery, leading them to freedom and then receiving the Ten Commandments), as well as her son, Harald, and the six children that she had with Joseph Goebbels, the youngest of which had been born in 1940, and who were ultimately all killed by Magda with cyanide capsules in the Fuhrerbunker on 1st May 1945, before she and her husband committed suicide the same day. VG Marina Chaliapin (1912-2009) Russian ballerina & actress who was crowned Miss. Russia in 1931. Daughter of Russian opera singer Feodor Chaliapin (1873-1938) widely regarded as one of the finest bass singers of the 20th century, and his mistress Marina Petsold (1882-1964) who became the singer's second wife in 1927. Marina was married to Luigi Freddi (1895-1977) the Italian journalist and Minister of Culture who edited the journal Il Popolo d'Italia and who was also hugely influential in Italian political cinema in the second half of the 1930s and beginning of the 1940s. Harald Quandt (1921-1967) German Lieutenant in the Luftwaffe during World War II who took part in the Battle of Crete in 1941 and later fought in Russia and Italy, where he was injured. In 1944 he was captured by the Allied troops in Italy and was released in 1947. Harald was Magda's eldest son, from her first marriage, and the only one of her children to survive her. After the war Quandt helped run the industrial empire which had been left to him by his father, and that still continues today.