Dr Joseph Goebbels

Joseph Goebbels remains one of the most disturbing figures to emerge from the Nazi regime. A man of sharp intellect and intelligence, he ultimately became the architect of some of history's most destructive propaganda. Raised in a Roman Catholic household and once considered a potential priest, the young Goebbels excelled at university, supported by Jewish scholars who recognised his academic talent. Yet a lifelong physical disability may have helped to kindle his fierce personal ambition, steering him towards a very different path. Amid the political turbulence of 1920s Germany, Goebbels found his calling in the rising Nazi movement, becoming one of Hitler's most devoted and influential lieutenants. As Reichminister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, he crafted the narratives that fuelled hatred, manipulated public opinion and bolstered the Führer's image. From brazen falsehoods, such as blaming Churchill for the sinking of SS Athenia, to his relentless promotion of Total War and so-called wonder weapons, Goebbels continued to spin hope for a collapsing regime. Behind the public façade, his personal life was equally tumultuous: notorious for his affairs, consumed by obsession, and ultimately responsible for choices that ended in unthinkable tragedy. In the final days of the Third Reich, he and his wife Magda took their own lives after murdering their six young children by cyanide. Dr Joseph Goebbels charts the rise and catastrophic fall of a man who might have been a bishop, an academic or a writer, but instead became one of the most reviled figures in modern history.