← Back to the front page

Women of Peace and Those Sided the Wrong of World War II

Khalid Elhassan November 20, 2020 32 min

World War II - Italian resistance movement — Women of the resistance in Italy. Wall Street Journal

13. The Goebbels’ Quickly Did Their Part to Furnish the Nazi State With New Citizens

Ten-year-old Harald Quandt at his mother’s remarriage to Joseph Goebbels, with Hitler, who acted as a signatory witness to the wedding, behind him in a hat. Wikimedia

When the Nazis took power in 1933, Goebbels used his influence as a Reich minister to lean on Harald’s father, to modify the terms of his 1929 divorce settlement with Magda. Gunther Quandt agreed to free his ex-wife from her obligation to surrender custody of Harald if she ever remarried, and the kid moved in permanently with his mother and stepfather.

As to Magda and Joseph, it was not long before the duo got started on producing a biological brood of their own. Their eldest, Helga, was born in September, 1932. Next came Hildegard in April, 1934. She, in turn, was followed by Helmut, Magda and Joseph Goebbels’ only son, in October, 1935. He was followed by Holdine, in February, 1937. Next came Hedwig, in May, 1938, and finally, Heidrun arrived in October, 1940.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.