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Magda and Joseph Goebbels had six children. Magda also had a son, Harald Quandt, from a previous marriage. Some writers have claimed that their names all began with "H" as a tribute to Adolf Hitler but this claim is unsupported since Harald was born before Magda ever met Hitler and there is no record of her ever having given this explanation.

Background

By April 22nd 1945 the Red Army was entering Berlin and the Goebbels brought their children to the Führerbunker where Adolf Hitler and a few personnel were also staying to direct the final defence of Berlin. Major Freytag von Loringhoven later described the children as "sad" but Erna Flegel, with whom they had much contact in the bunker, characterised them as "charming" and "absolutely delightful".

They are reported to have played with Hitler's dog Blondi during their time in the Führerbunker, where they slept in a single room. While many reports suggest there were three separate bunk beds, secretary Traudl Junge insisted there were only two. The children are said to have sung in unison while in the bunker, performing for both Hitler and the injured Robert Ritter von Greim. Junge would later claim she was with the children on April 30th when Hitler and Eva Braun killed themselves.

Children

Harald

Magda married Günther Quandt in 1921 and two years later Harald Quandt was born to the couple. He would serve as a Lieutenant in the Luftwaffe, was the only family member to survive the war and became a leading West German industrialist during the 1950s and 1960s.

Magda and Günther Quandt's marriage ended in divorce in 1929 and in 1931 Magda married Joseph Goebbels (Günther Quandt and Adolf Hitler were witnesses).

Harald died in 1967, when his personal aircraft crashed over Italy.

Helga Susanne

Born, September 1, 1932, Helga was the oldest child and reportedly the one most favoured by Adolf Hitler. She was photographed with her younger sister Hilde and her father at the 1937 Berlin Frühjahrsregatta, a rowing competition.

Helga was 12 years old when she died. Bruises found on her arms postmortem led to wide speculation that she had struggled against receiving (according to most accounts) an injection of morphine, which was used to quickly sedate the children before they were apparently murdered with cyanide capsules.

The 1997 historical fiction book The Karnau Tapes by Swiss author Marcel Beyer was told from the point of view of Helga and the fictitious Hermann Karnau.

In the 2004 film Der Untergang, her role was played by child actress Aline Sokar.

Hildegard Traudel

Born April 13, 1934, Hildegard was commonly called "Hilde". In the 2004 film Der Untergang, her role was played by child actress Charlotte Stoiber.

She was photographed with Helga and her father at the 1937 Berlin Frühjahrsregatta, a rowing competition.

Hilde was 11 years old at the time of her death.

Helmut Christian

Born October 2, 1935.

Traudl Junge would later recount that upon hearing Hitler's gunshot, Helmut shouted "That was a direct hit!" mistaking it for the sound of a mortar landing near the Führerbunker.

Helmut was 9 years old at the time of his death. In September 1945 during an interview with Stars and Stripes the wife of Otto Meißner said she believed Helmut had been fathered by Adolf Hitler.

In the 2004 film Der Untergang, his role was played by child actor Gregory Borlein.

Hedwig Johanna

Born February 19, 1937, she was commonly called "Hedda".

She was 8 years old at the time of her death.

In the 2004 film Der Untergang, her role was played by child actress Julia Bauer.

Holdine Kathrin

Born May 1, 1938, "Holde" was the fifth child in the Goebbels' marriage. Controversial historian David Irving has speculated that she may have been the result of an affair between Magda and Hitler.

The children were killed the night of Holdine's 7th birthday.

In the 2004 film Der Untergang, her role was played by child actress Laura Borlein.

Heidrun Elisabeth

Born October 20, 1940, "Heide" was 4 years old at the time of her death.

In the 2004 film Der Untergang, her role was played by child actress Amelie Menges.

Death

Stories of brutality and rape by the advancing Soviet troops were circulating in Berlin, and there was much discussion in the Führerbunker about suicide as a means to escape humiliation or punishment from the Soviets.

Joseph's last testament, dictated to Traudl and appended to Hitler's, claimed that his wife and children supported him in his refusal to leave Berlin but later qualified this, asserting that the children would support the decision if they were old enough to speak for themselves. Both pilot Hanna Reitsch (who had left the bunker on April 29th) and Junge (who would leave on May 1st) carried letters to the outside world from those remaining. Included were separate letters from Magda and Joseph to Harald who was in an Allied POW camp.

On May 1st the children were reportedly told they would be leaving for Berchtesgaden in the morning and Ludwig Stumpfegger (or possibly Helmut Kunz) were said to have provided Magda with morphine to sedate the children. Erich Kempka reported after the war that he believed the children had been "taken away by a nurse" that day, just before he left the bunker.

Aftermath

On May 3, 1945, the day after Russian troops led by Lt. Col. Ivan Klimenko had discovered the burned bodies of their parents in the courtyard above, they found the bodies of the six children in their beds, dressed in their nightgowns.

Vice Admiral Hans Voss was brought to the bombed out Chancellory garden to identify the bodies. Since their faces were tinted a pale blue it was ruled that they had died of cyanide poisoning. The autopsy however, reportedly listed their cause of death as Toxic Carbohaemoglobin

Their bodies were shipped to Plötzensee along with an unidentified officer from the bunker. After autopsies and other matters were finished, the bodies of Joseph, Magda and the six children were shown to Feldpolezei and bodyguard Wilhelm Eckold.]

After the war Günther Quandt's sister Eleanore recalled Magda saying she did not want her children to grow up hearing their father had been one of the century's foremost criminals and that reincarnation might grant her children a better future life. Reitsch, who stayed in the bunker after flying von Greim to meet Hitler, said Magda asked her in the last days to help ensure she did not back away from killing the children if it came to that.

In 1970, the remains of the six children, as well as those of Joseph, Magda, Hitler and Braun were burned and scattered in the Elbe River.

Vintage footage of the children was used in the film Eye of the Dictator (1988), compiled from Nazi era footage.

Decades later, while apartment blocks were being built above the Führerbunker, a journalist reportedly entered the bunker's remains and took photographs for the first time since the mid 1940s. He reported that the bunkbeds were still intact.

Goebbels Family Picture Gallery

• File:Goebbels-Family-pic.jpg
• File:GoebbelsWithChildren.jpg
• File:Goebbels and Family.jpg
• File:Goebbels Family Portrait.jpg
• File:Magda-readings.jpg
• File:GoebbelsFamilyWithHitler.jpg

• 1945 deaths
• Murdered children
• German families