Volume 25, Number 9 · June 1, 1978
Hitler's Impresario
By Hugh Trevor-Roper
Joseph Goebbels has been described as 'the only really interesting man in the Third Reich beside Hitler.' The other Paladins of Nazism who, like him, were with the Führer from beginning to end—Göring, Himmler, Bormann, Ley—were made by Hitler's power. In themselves they were, at best, commonplace men. Without them, Hitler and Nazism would probably have been the same, for substitutes would have been found. Goebbels was different. Although he needed Hitler in order to rise, he also contributed significantly to Hitler's power. He transformed his image, gave him public appeal, his charisma. He also sought to perpetuate that appeal for posterity. He set out to predetermine the future history of Nazism, its myth. Even after its complete failure, historians will still have to contend with that myth.
Feature, 7832 words
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