Magda Goebbels was born Johanna Maria Magdalena Ritschel on 11 November 1901 in Berlin, Germany. Her early life was marked by upheaval and transition. Her parents divorced when she was young, and her mother, Auguste Behrend, remarried Jewish businessman Richard Friedländer, who adopted Magda. She attended boarding schools in Belgium and Germany, where she developed a taste for luxury and sophistication that would define her later life.

In her twenties, Magda married industrialist Günther Quandt, who was 20 years her senior and one of Germany’s wealthiest men. They wed on 4 January 1921, and she gave birth to her first child, Harald, that November. The marriage, however, was cold and ultimately ended in divorce in 1929. Though Quandt retained custody of Harald, Magda remained connected to high society and enjoyed financial security from the settlement.

Magda’s political engagement began cautiously. She joined the Nazi Party in September 1930 and worked as a volunteer in party offices. There, she met Joseph Goebbels in 1930 while assisting with his papers. Their relationship quickly turned romantic. By December 1931, they married in a ceremony witnessed by Adolf Hitler himself, who would remain a close figure in their family life.

Magda relished her role as the regime’s model wife and mother. She was frequently photographed with her children and often appeared in propaganda newsreels to illustrate the ideal Nazi family. She bore six more children with Joseph Goebbels—Helga, Hilde, Helmut, Holdine, Hedwig, and Heidrun—whose names all began with “H,” a tradition started by her first husband.

Her marriage was not without turmoil. In 1938, Goebbels’ affair with Czech actress Lída Baarová threatened their union and created a scandal that drew Hitler’s personal intervention. Magda demanded conditions that forced Goebbels to end the affair and curtailed his access to their children. Despite her grievances, she remained by his side, maintaining the image of a united family in public.

As the Nazi regime collapsed in 1945, Magda’s devotion to National Socialism deepened into fanaticism. She expressed her belief that without Hitler and the ideals of the Third Reich, life held no meaning. In letters and conversations, she indicated she could not bear the thought of her children living in a world that reviled their father’s name.

In the final days of April 1945, as Soviet forces encircled Berlin, Magda Goebbels and her six children joined Joseph Goebbels in the underground Vorbunker connected to Hitler’s Führerbunker. Although several officials urged her to evacuate the children for their safety, Magda refused every offer. Witnesses later recalled her explaining that she preferred her children die with her rather than grow up in defeat.

Life in the bunker was surreal and tense. The children, unaware of their parents’ plans, played, sang songs, and chatted with bunker staff. Hitler and other officials often visited them. Nurses and aides described them as innocent and affectionate, particularly little Heide, who was four years old and recovering from tonsillitis.

On 30 April 1945, Hitler killed himself. That night, Magda was seen combing her daughters’ hair and tucking the children into their beds. Witnesses described Helga, the eldest at twelve, as tearful and suspicious. Magda reassured them that they were receiving medicine to help them sleep.

The next day, Magda and Joseph resolved to carry out their plan. Accounts differ on exactly who administered the fatal doses, but most evidence suggests that SS dentist Dr. Helmut Kunz first injected the children with morphine to render them unconscious. Magda and Hitler’s physician, Ludwig Stumpfegger, then crushed cyanide capsules in their mouths. Some witnesses claimed Magda herself administered the cyanide.

Helga appeared to have resisted, as bruises were later found on her face—suggesting she struggled against the poison. In contrast, the younger children slipped into unconsciousness without resistance. Misch, the bunker’s radio operator, later described his regret as he watched Magda lead the children up the stairs one last time. Heide turned back playfully to tease him, unaware it would be her final moment of innocence.

After killing her children, Magda and Joseph ascended to the Chancellery garden, where they committed suicide. Their bodies were doused in fuel and partially burned by staff loyal to them.

On 3 May 1945, Soviet troops discovered the children’s bodies in their beds, dressed in nightgowns, with ribbons tied in the girls’ hair. The sight left a profound impact on those who found them, a chilling testament to the Goebbelses’ total devotion to their ideology.

Magda Goebbels never faced trial or accountability for her actions. Her decision to murder her six children remains one of the most haunting crimes associated with the fall of Nazi Germany.