 johanna maria magdalena "magda" goebbels (11 november 1901 â 1 may 1945) was the wife of nazi germany's propaganda minister joseph goebbels. a prominent member of the nazi party, she was a close ally and political supporter of adolf hitler. as berlin was being overrun by the red army at the end of world war ii, with goebbels she fatally poisoned her six children in their sleep and then she and her husband committed suicide. == biography == === childhood and youth === magda was born in 1901 in berlin, germany to auguste behrend and engineer oskar ritschel. the couple was married later that yearmagda goebbels biography at deutsches historisches museum, berlin and divorced in 1904. some sources, including hans-otto meissner (son of otto meissner), suggestmeissner, hans otto, magda goebbels, first lady of the third reich, p. 13 that the marriage took place before her birth, but there is no particular evidence to support that (as explained in a review, meissner had tried without producing credible evidence to assert magda's status as a legitimate child arditti, michael, magda goebbels by anja klabunde literary review, 22 may 2002 ). when she was five, her mother sent her to stay with ritschel in cologne. ritschel took her to brussels, belgium, where she was enrolled at the ursuline convent in vilvoorde.meissner, hans otto, magda goebbels, first lady of the third reich, p. 16 at the convent, she was remembered as "an active and intelligent little girl".de launay, jaques, hitler en flandres, 1975 her mother auguste married a jewish businessman named richard friedlÃ¤nder (born 1881) and moved with him to brussels in 1908. they remained in brussels, on cordial terms, until the outbreak of world war i, when all germans were forced to leave be
1901_births 1945_deaths Female_suicides Filicides German_female_murderers German_mass_murderers German_murderers_of_children German_people_of_World_War_II Goebbels_family Joint_suicides_by_Nazis Nazis_who_committed_suicide_by_firearm_in_Germany Nazis_who_committed_suicide_in_Berlin People_from_Berlin Quandt_family Recipients_of_the_Golden_Party_Badge Wives_of_Nazi_leaders