Making God: Joseph Goebbels and the Veneration of Hitler

Abstract

This thesis focuses on Joseph Goebbels and his desire to create a pseudo-religion around Adolf Hitler for the purpose of rousing and maintaining popular support. Goebbels has been analyzed extensively in terms of his personal life and actions within the Nazi Party, but his influence on religion is scarcely covered. Through analysis of Goebbels' novel, Michael, his own diaries, and the speeches that he gave on Hitler's birthday each year between 1933 and 1945, I argue that Goebbels wove together religious imagery and political language in an attempt to make his vision a reality.