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The Goebbels children
Goebbels Children Comparison
The Downfall Goebbels children and their real counterparts.

Born

  • Helga Susanne:
    September 1, 1932
  • Hildegard Traudel:
    April 13, 1934
  • Helmut Christian:
    October 2, 1935
  • Hildine Kathrin:
    February 19, 1937
  • Hedwig Johanna:
    May 5, 1938
  • Heidrun Elisabeth:
    October 29, 1940

Parents

  • Magda Ritschel (mother)
  • Joseph Goebbels (father)

Nicknames

The Goebbels Kids


  • Helga - "daddy's girl"
  • Hildegard - Hilde, "a little mouse" (by Goebbels)
  • Helmut - "clown" (by Goebbels)
  • Hedwig - Hedda
  • Heidrun - "little flirt" (by Rochus Misch)

Died

1 May 1945


  • Helga aged 12
  • Hilde aged 11
  • Helmut aged 9
  • Holdine aged 8
  • Hedwig aged 6
  • Heidrun aged 4

Portrayed by

  • Aline Sokar (Helga)
  • Charlotte Stoiber (Hildegard Traudel)
  • Gregory Borlein (Helmut Christian)
  • Julia Bauer (Hedwig Johanna)
  • Laura Borlein (Holdine Kathrin)
  • Amelie Menges (Heidrun Elisabeth)

The Goebbels children were the five daughters and one son born to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda Goebbels. The children, born between 1932 and 1940, were murdered by their mother in Berlin on May 1, 1945, the day both parents committed suicide. Magda Goebbels had an older son, Harald Quandt, from a previous marriage. He was not present when his half-siblings were killed.

Magda once described the temperaments of five of her children to her sister-in-law Eleanore (Ello) Quandt by describing how each would react to learning they had been deceived by their spouse:

  • Helga - Would seize a revolver and shoot the unfaithful husband out of hand, or at least try to.
  • Hildegard - Would collapse altogether, sobbing and weeping, but would soon appear to be reconciled if her husband expressed remorse and swore to be faithful in future.
  • Helmut - Would never believe that his wife would deceive him
  • Holdine - Would never quite get over the infidelity, but would be too proud to reproach her husband. Finally, through the breach of confidence on the part of her husband she would go to pieces altogether.
  • Hedwig - On the other hand, would give a peal of laughter and say "Come here you rascal and give me a kiss"

Downfall Parody Universe[]

Despite having a minor yet key role in the film, they did appear in at least a few parodies, such as when Traudl and the kids did a Trololo performance in front of Hitler, at the request of their Daddy Goebbels. It was unknown if they actually conspired with Fegelein in committing antics, although the latter's resourcefulness might imply that Helga and her siblings were of strategic advantage to Fegelein, such as providing various tools as well as some info about the Führer, as the latter was known to be close to the children.

In Goebbels' kids are dropped off in the Führerbunker, the children are shown to be capable of doing antics by themselves. There, they killed Krebs, vandalized Hitler's portrait of Frederick the Great and left the bunker messy.

They like to laugh, dance and sing.

Trivia[]

  • The Goebbels children are older than almost every actor featured in Downfall. Bruno Ganz, Michael Mendl and Matthias Habich who portrayed Hitler, Weidling and Haase respectively in Downfall were in their infancies when the Goebbels children were alive.
  • According to the real-life Rochus Misch, the 12 year old Helga, as the oldest and brightest of the Goebbels children, seemed to suspect that the adults were lying to her about how the war was going, and may have suspected that her mother had no intention of letting them leave the bunker alive. Much as in the movie Downfall, she grew very sullen and he saw her crying softly. Albert Speer offered to bring the children with him when he headed north to Flensburg but their mother refused to save them. The post-mortem examination on Helga's body revealed significant bruising across her entire face, which would imply that her mother engaged in quite a brutal struggle to force the cyanide capsule into her still-conscious daughter's mouth (a much more violent struggle than was shown in Downfall).
  • It is unknown if they can perform Stares of Doom like their father.
  • Everyone, even Harald Quandt from Magda's previous marriage, have their names beginning with H. Some said this is a tribute to Hitler, but more likely it's a trend started by Magda's former husband.
  • They like to laugh, dance and sing.
  • Harald Quandt, stepbrother of the other children, is not seen in the film except in a framed picture on Magda's desk. It's probably an IRL photograph.
    • Eva also put Hitler's picture on her desk, but the one seen in the film is of the actor Bruno Ganz and not the real person himself.

Gallery[]

See also[]

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