Goebbels Diaries

Joseph Goebbels kept a diary for much of his life. From 1923 to 1941, he wrote the entries himself. From 1941 to 1945, he dictated lengthy passages to aides. He sometimes telephoned them in the middle of the night when he wanted to add some text. The dictations usually opened with a description of the military situation, followed by his personal comments. The dictated diary is not as personal as the earlier one he wrote himself.

Much of the diaries were thought to have been lost during World War II. However in 1992, they were discovered to be held in Soviet-era archives - as Goebbels himself had ordered his diaries to be duplicated while in the Fuhrerbunker, and buried in a nearby grove of trees - believing that one day history would laud him, and would want to know about his life.

There is dispute over which researcher first discovered the Soviet archives, with Elke Fröhlich and David Irving both laying claim to the title.

A 29 volume edition edited by Elke Fröhlich and others is said to be 98% complete. The last volume was published in 2006.

Elke Fröhlich (ed.): "Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels". Im Auftrag des [http://www.ifz-muenchen.de Instituts für Zeitgeschichte] und mit Unterstützung des Staatlichen Archivdienstes Russlands. Teil I: Aufzeichnungen 1923-1941, 9 Bände in 14 Teilbänden, München 1998-2006; Teil II: Dikatate 1941-1945, 15 Bände, München 1993-1996, [http://www.saur.de/index.cfm K. G. Saur Verlag] . Full information follows:
*"Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels", Teil I Aufzeichnungen 1923-1941: ISBN 3-598-23730-8
** Band 1/I, October 1923 – November 1925, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 2004
** Band 1/II, December 1925 – May 1928, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 2005
** Band 1/III, June 1928 – November 1929, edited by Anne Munding, München 2004
** Band 2/I, December 1929 - May 1931, edited by Anne Munding, München 2005
** Band 2/II, June 1931 – September 1932, edited by Angela Hermann, München 2004
** Band 2/III, October 1932 - March 1934, edited by Angela Hermann, München 2006
** Band 3/I, April 1934 – February 1936, edited by Angela Hermann, Hartmut Mehringer, Anne Munding und Jana Richter, München 2005
** Band 3/II, March 1936 – February 1937, edited by Jana Richter, München 2001
** Band 4, März – November 1937, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 2000
** Band 5, December 1937 – July 1938, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 2000
** Band 6, August 1938 – June 1939, edited by Jana Richter, München 1998
** Band 7, July 1939 – March 1940, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1998
** Band 8, April – November 1940, edited by Jana Richter, München 1997
** Band 9, December 1940 – July 1941, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1997
*Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels, Teil II Diktate (Dictations) 1941–1945: ISBN 3-598-21920-2
** Band 1, July – September 1941, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1996
** Band 2, October – December 1941, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1996
** Band 3, January – March 1942, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1995
** Band 4, April – June 1942, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1995
** Band 5, July – September 1942, edited by Angela Stüber, München 1995
** Band 6, October – December 1942, edited by Hartmut Mehringer, München 1996
** Band 7, January – March 1943, edited by Elke Fröhlich, München 1993
** Band 8, April – June 1943, edited by Hartmut Mehringer, München 1993
** Band 9, July – September 1943, edited by Manfred Kittel, München 1993
** Band 10, October – December 1943, edited by Volker Dahm, München 1994
** Band 11, January – March 1944, edited by Dieter Marc Schneider, München 1994
** Band 12, April – June 1944, edited by Hartmut Mehringer, München 1995
** Band 13, July – September 1944, edited by Jana Richter, München 1995
** Band 14, October – December 1944, edited by Jana Richter und Hermann Graml, München 1996
** Band 15, January – April 1945, edited by Maximilian Gschaid, München 1995

*Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels, Teil III Register 1923–1945:
** Geographisches Register. Personenregister, edited by Angela Hermann, München 2007

* Angela Hermann, "In 2 Tagen wurde Geschichte gemacht". Über den Charakter und Erkenntniswert der Goebbels-Tagebücher". Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-9809603-4-2.