Page "Joseph Goebbels" Paragraph 45

Goebbels, like all the Nazi leaders, could not afford to defy Hitler ’ s will in matters of this kind.

By 1938, they had all become wealthy men, but their wealth was dependent on Hitler ’ s continuing goodwill and willingness to turn a blind eye to their corruption.

Until the Nazis came to power, Goebbels had been a relatively poor man, and his main income was the salary of 750 Reichsmarks a month he had gained by election to the Reichstag in 1928.

By 1936, although he was not nearly as corrupt as some other senior Nazis, such as Göring and Robert Ley, Goebbels was earning 300, 000 Reichsmarks a year in " fees " for writing in his own newspaper, Der Angriff ( The Attack ), as well as his ministerial salary and many other sources of income.

These payments were in effect bribes from the papers ’ publisher Max Amann.

He owned a villa on Schwanenwerder island and another at Bogensee near Wandlitz in Brandenburg, which he spent 2. 3 million Reichsmarks refurbishing.

The tax office, as it did for all the Nazi leaders, gave him generous exemptions.