By Mikale Olson,
Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda and one of his most loyal disciples, died by suicide on May 1, 1945 — just one day after the Führer took his own life in the bowels of the Berlin bunker. But before Goebbels followed his master into death, he and his wife Magda carried out one final, unspeakable act of devotion to the crumbling Nazi regime: the deliberate murder of their six children, all under the age of 13.
They drugged them with morphine, placed cyanide capsules in their mouths as they slept, and watched as their young lives were extinguished. Then, they turned their violence on themselves.
While the approaching Soviet Red Army was notorious for committing heinous atrocities — rape, torture, mass executions, and the brutal treatment of civilians — it’s crucial to understand that this fear, real as it was, was not the primary motivator for the Goebbels’ murder-suicide. The idea that Joseph and Magda Goebbels were “protecting” their children from rape or torture has become a grotesque and historically illiterate myth, now shamefully repeated by a new and deeply disturbed sect of self-identified “Christian” nationalists.
Several of these voices — most notably Wesley Todd of Right Response Ministries (Joel Webbon’s right-hand man) and Corey Mahler of the Stone Choir podcast — have praised Goebbels’ actions as righteous and necessary. Mahler boldly declared, “This was his Christian duty under those circumstances. If you do not understand this fact, then you are no man and should remain silent.” Todd agreed, tweeting, “It’s a tragic situation but I would do the same if my family was going to be brutalized by the Red Army.” When challenged by another user who asked if that meant murder was now justifiable, Todd responded, “Killing is not the same as murder.” He later elaborated: “Once the option of fleeing had passed, in this situation you have two and only two options: 1. Your wife and four daughters (including one as young as four) are raped and tortured to death by hundreds of men. 2. They die painlessly by your hand. That’s it. No third option.”
But this entire premise — that there was “no third option”— is false. Magda Goebbels herself admitted that she could have fled. In her final letter to her 12-year-old son Harald (from a previous marriage), she wrote:
“You shall know that I stayed here against daddy’s will, and that even on last Sunday the Führer wanted to help me to get out. You know your mother — we have the same blood, for me there was no wavering.”
She wasn’t cornered. She wasn’t without options. She chose to stay — chose to murder her children — because she could not imagine a world without Hitler. Her letter continues:
“Our glorious idea is ruined and with it everything beautiful and marvelous that I have known in my life. The world that comes after the Führer and National Socialism is not any longer worth living in and therefore I took the children with me, for they are too good for the life that would follow, and a merciful God will understand me when I will give them salvation (death) … We only have one goal left: loyalty to the Führer even in death and to be able to end our lives with him is an honor.”
This was not a desperate act of mercy. It was a deliberate, cold, and theologically blasphemous murder-suicide — a final offering to the idol of Nazi ideology. And it is utterly sickening that anyone claiming the name of Christ would excuse, defend, or glorify it. The Goebbels children were not saved from brutality. They were slaughtered by their own parents because those parents believed Hitler was the world’s savior, and his fall marked the end of anything good or meaningful. This was child sacrifice, pure and simple. And now, shockingly, some Christian nationalists are defending that sacrifice in the name of some perverse version of masculine duty and theological righteousness.
“Joseph fought to save the White race and preserve Christianity. He and his children are martyr’s for both causes and are being comforted in paradise” (Another delusioned Nationalist on Twitter).
The comparison here to modern radical pro-abortion rhetoric is not a stretch — it is disturbingly accurate. The pro-abortionist says, “Better for the child to die now than to suffer later.” Magda Goebbels said the same: “They are too good for the life that would follow.” The pro-abortionist says, “The world is broken and unfair — bringing a child into it is cruel.” Magda said, “The world after the Führer and National Socialism is not any longer worth living in.” Both rationales are rooted not in faith, but in fear, unbelief, and narcissism. Both elevate human judgment over God’s sovereignty and presume the right to decide who lives and dies.
“Is murdering your children Biblical?
Bible: absolutely not
Joel Webbon fans: Sure, if it prevents their suffering
Abortionists: Sure, if it prevents their suffering” (Cody Lawrence on Twitter).
That we even have to say these things — that “Christian” leaders are out here defending the murder of children as righteous — shows how far gone some parts of the Christian nationalist movement really are. When you’re praising Joseph Goebbels as a man of moral courage, you’ve left biblical Christianity behind. You’re not fighting for Christ — you’re dragging His name through the mud. Jesus said, “It would be better for a man to have a millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble” (Luke 17:2). What then should be said of those who kill them, glorify it, and invoke God while doing so?
There’s a famous story about Alexander the Great. A cowardly young soldier, also named Alexander, was brought before him. When asked his name, the boy quietly replied, “Alexander, sir.” The great general responded, “Then either change your behavior or name.” That should be said today to those calling themselves Christian nationalists while defending evil. If you’re going to claim Christ, your life, your words, and your judgment must reflect Him.
Change your behavior, Christian Nationalists, or change your name.
About the Author: Mikale Olson is a contributor at The Federalist and a writer at Not the Bee, specializing in commentary on Christian theology and conservative politics. As a podcaster, YouTuber, and seasoned commentator, Mikale engages audiences with insightful analysis on faith, culture, and the public square.
Feature picture: German Nazi politician and minister of propaganda Paul Joseph Goebbels (1897 – 1945) with his wife Magda and their children, Helga, Hildegard, Helmut, Hedwig, Holdine and Heidrun, 1942. Also present is Harald Quandt (in uniform), Magda Goebbels’ son by her first marriage. With the fall of the Third Reich, Magda and Josef Goebbels poisoned their six children before themselves committing suicide. | Getty Images/Hulton Archive/Keystone
