On March 8, 1945, a group of American soldiers observed Purim in Rheydt, Germany. The actual holiday had taken place the prior week; wartime required flexibility. And this was a Purim none of them would forget.
It was celebrated at Joseph Goebbels’ vacation home, Schloss Rheydt.
Schloss Rheydt was originally built in 1060 for a noble family. During World War II, the town of Rheydt spent an enormous sum renovating the castle. Swastikas and the letter “G” (for Goebbels) decorated many rooms of the house. A huge painting of Hitler hung over a fireplace. The citizens of Rheydt considered it crucial the castle ooze with luxury and Nazi symbols before gifting it to the town’s favorite son, Joseph Goebbels.
Goebbels was born in Rheydt in 1897. He joined the Nazi Party in 1924 and became Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda in 1933. He understood that rigidly controlled, false information combined with repetitive lies could shape a country’s mindset. Goebbels said, “Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.” He was one of the most influential men in the Nazi era.
No wonder the citizens of Rheydt were so proud of him.
Goebbels was also one of the greatest hypocrites of the Nazi era. He was an enthusiastic proponent of “Lebensunwertes Leben” or “Life Unworthy of Life.” The Reich required doctors and midwives to complete questionnaires on all babies born with disabilities. Most of these infants were put to death. Goebbels said, “We must have a healthy people in order to prevail in this world.” He commissioned films and posters to show why euthanasia of the disabled and mentally ill was important and ethical. Yet Goebbels himself was born with a club foot and walked with a limp. He was rejected for military service in World War One because of this infirmity.
Had Goebbels been born during the Nazi era, he would have been euthanized.
Goebbels’ propaganda machine promoted the ideal Aryan image. Blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin and a tall, athletic build were hallmarks of the true Aryan and proved Aryan superiority to lesser, darker races. But in addition to his limp, Goebbels had dark hair and eyes and swarthy, pockmarked skin. He was also very short.
By his own definition, he was an inferior creature.
Goebbels’ movies, speeches and flyers depicted Jews in the most horrifying ways. He pushed the ancient lie that Jews killed Christian children. Yet thousands of Christian children were euthanized during the Nazi period. In addition, Goebbels had one son and five daughters. (Each of their names began with an “H” in honor of Hitler.)
And on May 1st, 1945, he and wife murdered their children with cyanide.
Goebbels’ films like “The Eternal Jew” portrayed Jews as rootless creatures who wreaked havoc before running away to avoid facing the consequences of their actions. Goebbels urged Germans to act contrary to Jews by remaining resolute and, if necessary, sacrifice their lives to protect the homeland. Certainly he was disgusted when his hometown of Rheydt surrendered to the Americans and claimed Goebbels was a disgrace whom no one had ever supported. Goebbels said, “We are a people at arms determined to defend our honor and our territory to our last breath.” But Goebbels, himself, did not die fighting.
He and his wife committed suicide on May 1st, 1945.
Did Goebbels know American soldiers used his holiday villa for Jewish celebrations that March of 1945? What would he have thought of an ark and Torah resting on a swastika draped table in his dining room? And Purim was not the only holiday observed at Schloss Rheydt. Three weeks later, hundreds of American soldiers celebrated Passover in that same dining room. If Goebbels was aware of these celebrations, he must have recognized the irony of Jews praying in his holiday villa. But did he understand Purim and Passover represent the triumph of good over evil? Could he see the similarities between himself, Haman and Pharaoh even though he was six million times more successful?
Seventy-five years ago, prayers filled the dining room where Goebbels enjoyed his meals and basked in self-congratulatory splendor. The smell of latkes wafted through rooms where Goebbels’ children once played. As one soldier said, “When all the latkes were fried and eaten, I joined my comrades in the Passover songs. We had seen the atrocities and now we were savoring some small measure of vengeance and victory.”
The war was ending. Evil and hatred were not eradicated, but they were beaten. And at Schloss Rhedyt, God’s truths provided a continuation of blessed tradition.
This article was published on aish.com on March 3, 2020.
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