With the Soviet forces advancing on Berlin and the Third Reich on the brink of collapse, Goebbels took his own life and that of his wife and six children.
Goebbels’ decision to commit suicide rather than face capture and trial was in keeping with the fanatical Nazi ideology that he had espoused throughout his career. He believed that the German people were destined to victory or complete destruction and that there was no alternative to a fight to the death.
The deaths of Goebbels and his family marked the end of a tragic chapter in German history and symbolized the final downfall of the Nazi regime.