Reichsminister Dr.phil. Joseph Goebbels visits the Silesian front town of Lauban (Luban, Poland) on 9 March 1945. He meets with Generaloberst Ferdinand Schörner (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe Mitte). Goebbels greets troops, including 16 year old Hitler Youth member Wilhelm Hübner, on the market square of the town. View of the square shot through a broken window pane. Goebbels speaks to the soldiers. Graphic shots of dead civilians from the same area. The narrator describes the perpetrators as "Untermenschen" and the associates of Roosevelt's Christian soldiers. Original sound of Goebbels giving a speech in Görlitz a day later, 10 March 1945. He says that the German soldiers will show no mercy to the enemy on the Eastern Front and that Hitler will overcome this crisis as he had been in the past. He tells of a conversation in which Hitler stated that he believes that victory will be theirs. Close ups of men and women in the crowd. After Goebbels is finished speaking the crowd is led in a chorus of "Sieg Heil."
Joseph Goebbels, the Propaganda Minister of Nazi Germany, held his last public appearances in early March 1945. On March 9th, 1945, Goebbels visited the Silesian city of Lauban, which was recaptured in early March by German units from the XXXIV. Panzerkorps. He reviewed a parade from German soldiers on the market square and awarded Iron Crosses to German Soldiers and Hitler Youth. One of the last footages and pictures of Goebbels are from that occasion, including a famous clip of Goebbels awarding the Iron Cross 2nd class to Willi Hübner, a 16-year old Hitler Youth.
The next day, on March 10th, Goebbels visited the Silesian city of Görlitz, 25km west of Lauban. There, he held his last public speech in the concert hall of the city. In front of an audience of 2.000 people, mainly local NSDAP politicans, soldiers and factory workers, he again encouraged the soldiers to continue fighting and stirr up their defensive will.
This was the last time Goebbels spoke publicly. He commited suicide just seven weeks later, on May 1st, 1945, during the Battle of Berlin.
Dr.phil. Joseph Goebbels (Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda) shakes hands with Generaloberst Ferdinand Schörner (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe Mitte) during the visit to the Silesian city of Lauban, 9 March 1945. Behind Goebbels is General der Panzertruppe Fritz-Hubert Graeser (Oberbefehlshaber 4. Panzerarmee).
Dr.phil. Joseph Goebbels (Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und
Propaganda) shakes hands with Generaloberst Ferdinand Schörner
(Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe Mitte) at the Marktplatz during the visit to the Silesian
city of Lauban, 9 March 1945. In the background the Volkssturm members stands in attention.
Dr.phil. Joseph Goebbels (Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda) congratulates 16-year old Wilhelm "Willi" Hübner for his newly awarded Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse. The medal was awarded for his part in the Battle for Lauban. He volunteered for duty as messenger to the combat commander in the city. He was tasked to take dispatches to the individual command posts. He was also credited for taking provisions and panzerfausts in a wheelbarrow up to the front line under fire. The picture was taken in Lauban during Goebbel's visit to this Silesian city, 9 March 1945. Smiling behind Goebbels is General der Panzertruppe Fritz-Hubert Graeser (Oberbefehlshaber 4. Panzerarmee).
Generaloberst Ferdinand Schörner (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe Mitte) wearing his set of Brillanten which he received on 1 January 1945.
General der Flieger Hans Seidemann (Befehlshaber Luftwaffen-Kommando Schlesien).
Oberwachtmeister Wilhelm Kessel.
Source :
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek photo archive (Image-No.: 50052212)
https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn1004473
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-J31305,_Auszeichnung_des_Hitlerjungen_Willi_H%C3%BCbner.jpg
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/wilhelm-willi-hubner-1945/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/forum/wehrmacht-era-militaria/crosses-of-the-wehrmacht/624871-the-fate-of-the-diamonds/page34#post13243872
https://www.zdf-studios.com/en/program-catalog/d-a-ch/unscripted/history-biographies/hitlers-most-wanted/episode-2-josef-goebbels
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