Richard Friedländer

For the former Mayor of Cape Town, see Richard Friedlander (mayor).

Richard Friedländer (deceased 1939 at KZ Buchenwald), stepfather of Magda Goebbels

Richard Friedländer (15 February 1881 in Berlin – 18 February 1939 at Buchenwald concentration camp[1]) was a German Jewish merchant and Holocaust victim.

## Life

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Friedländer was born to a wealthy Jewish Berlin merchant family. After attending junior and high schools, he was employed as a merchant in Brussels. In 1908, he married Auguste Behrend, who was divorced from her first husband, Oskar Ritschel, and was the mother of Magda.[2] Magda was enrolled at the Ursuline Convent in Vilvoorde.[2] Friedländer eventually adopted Magda.[3] In 2016, it was reported that Friedländer may have been Magda's biological father, as stated in his residency card, found in the Berlin archives by writer and historian Oliver Hilmes.[4] However, Magda's adoption may have been required for her parents' delayed marriage, to update the girl's 'illegitimate child' status.[5]

Magda met Günther Quandt in 1920.[6] She and Quandt were married on 4 January 1921, and her first child, Harald, was born on 1 November 1921.[7] The couple divorced in 1929. In December 1931, Magda married Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Party Gauleiter (and later leader of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda).[8]

Death report (Buchenwald)

On 15 June 1938, Friedlander was deported to Buchenwald concentration camp during June action Aktion Arbeitsscheu Reich. Already injured, the hard work and catastrophic living conditions led to his early death. His death certificate listed the cause of death as "heart muscle failure".[9]

## References

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1. ^ "Totenbuch - KZ Buchenwald". totenbuch.buchenwald.de. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
2. ^ a b Meissner 1980, p. 16.
3. ^ Widmann, Carlos (23 September 2001). "Magda Goebbels, Gefährtin des Bösen". Der Spiegel. Vol. 39/2001. Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
4. ^ magda-goebbels-biological-father-may-have-been-jewish Magda Goebbels' biological father may have been Jewish Jewish Chronicle. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
5. ^ Magda Goebbels, Gefährtin des Bösen In: Der Spiegel Vol. 39, 24. September 2001 [1] Archived 17 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine
6. ^ Longerich 2015, p. 152.
7. ^ Thacker 2010, p. 149.
8. ^ Longerich 2015, pp. 152, 167.
9. ^ Faludi, Christian (April 2013). Die "Juni-Aktion" 1938: Eine Dokumentation zur Radikalisierung der Judenverfolgung (in German). Campus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-593-39823-5. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2024.

### Bibliography

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* Das tödliche Schweigen der Magda Goebbels. In: Guido Knopp: History. Geheimnisse des 20. Jahrhunderts. C. Bertelsmann, München 2002, ISBN 3-570-00665-4, S. 65 [2]
* Longerich, Peter (2015). Goebbels: A Biography. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1400067510.
* Meissner, Hans-Otto (1980) [1978]. Magda Goebbels: The First Lady of the Third Reich. New York: The Dial Press. ISBN 978-0803762121.
* Stefanie Schüler-Springorum: Masseneinweisungen in Konzentrationslager. Aktion „Arbeitsscheu Reich“, Novemberpogrom, Aktion „Gewitter“. In: Wolfgang Benz, Barbara Distel (Hrsg.): Der Ort des Terrors. Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager. Band 1: Die Organisation des Terrors. C.H. Beck, München 2005, ISBN 3-406-52961-5, S. 156–164.
* Thacker, Toby (2010) [2009]. Joseph Goebbels: Life and Death. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-27866-0.
* Wolfgang Ayaß: "Asoziale im Nationalsozialismus". Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-608-91704-7.