Joseph Goebbels was a German Nazi politician and Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. He was born in Rheydt, an industrial city south of Mönchengladbach near Düsseldorf. He was one of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's closest and most devoted associates and was known for his public speaking skills and his open hostility towards Jews, which was evident in his public views. Goebbels gradually advocated harsher forms of discrimination, including the extermination of Jews in the Holocaust. He aspired to be an author, and in 1921, he earned a doctorate in philology from Heidelberg University. In 1924, he joined the Nazi Party, working with Gregor Strasser in the party's northern branch. In 1926, he was appointed Gauleiter of Berlin, where he began to become interested in using propaganda to promote the party and its program. After the Nazis seized power in 1933, he was appointed to the Ministry of Propaganda and his ministry soon controlled Germany's news media, arts, and information. He was an expert in using the relatively new media of radio and film for propaganda goals. Party propaganda topics included antisemitism, attacks on Christian churches, and attempts to raise morale (after the start of World War II). With Nazi Germany facing defeat towards the end of the war, Goebbels committed suicide on May 1, 1945. His credits include Der Führer (1932), Life Goes On (1945), and Triumph of the Will (1935).