The last three years of the Third Reich – and hence also those of Joseph Goebbels – are the topic of this play. The words spoken by Joseph, Magda and Helga Goebbels, as well as those spoken by Adolf Hitler and Lida Baarova, are almost without exception historically genuine. They have been taken from diary entries, minutes of meetings, letters etc., as well as from conversations quoted verbatim by witnesses. Much previously unpublished material has been used. However, many passages have been assembled from numerous single sentences. Statements and responses were not always originally associated, either. Nonetheless, most scenes represent historical events as described by contemporary witnesses – albeit sometimes in abbreviated form. In a very few cases, I have made minor modifications for reasons of better comprehensibility; however, this has changed none of the meaning of what was said. Also, the chronology of the Goebbels’ private life could not always be kept accurate, since decisive events would then have had to be dropped. The other figures bear invented names, since they each represent combinations of several persons with similar functions. Here too, however, original quotes have sometimes been used.