Naively insisted that his Jewish wife accompany him to a film industry Artist's Association in 1941 Germany. At the dinner Nazi Propaganda head Joseph Goebbels was charmed by Mrs. Gottschalk until he was informed that she was Jewish. Goebbels personally told Joachim he had to be divorced from her - so she could be sent away and he could continue his successful acting career. Unable to leave the country and unwilling to abandon his family to certain death in a concentration camp, Joachim, his wife, Meta (b. 13 August 1902), and their eight year old son Michael (b. 19 February 1933) sealed themselves in the family home and gassed themselves to death.
