Goebbels' early letters show controlling behavior

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- An auction house says the pre-war writings of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels reveal a romantic college student beginning to show signs of anti-Semitism and egotistical and controlling behavior.

Alexander Historical Auctions in Connecticut plans to sell the collection of love letters, school papers and dramatic works Sept. 27 in Stamford, saying it may prove invaluable in providing historical and psychological insights into Adolf Hitler's right-hand man.

Bill Panagopulos, the company's president, says the collection sums up the formative years of a man responsible for motivating the German masses to back Hitler.

The sale sparks concerns by a leader of a Holocaust survivors group who criticized the auction house's sale last year of the journals written by Nazi death camp doctor Josef Mengele. Panagopulos defends the sale as proper.