4.1 Nazi policies towards women Flashcards
What were the Nazi views on women?
- women should have a natural appearance, with long hair tied back and no make-up
- believed that women should adopt the traditional role of mother and housewives instead of going to work or uni: men were the breadwinners and women working could be a man’s job
- women should marry and have as many children as possible to increase birth rates and create a bigger and stronger Germany
- should be sturdily built for childbearing
Who was the Reich Women’s leader?
Gertrud Scholtz -Klink
When was Gertrud Scholtz -Klink appointed to oversee all policies relating to women?
1934
What was Gertrud Scholtz -Klink aim?
to make German women servants of the German state and Hitler
What Nazi organisation were all women’s organisations forced to merge with?
German Women’s Enterprise / DFW
What happened if women organisations refused to join the DFW?
they were banned
How many members did the DFW have?
and what is the significance of this?
6 million
suggests many women welcomed Nazi policies
What did the DFW do?
Conduct activities which spread Nazi ideologies
ie. Nazi courses on childcare, cooking and sewing
How many women had attended Nazi courses by 1937?
1.7 million
Whats was the birth rate in Germany in 1900 and 1933
1900: 2 million per year
1933 - 1 million per year
Why did the Nazis make several changes to the law to encourage marriage, motherhood and childbirth?
because the Nazis were concerned that few children meant fewer workers and soldiers later on
When was the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage introduced?
1933
What was the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage?
- Provided up to 1,000 mark loans to encourage young couples to marry
- loans were only available if women stopped work and stayed at home, so women were encouraged to do so
- For each child born by the couple, a quarter of the loan was written off in order to encourage childbirth
What were the effects of the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage?
- birth rate did increase as well as the number of marriages
- however, this could be due to a stronger economy, rather than Nazi policy
When were the divorce laws changed?
1938
What did the change to the divorce laws mean?
If a woman could not or would not have children or had an abortion, this was grounds for divorce by the husband
How did the Mother’s cross encourage childbirth?
gave awards given to women dependent on the number of children they had:
Bronze: 4 -5
Silver: 6-7
Gold: 8
the Hitler Youth were ordered to salute wearers of Gold medals
What was the fountain of life program called?
Lebensborn
When were the Lebensborn camps introduced and who by?
1935
Heinrich Himmler
What was the Lesbenborn programme?
encouraged single women to breed with SS men to create “genetically pure” children for worthy German families
How many mothers gave birth due to one Lesbenborn home?
540
between 1938-41
In what ways did the Nazis try to reduce the number of women in work?
Propaganda- tried to persuade women to behave differently
- posters showed women as wives and mothers
- Speeches encouraged women to leave work and become housewives
What were the three ‘ks’ that women were told to focus on?
Kinder, Kuche, Kirche
What were the new policies introduced to reduce women employment?
- 1933: women were banned from professional posts as teachers, doctors and civil servants.
- 1936: women were banned from being a judge or a lawyer or even jury service
- schoolgirls were trained for motherhood, not work and were taught domestic tasks
- 1937 - grammar schools, which prepared girls for university were banned
By 1934 how many women gave up work?
360,000
What happened as a result of grammar schools, which prepared girls for university being banned?
number of female students starting higher education fell from 17,000 in 1932 to 6,000 in 1939
How effective were Nazisd policies towards women?
- some German women were persuaded by Nazi views and were content to accept
- Fewer women went to uni, the birth rate increased and unemployment amongst German men fell
However:
- Many women didn’t support Nazi ideas about womanhood: some believed that Nazi ideas harmed the family and degraded women
- some found the domestic status demeaning and didn’t like the leader Gertrud Scholtz-Klink
- some policies were temporary: by the end of the 1930s, Germany industry was expanding so fast, the Nazis needed women to return to work
