Nazi Germany - Women Flashcards
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe how politics, government and any decision-making in the Reichstag changed
- There was not a single female Nazi deputy in the Reichstag
- The Nazi Party also excluded women from senior positions within the Party and from all positions in government.
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe how the position of women working for the state with affliations to the Reichstag changed
- In 1934, women who were working as civil servants in goverment offices were dismissed.
- From 1936, women were restricted from working for the judiciary, & could no longer act as judges, prosecutors or members of a jury.
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe a continuity of how women could have mild influence & presence in politics
- The wives of senior Nazi officials achieved a high-profile status in Nazi Germany.
- E.g Emmy Göring (the wife of military leader Hermann Göring) served as Adolf Hifler’s hostess at a lot of state functions.
- Considered by some as the “First Lady of the Third Reich”
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe a continuity of how women could have influence in politics
- Gertrud Schlotz-Klink was appointed the leader of the National Socialist Women’s League.
- In July 1936, she was appointed as head of the Woman’s Bureau in the German Labour Front, with the responsibility of persuading women to work for the benefit of the Nazi government.
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
In what way was Scholtz-Klink’s position is politics unprogressive & contradictory
- Despite her own position, she spoke in participation of women in politics, condemning the female politicians of the Weimar era.
- She claimed that for a woman to be involved in politics, she would have to “become like a man” which would “shame her sex” and prevent her from achieving anything for the nation.
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe a continuity of the view of women being active in society & public life
Much like in the Weimar period, the Nazi Party believed that women should remain in the home or the private sphere, as public life was strictly a man’s world.
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe a change of the view of women being active in society & public life
- If women were involved in the public sphere, they were seen to be unable to accomplish their duties of motherhood.
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe a continuity of how women could mildy participate in politics via organisations
- Women in Nazi Germany could participate in specific women’s organisations set up by the Nazi Party, that aimed to promote Nazi ideology among women,
- through educational courses to train women how to be mothers and housewives
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Give 2 examples of organisations Nazis set up to involve women in politics
- National Socialist Women’s League
- German Women’s Enterprise
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
What are the statistics explaining the continuity of how women could mildy participate in politics via organisations
- Approximately 3500 women worked full-time for the National Socialist Women’s League,
- an elite group within the Nazi Party which had 2 million female members by 1938
- making up 40% of the total Nazi Party membership
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe how the Nazis sort change to influence the appearance of women
The Nazi Party commissioned fashion designers to develop new styles of clothing that would reflect the Nazis’ views of gender.
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe a significant change in a right of women in Nazi Germany
Women’s right to vote was taken away from them in Nazi Germany.
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe an example of how the life of a Jewish female peformer changed from Nazi persecution
- Elisabeth Bergner, a Jewish actress who gained fame during the years of the Weimar Republic,
- was denounced by the Nazi Party in 1933
- and forced to flee Germany to England to continue her career on stage and in the cinemas.
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe a significant change in the lives of women in Nazi Germany concerning freedom, expression & culture
- The Nazis attempted to eradicate what they saw as the cultural deterioration of German society during the Weimar era.
- Cabaret club and Jazz clubs were closed down in 1935.
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe a signifcant change for all minority women in NG
- The Nuremburg Laws of 1935, deprived all non-Aryans of their political and legal rights,
- no longer considering them citizens of Germany
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe a change in the stereotypes of women which was influenced by their increasingly domestic role
- The Nazi Party saw the masculinisation of women as a significant threat to the German nation
- Women were discouraged from slimming (losing weight) as this was considered bad for child birth
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Describe a continuity in terms of how women could become of high-profile
Some women were able to become high profile as cultural professionals in Nazi Germany, e.g Leni Riefenstahl
Women’s public life in NG (Politics & Culture)
Who was Leni Riefenstahl
- Leni Riefenstahl became Nazi Germany’s most famous film maker,
- producing propaganda films for the Nazi regime,
- such as the “Triumph of the Will’ in 1933,
- & the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany
Women & the Domestic Lives in NG
How did divorce mildly change in Nazi Germany
- From 1938, husbands and wives could divorce their partners if they were infertile or did not want to have children
- This would allow them to remarry and reproduce with a new spouse
Women & the Domestic Lives in NG
How did the Nazi stance of encouraging reproduction effect precautions for women
- The Nazi Party prohibited the use of contraceptives.
- From 1933, birth-control organisations which produced and distributed contraceptives were banned.