Nazi policies towrads women Flashcards
What did the Nazis believe about a womens role?
the Women were central to the family and should fulfil the traditional role of housewife. It was up to the men of the family to provide for the family. The Nazi belief was that men and women should do different roles within the family, but not that one was more important than the other. Both men and women were important to the family and were important to the Reich.
What was the first core belief?
The Nazis had three core beliefs when it came to women. Firstly was appearance. The Nazis disagreed with the use of excessive makeup and instructed women of the Reich to dress plainly, and have a natural look. This natural look consisted of plain clothes, long skirts, which did not show too much. A woman’s hair should be natural either tied back or plaited.
What was the second core belief?
The second core belief was around employment. A woman’s primary role was to be a wife and a mother first and foremost. As previously mentioned, a man should be out providing for the family. Central to this belief was that women should be discouraged from joining the labour force. A women in work was taking the place of a man.
What was the third core belief?
The final core belief was around marriage and family. The Nazis wanted to increase the population of Germany, and women producing children were the way to do this. Through women staying at home and having children this would ensure strong generations of children who would become soldiers for the Reich.
What was the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage 1933?
It was the Nazis vision for women to get married and raise a family in accordance with the Nazi ideals. To encourage this, the Nazis provided financial incentives to encourage marriage. Loans of 1000 Reichsmarks were available to those couples who married. This was a significant amount of money equating to roughly ¾ of a years salary. The Nazis applied conditions to the loan so that the wife removed herself from the labour force.
The law itself also contained benefits for families who have children. Each time a family had a child, there would be a reduction of a quarter of the loan. Divorce laws were also reviewed to ensure that they were designed to promote the birth of children. A man could divorce his wife if she would not or could not provide children.
What was the mother’s cross?
Rewards were offered to mothers who had had large numbers of children. If a mother had four or five children she would receive a bronze medal, six or seven for silver and and eight for gold. It was seen as a prestigious honour to receive one. The medals had the date of award and Hitler’s signature on the reverse.
What was Lebensborn?
In 1935, the Nazis started the Lebensborn programme which encouraged children to be born to SS men to create pure Ayrans who would be the future leaders of Germany. The programme was headed by the SS leader Heinrich Himmler
What was Kinder Küche, Kirche?
This slogan was used by the Nazis throughout various means of propaganda from speeches to posters. It encouraged women in Germany to focus on the children, kitchen and church. It was this that would make them into good Germans.
How didthe Nazi restrict the workfor women?
Whilst initially the Nazis used propaganda to encourage them to leave the workforce and focus on the home, the Nazis did introduce laws and policies which would remove and restrict women in the labour force.
