Nazi Views and Policies towards women and the family in Nazi Germany Flashcards
Nazis attitude towards women’s appearances.
There were no actual laws that forced women to look in a certain way. However, propaganda and the pressure to conform had a strong impact on encouraging women to appear as the Nazis wanted them to look.
• Women were expected to remainfeminine. It was commented by one Nazi newspaper that n‘ o true German woman wears trousers’.
• The Nazis wanted women to look n‘ atural’ with little make-up, no hair colouring, no smoking and simple, modest clothing.
• Women were expected to be healthy but to avoid dieting as it was expected that they should have broad hips in order to make child birth easier.
Women as Wives
Marriage
and relationships between wom en and minority groups were
banned in
order to ‘keep the Aryan race’ p ure. Women were told
to return to tradition and that it was their duty to be
a loyal wife and
take care of their husband rather than a
the freedom to work.
Women as mothers
• It was seen as a woman’s duty to be a ‘mother’ and ‘carer’. The main purpose of women was to be a mother for the future Aryan race of children for Germany.
• Women were encouraged to have as may children ‘for Germany and the Fuhrer’ as possible. This would increase Germany’spopulation as well as Germany’s futurearmed forces.
• Birth control such as abortions were banned.
Women and work
• Once married, most women were made to give up their work. Discrimination against single women in work was encouraged as a way to increase the employment of men.
• Propaganda was used to encourage women that it was theirduty to stay at home as wives, mothers and housewives.
• In education, girls were given a traditional ‘female’ style education with a different curriculum to boys.
Women and family
• Women could not be forced to have children but there were many laws and policies that encouraged women to have a big family.
• The Nazis heavily promoted traditional family life under the heading of ‘Kinder, Kirche Kuche’ or Children, Church Kitchen.
• In modern culture, the image of a traditional family was common. Families were expected to be Aryan (pure German).
Nazi laws aimed at women: 1933: The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage
1933: The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage
Gave loans worth 8 months wages for German couple to marry. The loans only available if the women gave up work. For each child born, 1⁄4 loan was paid off
Nazi laws aimed at women: women being banned from certain professions
1933: Women were banned from professionssuch as teachers, doctors and government workers.
Nazi laws aimed at women: The Band of German Maidens (BDM)
1933: The Band of German Maidens (BDM)was the young female version of the Hitler Youth. After 1933 it gained huge popularity.
Nazi laws aimed at women: 1934
1934: School text books were re-written for girls to teach the ideas ofKinder, Kirche Kuche
1934: All women’s social groupsforced to be part of the Nazi Party or banned.
1934: Gertrude Scholtz-Klinkwas made Reich Women’s Leader.
Nazi laws aimed at women: 1935
1935: Lebensborn - (Fountain or Spring of Life) :
❑ This was a programme to encourage the birth of pure ‘Aryan’ children. It
provided childcare and money for women who had children with SS officers.
❑ Lebensborn homes were opened. One home helped over 540 mothers give birth in 3 years.
❑ Single women ‘of good blood’ would be made pregnant by an SS man and their child would be given to a deserving German family for adoption.
❑ The Nuremburg Race Laws made marriage between a German and a Jew illegal.
Nazi laws aimed at women: 1937
1937: Grammar schoolsfor girls which prepared girls for university were banned. The number of female university students fell from 17,000 (1932) to 6,000 (1939).
Nazi laws aimed at women: 1938
The Reich Marriage Law - A wife could be legally divorced if she would not or could not have children.
Nazi laws aimed at woman: 1939
1.million women had been to Nazi run courses on childcare & cooking run by the German Women’s Enterprise.
The effectiveness of Nazi attitudes and policies towards women.
• To some extent, the Nazi policies did work. Many women were happy to accept what the Nazis wanted. Many women supported the Nazi Party and what they stood for. For example, older women preferred their traditional role in the family as they knew no different. Far fewer women went to university. Also, the birth rate increased by 30% between 1933 – 1936. More men also gained jobs because of the number of women who gave up work, (this also helped unemployment figures!).
• However, by 1937, some women who were married were allowed to work. As Hitler encouraged industry to grow, there was a huge demand for workers. Therefore, in 1933 there were 5 million women in work, by 1939 there were 7 million. This is still a significant number.
• There were also examples of women who gained a lot of power under the Nazi regime. For example, film director Leni Riefenstahl worked with the Nazis to produce propaganda films – for example about the Berlin Olympics of 1936. Gertrude Scholtz-Klink was put in charge of the Head of Nazi Women’s Bureau (although there is evidence that she was barred from making more important decisions). Also, some women gained the chance to travel, earn money and gain new experiences by working for the various Nazi women’s organisations.
• There is plenty of evidence to suggest that some women disagreed with the Nazi attitude towards women. However, there was just too little they could do to change this and so very few actively opposed the Nazis.
