Women Flashcards
In 1919 what age did women have to be to vote?
20
What percentage of members of the Reichstag were female by 1933?
10%
What freedoms did women have in Weimar Germany?
Go out without a chaperone
Smoke and drink in public
Wore short skirts, make up, short hair
How did the Nazis try to reverse the progress made by women during Weimar Germany?
Emphasis on traditional role (Home makers/ child bearers) Removed from their jobs Kinder, kirche, kuche Propaganda geared towards being mothers
How did employment change for women under the Nazis?
Professionals forced to give up their jobs
Employers encouraged to give jobs to men
Girls discouraged from higher education
Benefits given to women to stay at home
What did the law for the encouragement of marriage do?
Provided loans to help couples marry, as long as wife left job
For each child couples were allowed to keep 25% of loan (up to 4 children)
How did the Nazis encourage women to have more children?
Birth control limited Propaganda Maternity benefits Medals for 5 or more children German women's enterprise
Describe the ideal Nazi woman
Fair haired Blue eyed Sturdily built (not skinny!) Wear traditional clothes Not wear make up Did not smoke or drink Dieting not allowed
Name 2 successes of the Nazi policy for women
Early years women left their jobs
Marriage increased
Birth rate increased
Women’s Enterprise Organisation had 6 million members
Name 2 ways Nazi policies for women failed
Increase in birth rate not necessarily due to Nazi policies
Most couples had 2 children
Women in employment increased during the war- women had to do a “duty year” and work in the jobs the men had vacated due to the war to keep the war effort going- this was a reversal of nazi policy
How many women were employed in Nazi Germans in 1939?
7.14 million
Why did the number of women in employment increase after 1936?
Nazis needed more workers for rearmament
Did women earn the same as men by 1937?
No- earned 2/3 of mans wage
How did the Nazis use divorce laws to encourage childbirth?
A man could divorce his wife if she could not/ would not have children
What was the Lebensborn programme?
Initially provided nurseries and financial aid for women who had children with SS men.
Later encourage single women to breed with SS men- to create genetically pure children
Between 1938- 41 it had helped over 540 German mothers to give birth
