Women in Nazi Germany Flashcards

1
Q

What was the slogan Nazi’s adopted for women?

A
  • Kinder, Küche, Kirche
  • ‘Children, Kitchen, Church’
  • Nazis were against church membership however as ir undermined their influence
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2
Q

Were men and women equal under the Nazi’s?

A
  • They were claimed to be equal but physically their jobs were different
  • Men were to be the providers
  • Women were to produce good Nazi’s, not for an individualistic family but for the regime
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3
Q

What organisations did women have?

A
  • National Socialist Womanhood (NSF)

- Wider movement of German Women’s Enterprise which organised activities for non-party members

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4
Q

What was the Nazi belief on eugenics?

A
  • The belief that controlling reproduction can produce a healthier population
  • Encouraged the breeding of ‘pure’ Germans and not the wrong kind
  • Couples were only given marriage loans if they had a license to prove they are fit and racially acceptable
  • Only those considered ‘suitable’ after interview were given RM100 per child for school and transport fees
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5
Q

What was the Lebensborn programme?

A

1936

  • Run by a special branch of the SS
  • Men, usually SS members, were encouraged to mate with ‘pure’ women from the BDM
  • Programme had its own hospitals, clinics and homes for the children who ere adopted by ‘fit’ Germans who couldn’t conceive
  • Once the Third Reich expanded they took ‘suitable’ children from invaded areas and re-homed them
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6
Q

When was the SS marriage order set?

A

31st December 1931

  • SS members can only marry Aryan women
  • 1936 amendment said SS men married or not must have four children with such a woman
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7
Q

When was the Law to reduce Unemployment set?

A

1st June 1933

  • Includes an interest-free marriage loan to Aryan couples if woman gives up her job and can have ‘fit’ children
  • Loan repayment was reduced a 1/4 for every child the women had
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8
Q

When were women dismissed from the civil service?

A

30th June 1933

  • All married women in the civil service with wage-earning husbands were dismissed
  • Wages for other women were fixed to lower amounts
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9
Q

When was the Law for the prevention of Offspring for Hereditary Diseases passed?

A

14th July 1933

  • Prevent offspring with mental and physical disabilities
  • Extended to women with several partners or illegitimate children and male & female alcoholics
  • Secretly extended to cover racial undesirability
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10
Q

What law was passed in 1935?

A

Law for the Protection of Hereditary Health of the German People is a fitness to marry certificate requires to prove neither couple is genetically or racially ‘impure’

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11
Q

What law was passed in 1936?

A

Women are excluded from working in the law, except tin administrative posts

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12
Q

What law was passed in 1937?

A

Due to increasing war goods production, to be ready for war, women can work and still be awarded the marriage loan

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13
Q

What law was passed in 1938?

A

Marriage law extends the grounds for divorce to include infertility, having an abortion and refusing to have a baby

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14
Q

What law was passed in May 1939?

A
  • Mothers Cross introduced for mothers with four (bronze), six (silver) and 8 (gold) children
  • It is awarded on Mothers Day, Hitlers mothers birthday in August
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15
Q

What were the effects of these policies

A
  • Married women lost their job

- Single women when were only allowed low level work, e.g domestic work, shop work and secretaries

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16
Q

How were female doctors affected?

A

Expected to work in maternity clinics or GP’s despite their higher level of skill

17
Q

How were female teachers affected?

A
  • Largest population of women

- Women who had taught secondary schools had to teach primary school kids

18
Q

What was the gap in status between women?

A
  • Those who fit the Nazi ideal were given a higher level of health care and status in Nazi Germany
  • Mothers of soldiers were given more support and honoured on mothers day which was a national holiday under the Nazi’s
19
Q

What were the expectations of women in Nazi Germany?

A
  • Level of state policing towards women
  • Expected to eat well, get enough exercise, not smoke
  • To be a good and faithful housewife
  • Various organisations monitored this
20
Q

How did the Second World War shift the responsibility of women?

A
  • Women were urged to join the workforce despite marriage and more childcare was provided
  • NSV had 31,000 kindergarten and créches by the end of 1942
  • Total number of women in workforce went up by 27% between 1933 and 39
  • Only 2% between 1939 and 1944
  • In Britain there was a 50% increase
21
Q

Why was there a smaller increase of women entering the workforce even during the war effort?

A
  • Propaganda had done its job and made women reluctant to work, they were mote likely to tell volunteers they had children and not work
  • German government did not use women in all war work, they replaced male teachers/work on land rather than mines or heavy industry
  • Germany used ‘foreign labour’ from places they had conquered instead of domestic women
22
Q

How did the war after 1940 affect women?

A
  • German cities were bombed
  • Women were bombed out and had to live without electricity, water and roofs
  • Supplies of food and essentials were patchy and even subs, e.g fish oil for soap were scarce
23
Q

What change was introduced in October 1940?

A
  • Women were allowed to join the armed forces in womens auxiliary services doing clerical and support jobs
  • Members of BDM had to serve for 6 months then choose whether they wanted to stat
  • By 1941 there was not enough women
24
Q

What did the Nazis do to get more women in auxiliary services in 1941?

A
  • Introduced compulsory military service for women between 18 and 40
  • Was not enforced as there was a variety of reasons to avoid it
  • 1944 shortage of men meant women were trained to operate anti-aircraft guns nd were sent to work in signal stations close to the front