Women in Nazi Germany Flashcards
What did Hitler believe about the family structure?
It should be a traditional one: Men to be in charge and go to work; women to stay at home and nurture the family
What did Hitler mean by the “natural order”?
Men at work; women at home with the kids.
How did Hitler want to use families?
- To increase the population size
- To ensure the population was pure Aryan
Hitler thought women’s lives should revolve around the three ‘Ks’. What were they?
Kinder, Kuche, Kirche
(Children, Kitchen, Church)
What was a woman’s primary responsibility?
To have children
Why did Hitler want women to stay at home?
1) so they could focus on having more Aryan children
2) he needed their jobs for unemployed men
How did Hitler discourage young women from working?
At school, their training was how to be a housewife
Between 1900 and 1933, what had been happening to birth rates?
They had been falling because more women had been seeking careers
How did the Nazis encourage marriage?
Marriage loans of 1000 marks, and they were allowed to keep 250 marks for each child they had.
How did the Nazis reward women for having children?
With the Motherhood Cross
bronze - 5 children
silver - 6 children
gold - 8 children
How did the Nazis support working families?
They introduced weekly welfare payments that increased for each child
Who provided classes for mothers in home-craft and parenting?
A Nazi organisation called the German Women’s Enterprise
What was the Lebensborn programme?
Some unmarried Aryan women were selected to sleep with SS men to try and create pure Aryan children
Approximately how many children were born through the Lebensborn programme?
Approximately 20,000
What happened to birth rates during the period 1933-39?
They increased from 15 per 1000 to 20 per 1000.
There was also an increase in children outside marriage