Women in Nazi Germany Flashcards
What did Hitler say about women’s lives in a 1934 speech?
‘The world of a woman is a smaller one. For her world is her husband, her family, her children and her house.’
What were women’s lives like in the 1920s before the Nazis took over Germany?
They had many rights and freedoms that women in other countries did not have.
Give an example of women having more freedom then women in other countries during the 1920s:
Women in Germany had the right to vote and if they worked for the government, their pay was equal to men.
What did many women attend and become in the 1920s before the Nazis took control?
Many women attended university and became lawyers and doctors.
What were Nazis worried about during the Weimar period?
The declining number of births in Germany.
What caused a decline in the number of births in Weimar Germany?
Career-driven women having fewer children.
How many births had there been in 1900 compared to 1933?
In 1900 there had been over 2 million births per year, but this had dropped to under 1 million by 1933.
What did the Nazis feel about a lower birth rate and lower population?
That it didn’t fit with their plans to expand Germany’s territory and settle Germans in other areas of Europe.
Hitler said women should stick to the three what?
The three Ks - Kinder, Kirche and Kuche (children, church and cooking)
What did Nazis feel a women’s patriotic duty was?
To stay at home, have lots of children and support their husbands.
What happened to many women within months of Hitler coming to power?
Many female doctors, teachers, lawyers and judges were sacked.
What was discouraged for women?
Getting a job, as it might get in the way of producing children.
Why were women banned from jury service?
Because the Nazis said they were unable to think without emotion.
What were women banned from doing and why?
Smoking because it was ‘unladylike’.
What 2 items of clothing were discouraged for being ‘unladylike’?
-Trousers
-High heels
What were given out to newly married couples and why?
How did they work?
A loan (the equivalent of a year’s wage) to encourage them to have children.
On the birth of a first child, they could keep a quarter of the money, on the birth of another, they could keep the second quarter, and so on.
What 2 things did the Nazis ban?
Contraception and abortion.
What was discouraged for pregnancy?
Slimming, because it was not thought to be good for getting pregnant.
What event regarding women happened every year and on what day?
Every year on 12 August (the birthday of Hitler’s mother), the Motherhood Medal was awarded to women who had the most children.
What award for mothers with how many children win?
Mothers with 8 children received the ‘Gold Cross’.
What movement did the Nazis set up to increase birth rate?
The Lebensborn movement.
What happened as a result of the Lebensborn movement?
An estimated 8000 children were born in Germany because of this.
Name 2 Nazi organisations set up for women:
-The German Women’s League
-The Nazi Women’s Organisation
What was the German Women’s League?
They coordinated all adult women’s groups in the country, and representatives travelled around giving advice on cooking, childcare and healthy eating.
Describe the success of one of the motherhood training courses set up by the German Women’s League:
By March 1939, 1.7 million women had attended one of its motherhood training courses.
What was the Nazi Women’s Organisation?
It was set up to develop an elite female group dedicated to Nazi beliefs and ideas.
Describe how the Nazis did manage to increase the birth rate in Germany:
There were around 970,000 babies born in Germany in 1933 - and this had risen to 1,413,000 by 1939.
How had the Nazis contradicted themselves and gone against their beliefs about women?
Despite what the Nazis said about a woman’s role, the Nazis needed women back at work because more men were joining the army and workers were needed to run factories.
