Women in Nazi Germany Flashcards
What did the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage (1933) give to young couples to encourage them to marry?
Loans worth up to 1,000 marks (8 months’ wages)
How could young couples write off their loan from the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage?
By having four children (one-quarter of the loan was written off per child)
The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage only made loans available under one condition - what was this?
The wife had to stop work
What did the Blood Protection Law of October 1935 state?
Marriage to Jewish people, Black people or Roma and Sinti people was forbidden
What did the Nazis introduce in 1939 for unmarried women under 25?
Compulsory agricultural labour
What percentage of women were allowed to enrol at university under the Nazis?
Only 10%
What type of school did the Nazis ban in 1937?
Grammar schools for girls
How did Nazi propaganda encourage women to dress?
Modest clothes, with hair tied back, in plaits or in a bun
No dyeing hair or wearing make-up
How did the Nazis change the divorce laws in 1938?
If a wife would not (or could not) have children, or had an abortion, her husband could divorce her
From what jobs were women banned in 1933?
Teachers, doctors and civil servants
From what jobs were women banned in 1936?
Judges and lawyers
How many women had given up work by the end of 1934?
360,000
What was the Mother’s Cross?
A medal given to women for the number of children they had
How many children did women need to give birth to for a bronze, silver and gold medal in the Mother’s Cross?
Bronze: 4-5
Silver: 6-7
Gold: 8
If a mother gave birth to ten children, who was expected to be the godfather of the tenth child?
Hitler
What were women expected to call their tenth child if it was a boy?
Adolf
What was the name of the new Nazi organisation for women which all existing women’s organisations were expected to merge with?
The German Women’s Enterprise
Who led the German Women’s Enterprise?
Gertrud Scholtz-Klink
How many members did the German Women’s Enterprise have?
6 million
What measures did the Nazis introduce to discourage women from remaining childless?
1) Higher taxes for childless couples
2) Tighter penalties on abortion
3) Restrictions on contraception information
What was the name of the programme that provided nurseries and financial aid for women who had children with SS men?
Lebensborn (Fountain of Life)
Give THREE pieces of evidence to suggest that Nazi policies towards women were successful
1) Fewer women went to university (17,000 in 1932 to 6,000 in 1939)
2) The birth rate increased
3) The marriage rate increased (640,000 in 1933 to 770,000 in 1939)
Give THREE pieces of evidence to suggest that Nazi policies towards women were UNSUCCESSFUL
1) Many women did not support Nazi ideas about women (especially leaving work)
2) An extra 2 million women were in work between 1933 and 1939
3) The size of the family fell between 1933 and 1939 (3.6 children per family in 1933 to 3.3 in 1939)
