Women in Nazi Germany

Question 1

What did the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage (1933) give to young couples to encourage them to marry?

Answer 1

Loans worth up to 1,000 marks (8 months’ wages)

Question 2

How could young couples write off their loan from the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage?

Answer 2

By having four children (one-quarter of the loan was written off per child)

Question 3

The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage only made loans available under one condition - what was this?

Answer 3

The wife had to stop work

Question 4

What did the Blood Protection Law of October 1935 state?

Answer 4

Marriage to Jewish people, Black people or Roma and Sinti people was forbidden

Question 5

What did the Nazis introduce in 1939 for unmarried women under 25?

Answer 5

Compulsory agricultural labour

Question 6

What percentage of women were allowed to enrol at university under the Nazis?

Answer 6

Only 10%

Question 7

What type of school did the Nazis ban in 1937?

Answer 7

Grammar schools for girls

Question 8

How did Nazi propaganda encourage women to dress?

Answer 8

Modest clothes, with hair tied back, in plaits or in a bun

No dyeing hair or wearing make-up

Question 9

How did the Nazis change the divorce laws in 1938?

Answer 9

If a wife would not (or could not) have children, or had an abortion, her husband could divorce her

Question 10

From what jobs were women banned in 1933?

Answer 10

Teachers, doctors and civil servants

Question 11

From what jobs were women banned in 1936?

Answer 11

Judges and lawyers

Question 12

How many women had given up work by the end of 1934?

Answer 12

360,000

Question 13

What was the Mother’s Cross?

Answer 13

A medal given to women for the number of children they had

Question 14

How many children did women need to give birth to for a bronze, silver and gold medal in the Mother’s Cross?

Answer 14

Bronze: 4-5
Silver: 6-7
Gold: 8

Question 15

If a mother gave birth to ten children, who was expected to be the godfather of the tenth child?

Answer 15

Hitler

Question 16

What were women expected to call their tenth child if it was a boy?

Answer 16

Adolf

Question 17

What was the name of the new Nazi organisation for women which all existing women’s organisations were expected to merge with?

Answer 17

The German Women’s Enterprise

Question 18

Who led the German Women’s Enterprise?

Answer 18

Gertrud Scholtz-Klink

Question 19

How many members did the German Women’s Enterprise have?

Answer 19

6 million

Question 20

What measures did the Nazis introduce to discourage women from remaining childless?

Answer 20

1) Higher taxes for childless couples
2) Tighter penalties on abortion
3) Restrictions on contraception information

Question 21

What was the name of the programme that provided nurseries and financial aid for women who had children with SS men?

Answer 21

Lebensborn (Fountain of Life)

Question 22

Give THREE pieces of evidence to suggest that Nazi policies towards women were successful

Answer 22

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)

Question 23

Give THREE pieces of evidence to suggest that Nazi policies towards women were UNSUCCESSFUL

Answer 23

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)