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women in nazi germany. plz help me (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter soapie
- Start date
braindrainedAsh
Journalist
Wato has given you some good resources.
Basically, you had women's youth groups, such as the Bund Deutcher Madel. Hitler also encouraged women to be mothers and have children... things such as the mother's cross award which encouraged women to have children for the reich. Hitler wanted women out of the workforce and in to the home... however later in the war you will see that this economically wasn't viable, and Hitler had to entice women back in to the workforce in order to increase production.
Nazi ideology firmly showed the place of the women in Nazi society... as a mother and homemaker. This of course was only for good Aryan women, jews and other women were excluded from this.
You even had women "having a child for Hitler"... lol kinda like what Costello wants us all to do, have a child for Australian lol. It was called the lebensborn program (spring of life).
I'm sure this will give you enough background to know what kind of things to research for your assignment. Good luck and if you have any more specific questions feel free to ask.
Basically, you had women's youth groups, such as the Bund Deutcher Madel. Hitler also encouraged women to be mothers and have children... things such as the mother's cross award which encouraged women to have children for the reich. Hitler wanted women out of the workforce and in to the home... however later in the war you will see that this economically wasn't viable, and Hitler had to entice women back in to the workforce in order to increase production.
Nazi ideology firmly showed the place of the women in Nazi society... as a mother and homemaker. This of course was only for good Aryan women, jews and other women were excluded from this.
You even had women "having a child for Hitler"... lol kinda like what Costello wants us all to do, have a child for Australian lol. It was called the lebensborn program (spring of life).
I'm sure this will give you enough background to know what kind of things to research for your assignment. Good luck and if you have any more specific questions feel free to ask.
ChoppedLiver
Member
What was Nazi policy towards women?
Nazi policies from 1933
Increasing the number of children
For the first few years this ran in the same direction as their need to reduce unemployment. They took various measures to achieve this.
(a) Financial inducements:
Marriage loans: These were introduced in June 1933. Couples could have a loan of 1000RM to spend on household goods provided that the woman agreed to give up her job. Each child born knocked a quarter off the debt.
Various other benefits tax allowances for children, paid for by extra taxes on the unmarried; maternity allowances, and concessions on all sorts of things like rail fares, school fees and shopping.
Child subsidies: These were introduced in 1935, and involved poor parents with large families (at least four children under 16) getting grants (e.g. 1800RM for farm families) to spend on household goods. They were also used for other purposes (e.g. to persuade farm families not to leave the land).
Child allowances (introduced in1938) of 10RM per month for 3rd and 4th children, 10RM for 5th and subsequent.
(b) Flattery:
All sorts of propaganda methods were used to try to make women feel good about having large families. Women with large families were awarded the Honour Cross of the Mother. It was presented on Hitlers mothers birthday (12th August). You got bronze if you had more than four children, silver if more than six and gold if more than eight. Hitler Youth members had to salute wearers of the Cross in public.
Ensuring only healthy Aryan children
This involved the use of eugenics: a science supposed to show how to improve the race by improving its gene pool. Although the Nazis wanted big families they were not interested in children as such, but only useful additions to the Volk. Accordingly they wanted to prevent children being born who might weaken the race. They also feared that large families were a sign of irresponsibility, which in turn they thought would be a sign of racial inferiority. Accordingly
they made it impossible to get married unless you could prove that you were both Aryan (which meant collecting endless documents about your ancestors) and healthy.
young people thinking about getting married were taught the Ten Commandments for the Choice of a Spouse to encourage them to select their marriage partner on good racial grounds;
a Law for the Protection of the Hereditary Health of the German People (October 1935) banned marriage for anyone suffering from a serious infectious disease or hereditary illness;
by a Law to Prevent Hereditarily Diseased Offspring (July 1933) you could be compulsorily sterilised if you were thought to be in danger of creating unhealthy children (and people who had been sterilised, or were otherwise infertile, were forbidden to marry) (and doctors and nurses were legally compelled to inform on you if they thought you qualified);
the race defilement laws made it illegal to marry (or have sex with) Jews; and
there was a national eugenic register which listed separately decent and asocial large families.
With encouragement from Himmler (who was an enthusiast on the subject of race) young girls were offered opportunities to have themselves made pregnant by selected SS men. The SS also ran homes for mothers (Lebensborn, or Spring of Life) where they could have the best conditions.
Preventing birth limitation
Pressure on birth control: the laws against abortion were harshly enforced (and eventually the death penalty could be inflicted on doctors who carried out abortions); birth control advice clinics were closed down; and it was forbidden to advertise or distribute contraceptives.
Similarly, sterilisation (unless ordered by the authorities) was illegal (unless you were non-Aryan, in which case it was quite OK).
All sorts of help for mothers was provided pre-natal and post-natal accommodation and creches; motherhood and housework classes and (later, during the war) foreign slave labourers in the home. This was regarded as especially important where the mother had a job, as nothing should endanger the child.
Pressure to break up barren marriages: the divorce laws were changed in 1938 so that you could divorce your partner for infertility or refusal to have children. This led to about 30,000 extra divorces within two years.
Both prostitution and male homosexuality were much more harshly prosecuted than before, and homosexuals were put in concentration camps and murdered in large numbers because they were not fulfilling their duty to procreate.
Illegitimacy was gradually seen as less and less disgraceful. Children were children whether their parents were married or not.
Eventually at least some Nazis (e.g. Himmler) hoped to introduce polygamy [= having more than one wife] at least for war heroes.
Making sure children were brought up as Nazis
Mothers (and in fact parents) were endlessly indoctrinated on this point and a great deal of propaganda effort was spent on it, with posters of the ideal Aryan family, ideal German mother, etc: rather like building society advertisements today. The German womens organisations concerned themselves with training women to be good mothers and housewives but also with making sure women were ideologically pure.
There was also the possibility that your children could be taken away from you if you were discovered not to be educating them properly.
Nazi policies from 1933
Increasing the number of children
For the first few years this ran in the same direction as their need to reduce unemployment. They took various measures to achieve this.
(a) Financial inducements:
Marriage loans: These were introduced in June 1933. Couples could have a loan of 1000RM to spend on household goods provided that the woman agreed to give up her job. Each child born knocked a quarter off the debt.
Various other benefits tax allowances for children, paid for by extra taxes on the unmarried; maternity allowances, and concessions on all sorts of things like rail fares, school fees and shopping.
Child subsidies: These were introduced in 1935, and involved poor parents with large families (at least four children under 16) getting grants (e.g. 1800RM for farm families) to spend on household goods. They were also used for other purposes (e.g. to persuade farm families not to leave the land).
Child allowances (introduced in1938) of 10RM per month for 3rd and 4th children, 10RM for 5th and subsequent.
(b) Flattery:
All sorts of propaganda methods were used to try to make women feel good about having large families. Women with large families were awarded the Honour Cross of the Mother. It was presented on Hitlers mothers birthday (12th August). You got bronze if you had more than four children, silver if more than six and gold if more than eight. Hitler Youth members had to salute wearers of the Cross in public.
Ensuring only healthy Aryan children
This involved the use of eugenics: a science supposed to show how to improve the race by improving its gene pool. Although the Nazis wanted big families they were not interested in children as such, but only useful additions to the Volk. Accordingly they wanted to prevent children being born who might weaken the race. They also feared that large families were a sign of irresponsibility, which in turn they thought would be a sign of racial inferiority. Accordingly
they made it impossible to get married unless you could prove that you were both Aryan (which meant collecting endless documents about your ancestors) and healthy.
young people thinking about getting married were taught the Ten Commandments for the Choice of a Spouse to encourage them to select their marriage partner on good racial grounds;
a Law for the Protection of the Hereditary Health of the German People (October 1935) banned marriage for anyone suffering from a serious infectious disease or hereditary illness;
by a Law to Prevent Hereditarily Diseased Offspring (July 1933) you could be compulsorily sterilised if you were thought to be in danger of creating unhealthy children (and people who had been sterilised, or were otherwise infertile, were forbidden to marry) (and doctors and nurses were legally compelled to inform on you if they thought you qualified);
the race defilement laws made it illegal to marry (or have sex with) Jews; and
there was a national eugenic register which listed separately decent and asocial large families.
With encouragement from Himmler (who was an enthusiast on the subject of race) young girls were offered opportunities to have themselves made pregnant by selected SS men. The SS also ran homes for mothers (Lebensborn, or Spring of Life) where they could have the best conditions.
Preventing birth limitation
Pressure on birth control: the laws against abortion were harshly enforced (and eventually the death penalty could be inflicted on doctors who carried out abortions); birth control advice clinics were closed down; and it was forbidden to advertise or distribute contraceptives.
Similarly, sterilisation (unless ordered by the authorities) was illegal (unless you were non-Aryan, in which case it was quite OK).
All sorts of help for mothers was provided pre-natal and post-natal accommodation and creches; motherhood and housework classes and (later, during the war) foreign slave labourers in the home. This was regarded as especially important where the mother had a job, as nothing should endanger the child.
Pressure to break up barren marriages: the divorce laws were changed in 1938 so that you could divorce your partner for infertility or refusal to have children. This led to about 30,000 extra divorces within two years.
Both prostitution and male homosexuality were much more harshly prosecuted than before, and homosexuals were put in concentration camps and murdered in large numbers because they were not fulfilling their duty to procreate.
Illegitimacy was gradually seen as less and less disgraceful. Children were children whether their parents were married or not.
Eventually at least some Nazis (e.g. Himmler) hoped to introduce polygamy [= having more than one wife] at least for war heroes.
Making sure children were brought up as Nazis
Mothers (and in fact parents) were endlessly indoctrinated on this point and a great deal of propaganda effort was spent on it, with posters of the ideal Aryan family, ideal German mother, etc: rather like building society advertisements today. The German womens organisations concerned themselves with training women to be good mothers and housewives but also with making sure women were ideologically pure.
There was also the possibility that your children could be taken away from you if you were discovered not to be educating them properly.
ChoppedLiver
Member
You should also consider the Lebensborn Project and the reprecussions on the status and poistion of women with the Reich.
I also found a site iwth some excellent notes on Women, Nazism and the Impact on Family Life and here there are some intresting conclusions in context.
CL
I also found a site iwth some excellent notes on Women, Nazism and the Impact on Family Life and here there are some intresting conclusions in context.
CL