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Citation: C N Trueman "The Role of Women in Nazi Germany"
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 9 Mar 2015. 12 May 2018.

Women in Nazi Germany were to have a very specific role. Hitler was very clear about this. This role was that they should be good mothers bringing up children at home while their husbands worked. Outside of certain specialist fields, Hitler saw no reason why a woman should work. Education taught girls from the earliest of years that this was the lifestyle they should have.

From their earliest years, girls were taught in their schools that all good German women married at a young age to a proper German and that the wife's task was to keep a decent home for her working husband and to have children.

One of the earliest laws passed by Hitler once he came to power in 1933, was the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage. This law stated that all newly married couples would get a government loan of 1000 marks which was about 9 months average income. 800,000 newly weds took up this offer. This loan was not to be simply paid back. The birth of one child meant that 25% of the loan did not have to be paid back. Two children meant that 50% of the loan need not be paid back. Four children meant that the entire loan was cleared.

The aim of the law was very simple - to encourage newly weds to have as many children as they could. There was also a more long term and sinister aspect to this : as Germany grew she would need more soldiers and mothers; hence a booming population was needed with young boys being groomed into being soldiers and young girls being groomed into being young mothers. If "lebensraum" was to be carried out, Hitler needed the population to fill the spaces gained in the eastern Europe. This attitude of deliberately boosting your nation's population was finding favour in western Europe and not just in Nazi Germany. France, in particular, feared that its population was falling too quickly and banned abortions and contraception.

Such was the desire to increase the German population that in 1943, a law was discussed among Nazi leaders that all women - married or single - should have 4 children and that the fathers of these children had to be "racially pure". Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, was particularly keen on this idea. If a family already had four children, the father from that family had to be released to father more children outside of his marriage. This law never came into being as even the Nazi leaders realised that this law would create social anarchy.

Women were not expected to work in Nazi Germany . In Weimar Germany there had been 100,000 female teachers, 3000 female doctors and 13,000 female musicians. Within months of Hitler coming to power, many female doctors and civil servants were sacked. This was followed by female teachers and lawyers. By the start of the Second World War, very few German women were in fulltime work. However, such was the skills shortage in Germany, that in 1937 a law was passed in 1937 which meant women had to do a "Duty Year". This meant that they could work 'patriotically' in a factory etc. to help the Nazi's "Economic Miracle". The marriage loan was also abolished in this year.

As housewives and mothers, their lives were controlled. Women were not expected to wear make-up or trousers. The dyeing of hair was not allowed nor were perms. Only flat shoes were expected to be worn. Women were discouraged from slimming as this was considered bad for child birth. Women were encouraged to have a well built figure as slim women, so it was taught, would have problems in pregnancy.......Women were also discouraged from smoking - not because it was linked to problems with pregnancies - but because it was considered non-German to do so.

August 12th had been the birthday of Hitler's mother. On this day each year, the Motherhood Cross was awarded to women who had given birth to the largest number of children. The gold cross went to women who had produced 8 children; silver was for 6 children and bronze was for 4 children

In Nazi Germany it was not considered a social problem if an unmarried woman had a child. In fact it was encouraged. The Nazis established Lebensborn's which were buildings where selected unmarried women could go to get pregnant by a "racially pure" SS man. These were not buildings that were hidden away in some back street. The government openly publicised them and they had a white flag with a red dot in the middle to identify them to the public.

A common rhyme for women then was:

"Take hold of kettle, broom and pan,
Then you'll surely get a man!
Shop and office leave alone, Your true life work lies at home."

"In the Germanic nations there has never been anything else than equality of rights for women. Both sexes have their rights, their tasks, and these tasks were in the case of each equal in dignity and value, and therefore man and woman were on an equality." Hitler in 1935

"The mission of women is to be beautiful and to bring children into the world. This is not at all as.........unmodern as it sounds. The female bird pretties herself for her mate and hatches eggs for him. In exchange, the male takes care of gathering food, and stands guard and wards off the enemy." Joseph Goebbels, writing in 1929.

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The Role of Women in Nazi Germany - History Learning Site

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Women in Nazi Germany were to have a very specific role. Hitler was very clear about this. This role was that they should be good mothers bringing up children at home while their husbands worked. Outside of certain specialist fields, Hitler saw no reason why a woman should work.

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In 1933 Hitler left the league blaming the french for his actions. He did not care for people would ban him from rearming his army. He at first suggested all armies have a set cap. This was reject mainly by France. However many people think that Hitler did this to make France look bad. This will cause issues between France and Britain two of Hitlers key enemeys.

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As a result of the Nazi’s desire to achieve the perfect Aryan master race:

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As a result of the Nazi’s desire to achieve the perfect Aryan master race:

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7 million non-Jewish Soviet people were killed
6 million Jews were killed
2.8 million Soviet prisoners of war were killed
2.5 million non-Jewish Poles were killed
1.5 million non-Jewish Poles were sent to forced labour concentration camps
500,000 gypsies were killed
400,000 people were forcibly sterilised
250,000 disabled people were killed
15,000 homosexuals were sent to concentration camps
10,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses were sent to concentration camps

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Meanwhile, it was not just the fact of German rearmament that frightened the British, but its nature. The German navy wanted to grow until it was equal to the French navy, with an emphasis on cruisers and submarines; this particularly frightened the British Admiralty, who thought it would be difficult to defend against in the event of a war.

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http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Women_Nazi_Germany.htm

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The persecution of those who did not fit Hitler’s ideal Aryan master race began soon after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. They included Jews, gypsies, the disabled, Jehovah’s witnesses, political opponents, the unemployed, the homeless and ethnic minorities.

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It was Hitler's aims to control every aspects of life in Germany including the daily life of ordinary people. If you had been a 16 year-old Aryan living in Nazi Germany you would probably have been a strong supporter of Adolf Hitler.The Nazis had reorganized every aspect of the school curriculum to make children loyal to them.

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http://padlet.com/SGE/5mr8mdxc0hqh

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Hitler needed an allie if was going to have any chance and regaining land and winning a war. So in 1939 he made a pact with Russia and they shared the debated Czechoslovakia. Now one of Hitlers promises to Germany was to abolish communism. Russia is the capital of comm

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Girls, at the age of 10, joined the Jungmadelbund and at the age of 14 transferred to the Bund Deutscher Madel . Girls had to be able to run 60 metres in 14 seconds, throw a ball 12 metres, complete a 2 hour march, swim 100 metres and know how to make a bed.

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Boys at 10, joined the Deutsches Jungvolk (German Young People) until the age of 13 when they transferred to the Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth) until the age of 18. In 1936, the writer J R Tunus wrote about the activities of the Hitler Jugend. He stated that part of their "military athletics" (Wehrsport) included marching, bayonet drill, grenade throwing, trench digging, map reading, gas defence, use of dugouts, how to get under barbed wire and pistol shooting.

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Posters were used to attract more members and membership rose from 5,000 in 1925 to 25,000 in 1930.

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In the early 1920s, the Nazi party had established a youth movement led by Kurt Gruber, with the aim of attracting young men who could be trained to become members of the SA.

On 4th July 1926 the group was renamed the Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth and became attached to and run by the SA.

The Hitler Youth wore uniforms and  attended meetings and rallies where they were indoctrinated with Nazi views.

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What was life like for young people in Nazi Germany? part 1