Life in Nazi Germany, 1933-39:

The Nazis had strong views about the role and position of women in society. Once they had control in Germany, they introduced policies that affected women's lives in lots of ways. 

The Nazis' Ideal Woman:

• To have a natural appearance with long hair tied back and no make-up.
• To wear traditional clothes.
• To be fair haired and blue eyed (Aryan).
• To be sturdily built (for child beating).
• To be a non-drinker / non-smoker.
• To marry and have children.
• To believe in the Nazi ideas of Kinder, Kuche, Kirche (children, kitchen, church).
• To stay at home and not go to work or to university.

The image of the ideal Nazi mother is in strong contrast to how many women lived their lives during the days of the Weimar Republic.

• Women should not work, especially those who were married. Many professional women lost their jobs and were replaced by men. During 1933-36 the number of employed married women fell. 

• Women should get married. The Marriage Law of 1933 initiated the use of vouchers (Marriage Loans) to newly married couples if the woman agreed to stop working. The number of marriages did increase, but it's not clear if this was due to Nazi policy, or to other reasons such as a stronger economy

• Women should have at least four children. (Couples were let off one-quarter of their Marriage Loan repayments for each child they had). The birth rate did increase, but this may have been because the economy was improving rather than because of Nazi policies. Few women had more than two children. 

• The German Women's Enterprise gave women medals for having children, and ran classes and radio programes on home-based matters. The German Women's Enterprise had six million members, which suggests that many women welcomed Nazi policies. 

There were four Nazi youth groups: Young German Folk (boys aged 10-14), Young Girls (girls aged 10-14), Hitler Youth (boys aged 14-18), and League of German Maidens (girls aged 14-18). Meetings and activities took place after school, at weekends and in the holidays. 

Nazi Aims for Young People:

The Nazis wanted children to be brought up for the good of Germany. 

• To be proud Germans who supported a strong, independent Germany. 
• Girls to be strong and healthy in order to be strong wives and fertile mothers.
• Boys to be strong and healthy in order to work for the German economy and fight in the German forces.
• To be loyal supporters of the Nazi Party and to believe in Nazi policies - preparing children for their future roles as adults.

The Nazi policies for the young differed between girls and boys. They encouraged the young to regard Hitler as a father figure and they made sure that the Nazis had control of children outside school.

Boys:

• Shooting, military drills and signalling. 
• Military style camps and helping the fire brigade during the war.
• Formed military brigades to defend Berlin in 1945. 

Both:

• Hiking and camping and learning about Hitler.
• Learning about racial superiority.
• Singing patriotic songs and sports and competitions.
• Taking part in Nazi marches and rallies.
• Reporting people who made anti-Nazi comments and collecting for Winterhilde (a charity). 

Girls:

• Housework, cookery and needlework and craft.
• Learning what to look for in a good husband and learning about babies and childcare. 

Another way the Nazis controlled children was through education. This was another method of making German children loyal Nazis in preparation for their future roles in the Nazi state. 

Schools:

• Children had to attend school until they were 14. There were separate schools for boys and girls. Optional schools after age 14: Political Educational Institutes and Adolf Hitler Schools. All schools followed a set curriculum - this was different for girls and boys. 

Teachers:

• It was compulsory for teachers to be Nazi Party members. Those who didn't teach Nazi ideas were dismissed. Teachers' camps taught them how to use Nazi ideas in their teaching. Nearly all teachers joined the Nazi Teachers' League. Teachers were forced to attend courses to learn about Nazi ideas.

Subjects:

• 15% of time was spent on PE to ensure a healthy and strong population. Girls were taught domestic skills, while boys were taught science and military skills. Both sexes were taught the traditional subjects: German, History, Geography and Maths. New subjects: Race Studies and Nazi Eugenics were taught to both sexes. 

Race Studies involved learning how to classify racial groups and about the superiority of the Aryan race. Eugenics is the science of using controlled breeding to attempt to produce the perfect human being. 

Propaganda:

• All lessons began and ended with the Hitler salute. Nazi flags and posters decked classrooms. From 1935 all textbooks had to be approved by the Nazi Party. Traditional subjects were rewritten to glorify Germany, e.g. an emphasis on German writers and historical figures. Racial ideas and anti-Semitism were embedded within subjects.

The ultimate aim of the Nazi education policy was:

• To prepare girls to be good wives and mothers. 

• To create loyal Nazis. 

• To glorify Germany and the Nazi Party.

• To turn boys into strong soldiers who would fight for Germany.

• To teach Nazi beliefs about race.

• To put across key Nazi ideals. 

Reducing high unemployment important for Hitler. From 1933, set out schemes to achieve this.

Why Hitler wanted to get people working: - The unemployed were dangerous politically - if they were poor and hungry they might turn to other political parties for help, and were believed by the Nazis to be a burden on society and a waste of valuable resources. 

National Labour Service (RAD): - This was started by the Weimar government and continued by the Nazis. From July 1935, it was compulsoy for all men aged 18-25 to serve for six months on this scheme. They worked on job creation schemes and other public works such as draining marshes. Many hated RAD: the pay was low, the hours long and the work boring.

Rearmament: - Another way the NAzis provided jobs was through building up their stockpile of arms, even though the Treaty of Versailles had stipulated limits on this. This provided many jobs. In 1933 armament spend in billion marks was little under 5; in 1939 it was just over 25. 

Job Creation Schemes: - The Nazis reduced unemployment by putting money into large projects. These benefited the economy and also reduced unemployment. Construction Projects:

• Public buildings.
• 7000km of autobahms (motorways) connecting up the country. 
• Sports facilities, e.g. stadia for the Berlin Olympics, 1936. 

Invisible Unemployment:

Official government figures showed unemployment was falling but they did not include:

• Jews being forced out of jobs.
• Women being dismissed or leaving their jobs.
• Unmarried men uder 25 doing National Labour Service.
• Opponents of the regime who were sent to concentration camps.

Official figures showed unemployment had dropped from 4.8 million in 1933 to 0.3 million in 1939 - amazing achievement. But this did not take into account 'invisible unemployment'. 

Nazi Workers' Organisations: - Hitler realised that he must make sure that the German workers were satisifed and avoid losing their support. He set up different workers' organisations that were meant to improve the lives and conditions of German people. German workers on the first Kdf trip to Italy in 1937 brought souvenirs on the ship and a parade of Kdf Volkswagen Beetles in 1939, was a propaganda stunt. 

German Labour Front - The Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF) replaced trade unions. Workers had to be members. It ran several schemes. 

Strength through Joy (KdF) - This aimed to increase productivity by making workers happy. It provided low-cost or free activities (e.g. concerts, holidays) for hard-workers.

Beauty of Labour (SdA) - Aimed to improve conditions by reducing noise in workplaces, providing canteens, building swimming pools. Workers had to construct these in spare time, so not popular.

The Volkswagen (people's car) - One of KdF's schemes was to promote car ownership. Hitler asked Porsche to design family car, VW Beetle. Workers paid 5 marks a week to buying car but, by 1939, no-one had paid in enough so money went towards rearmament.

Better Off:

• More jobs with most men in work.
• Average wages rose by 20% compared to 1933.
• KdF provided leisure activities and holidays and SdA improved working conditions.
• Car ownership increased three-fold. 

Worse Off:

• 'Invisible Unemployment' meant many were still unemployed.
• The cost of food rose by an equivalent amount so this cancelled out wage rise.
• With the banning of trade unions, workers had few rights and worked longer hours: 43 hours a week in 1933 up to 49 hours in 1939.
• Only high earnes could afford cars. Low earners had to spend money on essentials.

Hitler was keen to increase the number of 'pure' Germans (Aryans) who were blond-haired, blue-eyed, tall and athletic, and would work hard, join the army or have children. 

Nazi Racial Hierarchy:

• Aryans - The 'master race'.
• Other White Western Europeans - Seen as fellow humans but lower than Aryans. 
• Eastern Europeans - Slavs - seen as 'sub-human'.
• Black People and Gypsies - Both seen as 'sub-human' and 'work-shy' (lazy).
• Jews - Seen as lowest of 'sub-human' races and blamed for Germany's problems. 

How the Race Grew:

'Race farms' were set up where Aryan men and women met to have Aryan children. The ** were central to the Nazi master race, as they only recruited Aryans and were only allowed to marry Aryan women.

Untermenschen: - Untermenschen meant 'inferior people' or 'sub-humans', and was the term used by Nazis to describe Slavs, gypsies, black people and Jews.

In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws banned Aryans from marrying gypsies, black people or Jews. Mixed-race children were sterilised. After 1933, many gypsies were arrested and sent to concentration camps. From 1938, all gypsies had to be registered and were banned from travelling. In 1939, they were told they would be deported. Slavs were reminded continually that they didn't fit the Aryan ideal, but were persecuted less than other groups. 

Other Undesirables: - Nazis believed other groups were undesirable, should be treated differently.

Homosexuals were sent to prison or concentration camps and subjected to medical experiments to correct their 'disorder' after laws against homosexuality were strenghtened. Mentally handicapped people were sterilised after new law, the Prevention of Hereditary Diseased Offspring, introduced in 1933. Mentally and physically handicapped babies were killed. Vagrants were seen as 'work-shy' and put in concentration camps. 

The persecution of the Jewish community in Germany escalated throughout this period. It began with an attack on Jewish businesses and the removal of Jewish people from their jobs.

Reasons why Jews were persecuted:

• Associated with communism (Karl Marx was Jewish).
• Jealous of their success - many Jews were professionals or owned businesses.
• Used as scapegoats for Germany's problems.
• Suspicious of a different religion.
• Blamed for Germany's deafeat in WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles, especially as some politicians involved were Jewish. 

Reasons why most non-Jewish German people let the persecution happen:

• The influence of Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda. 
• The fear of the Gestapo and ** if they did speak out. 
• Long-standing distrust of Jewish people - a common belief across Europe.

• 1933 - The SA organised a one-day boycott of Jewish shops. They pained a yellow star on doors and discouraged people from going inside.
• Jewish actors and musicians were banned from performing. Jewish civil servants were sacked. Jews were no longer allowed to join the army. Jews were banned from inheriting land. There was a SA one-day boycott of Jewish lawyers and doctors. 
• 1934 - Some Jews were banned from public places like parks and swimming pools- other councils painted park benches yellow specifically for Jewish people.
• 1935 - The Nuremberg laws, that placed further restrictions on Jewish life, were declared. 
• 1936 - Jews were banned or restricted from working as vets, accountants, teachers, dentists and nurses.
• 1937 - Jewish businesses were taken over by Aryans.
• 1938 - Jews had to register property. Jewish shops set on fire or vandalised - Kristallnacht. 
• Jewish passports had to be stamped with a 'J'. 'Israel' or 'Sarah' had to be added to Jewish names.
• 1939 - Jews were barred from owning businesses.
• The Reich Office for Jewish Emigration was set up with the purpose of expelling all Jews from Germany.

This is one of the events that occured durig this time that had a major impact on the lives of Jewish communities in Germany. 

The Nuremberg Laws, 1935:

• A new set of laws was passed to make it easier to persecute Jews.

The Reich Law on Citizenship:

• Only those of German blood can be citizens.
• Jews must become subjects not citizens.
• Jews cannot vote or work for the government.
• Jews must wear a yellow star-shaped patch sewn on clothes for ease of identification.

The Reich Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour:

• No Jew must marry a German citizen.
• No Jew is allowed to have sexual relations with a German citizen.

• 7th November  - a 17-year old Polish Jew entered the German embassy in Paris and shot a German. 
• 8th November - Goebbels used the event to stir up resentment against Jews by attackinng homes and synagogues in Hanover. 
• 9th November - Goebbels and Hitler decided to increase the violence to a nationwide attack.
• Kristallnacht: 9th-10th November - Groups of uniformed and non-uniformed gangs ran amok against Jewish communities, destroying and burning homes, shops, businesses and synagogues.

• 100 Jews were killed.
• 814 shops were destroyed.
• 171 homes were destroyed.
• 191 synagogues were destroyed.

Goebbels blamed the Jews for starting trouble on Kristallnacht and ordered them to pay damages. Jews were fined 1 billion marks.