Nazis and Women

Nazi Ideology and the role of women

 Nazi Aims towards women and the family

• Women were regarded as different, rather than inferior

• The Nazis aimed to reverse many of the rights that had been given to women under Weimar as it led to a declining birth and marriage rate.

• Nature had created 2 sexes with different roles and it was the Nazis duty to maintain these roles

• A woman should only marry and reproduce with a husband who was Aryan- Ten commandments for choice of spouse

• Sex was for reproduction not pleasure and after children have been produced there is no need to fulfill sexual urges

• A woman’s place was in the home, not in the workplace- married women were barred from jobs in medicine, law and the higher ranks of the civil service between 1933-36. Women who withdrew from work to marry were given interest free loans

• Children, kitchen, Church (Kinder, Kuche, kirche)

• Women had a duty to create healthy Aryan children to carry on the thousand year Reich

How did the Nazi’s implement these aims?

When the Nazis came to power, women started to see the reversal of their rights. In 1933, the law for the reduction of unemployment linked the fight to reduce unemployment with the introduction of Nazi policies towards women. This was followed by restrictions on the involvement of women in the civil service. In October 1933, the guidelines for recruiting civil servants stated, “In the event of males and females being equally qualified, the male should be given preference” In years of high unemployment there was no real strong reaction towards these policies. Marriage became influenced by legal changes that threatened and encouraged German couples to product perfect Aryans. Divorce became easier but this was in order to boost birth rates by ending unproductive marriages that were deemed ‘worthless’ to the national community. The Nazis also created a number of female organizations that upheld Nazi values and taught women how to be the prefect Aryan wife. The Nazis also set up welfare schemes that supported women and children. In Munich, Nazi organisations gave out 25,800 litres of milk, 1,500 food parcels and 172 sets of baby clothes in one month alone. Another incentive to have children was that women were awarded medals in recognition of their contribution to national objectives

 Why did the Nazi’s fail in achieving some of these aims in the 1930’s?

• By 1937, the aims were threatened by the pressures of the economy, the introduction of conscription and re-armament meant that there was a shortage of labour in 1935. The Nazis views on women could only be upheld with a fatal cost to the economy, but Hitler was not prepared to do this. Females were soon allowed to work in factories and between 1937-39, female employment rose from 5.9 million to 6.9million. The government even ended the arrangement where women who withdrew from work to marry where given a loan without interest. The number of women working steadily increased through the…