L9: nazi social policies - women

aims of nazi social policies for women

• core and central aim of promoting marriage

• increasing birth rate of racial pure aryan children → to help with lebensraum

• organise and indoctrinate women → crucial for volksgemeinschaft

• exclude women from public life, limited just to child bearing

• establishments traditional roles for women

nazi slogan for women (their 3 priorities in life)

“kinder, küche, kirche”

• means children, kitchen, church

propaganda themes to promote their policies to women?

• raised the status of housewives and mothers

  • “new women” from republic depicted as ‘degenerate’ and ‘ungerman’

• encouraged a healthy lifestyle with exercise and no smoking/drinking

  • made accessible through teaching in women’s groups and schools

what financial incentives did the nazis offer women to increase marriage and birth rates?

• loans of 600 RM for women who left work and married an aryan man

  • repayable amount reduced by 25% for each child they had

  • free money if have 4 children

• taxes lowered for couples with children

how else did nazis attempt to raise birth rates by convincing women?

• maternity services and childcare improved

• women given milk, food, linen parcels for babies

• new rest homes for postpartum recuperation

• kindergartens to help mothers prior to their child attending school

• established discrete maternity homes and adoption centres to reduce abortion rates

• birth control discouraged and abortion severely restricted

what award was given to aryan mothers who ‘donated’ a baby to the führer?

• the mother’s cross

• bronze - 4 or 5 children

• silver - 6 or 7 children

• gold - 8 or more children

what program was established to further raise the birth rate using unmarried aryan women?

lebensborn programme

how many children were born from the lebensborn programme?

8000 children

what was the purpose of the lebensborn programme?

• from december 1935

• unmarried women with proved aryan backgrounds could be paired with an SS officer to get pregnant

how did the nazis forcibly ensure new generation were as ‘racially pure’ as possible?

“undesirable” women forced to undergo sterilisation

how were women removed from the workplace?

• 1933 - law for the restoration of the professional civil service

  • dismissed women from all senior roles in civil service and medical profession

  • now unable to be a deputy in the reichstage

• 1936 - women banned from being judges, lawyers and teachers

• 10% university students were women after 1933

what were the 3 most significant nazi organisations for women?

• german women’s league (DFW)

• the national socialist women’s organisation (NS-F)

• the reich mother’s service (RMD)

what was the role of the german women’s league (DFW) ?

• coordinated all women’s groups under nazi control

• domestic science department face advice on cooking and healthy eating

what was the role of the national socialist women’s organisation (NS-F)?

• selective elite organisation

• promoted “lovelife, marriage, family, blood and race”

what was the role of the reich mother’s service (RMD) ?

• branch of german women’s league (DFW)

• ‘trained’ women to understand importance of motherhood

how did groups in german society react to nazi policies towards women?

middle class women: suffered more, freedoms and choices now restricted

majority: happy to stay at home with families, don’t have to work long hours

conservative organisations/catholics: share more subdued version of nazi ideology, supported

how much were women’s lives changed up to 1939?

relatively little significant change until AFTER 1939

how many members did the german women’s league (DFW) have by 1939? suggests?

• 1939: 6 million members

• moderate support for return of traditional, domestic roles → offered nazis social control

what proportion of women in the DFW were NOT a member of the nazi party?

70%

how many women were ‘trained’ by the reich mother’s service (RMD)?

1.7 million women

how many children were born from the lebensborn programme?

8000 children

how did the divorce rate change after 1938? suggests?

• increases

• racial aspect of reproductive control pursued more intensely, less interest marriage

• also suggests financial motives on public

change in proportion of female uni students 1931 to 1933?

1931: 18%

1933: 10%

how did marriages increase 1932 to 1934?

1932: 516,000 marriages per year

1934: 740,000 marriages per year

how did the birthrate change 1933 to 1939?

1933: 14 births per 1000

1939: 21 births per 1000

was there a significant change to the birth rate?

relatively little change → majority of population continued western european tradition to restrict family size to 2 children

why may there have been an increase in birth and marriage rate?

• could possible be effective policies for women

• more likely:

  • suggests that majority of germany society were still financially recovering

  • dependence on loans for marriage and childbirth

  • policies were only appearing to be ‘effective’ due to financial offerings and better economic conditions, lacked nationwide ideological support

what were the rival bodies that influenced women?

• german labour front (DAF)

• the church

  • offered alternative activities, presented as partial threat to the reich

how were the nazis successful in removing women from the workplace?

• successfully excluded german women from ALL workplaces

• largely sustained removal of women from high power professions

  • a part of the 1933 law for the reconstruction for the professional civil service

how did the nazis fail to remove women entirely from the labour force?

• contradictions between competing ideological goals and paradoxical economic necessities

• broader aim of removing women from workplaces ultimately failed

  • role of promotion of kinder küche kirche underpinned policies

  • nazis remained reliant on female workers to achieve göring’s 4 year plan

when was the marriage role reversed?

1937

what was the proportion of women in employment from 1933 to 1939?

1933 - 37%

1937 - 31%

1939 - 33%

how much did the women in employment rise by from 1933-9?

2.4 million women entered the workplace