Women in Nazi Germany (AQA GCSE History)
Revision Note
Written by: Zoe Wade
Reviewed by: Natasha Smith
How Did Life For Women Change Under the Nazis? - Summary
Before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Nazi policy towards women was focused on ensuring they stayed at home and cared for the family.
Women were expected to dress conservatively, keep themselves fit and healthy, and marry a strong, Aryan man. Part of this policy was directed towards increasing the birth rate, which had fallen significantly by the start of the 1930s.
Several laws relating to marriage and employment were created, to varying success. Financial incentives were used in combination with boosting the social status of women who had more children. The Nazis also simply banned many women from pursuing jobs, such as doctors and lawyers. Gertrud Scholtz-Klink was placed in charge of ensuring all policies related to women were followed.
It is difficult to determine how effective policy was towards women in Nazi Germany. By 1939, many of the laws intending to keep women at home had been altered to ensure that German industrial production could keep pace with that of the Allied powers.
Nazi beliefs about women
The Nazis saw women as a fundamental part of the Third Reich
Goebbels said
'the mission of the woman is to be beautiful and bring children into the home'
Nazi Germany had these expectations about women:
Women were told to concentrate on the ‘three Ks’
Kinder (children)
Kirche (church)
Küche (cooking)
Nazi policies on women
The Nazis wanted to reverse the changes to women’s roles brought in by the Weimar Republic
Gertrud Scholtz-Klink was appointed leader of the National Socialist Women's League and oversaw all policies related to women
Laws about marriage and family
A number of Nazi policies were introduced to increase the birth rate, which had fallen to one million births per year by 1933
1933 - The Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring
Forced sterilisation of any woman who had:
any experience of mental illness
hereditary diseases
physical disabilities
any incident of "anti-social behaviour" such as alcoholism
This law only allowed 'racially fit' and 'desirable' women to have children
In the Nazi's opinion, this made the German race stronger and more genetically 'pure'
1933 - The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage
Loans of 1,000 marks (equivalent to eight months’ wages) were available to women if two requirements were met:
women had to get married
women had to quit their jobs or stay unemployed
Mothers who gave birth to four children did not have to pay the loan back
Each child removed a quarter of the loan
1935 - The Lebensborn Programme
Started by SS leader, Heinrich Himmler
Paired SS men with single women to create ‘genetically pure’ children
Only women and men with a clear ‘Aryan’ ancestry were allowed to join
Special Lebensborn homes were created for women to rest after giving birth
1938 - Divorce Laws
Husbands could legally divorce their wives for failing or refusing to have children
Women caught having abortions could also be divorced
1939 - The Mother’s Cross
Awards presented on Mother’s Day in Germany were available to women who had four or more children
Mothers with gold medals were saluted in public by the Hitler Youth
Hitler was named the godfather of the tenth child in any family
Laws about employment
With the focus on women staying at home and caring for the family, the Nazis introduced laws to reduce the number of women at work
Laws about behaviour
The Nazis aimed to 're-feminise' women
They believed that developments in the Weimar era had corrupted women
Nazi local governments banned women from publicly:
smoking
singing or dancing
appearing bare-legged
Cabaret and jazz clubs were closed in 1935
Whilst not illegal, the Nazi government strongly advised women not to:
wear trousers or high heels
wear excessive makeup
have short hair
pursue weight-loss
The German Women’s Enterprise (DFW)
All women-related organisations had to join the German Women's Enterprise (DFW):
organisations that failed to join were banned
members were enrolled on courses about childcare, cooking and sewing
Worked Example
Read Interpretations A and B.
How does Interpretation B differ from Interpretation A about the support for Nazi policies towards women?
Explain your answer based on what it says in Interpretations A and B
[4 marks]
Interpretation 1 - An account by Liselotte Katscher in 1997
Katscher was a member of the National Socialist German Workers Party who worked as a nurse. This account talks about how a sixteen-year-old girl was sterilised because she was deemed unfit for motherhood
'I thought about it a great deal at the time, and I felt sorry for the girl, but it was the law, and the doctors had decided...The tragedy was that she was released very soon after this, then got a job and met a nice young man, and was now not allowed to marry him because of her sterilisation.'
Interpretation 2 - An account by Marianne Gärtner, published in 1987
Gärtner grew up in Nazi Germany and was a member of the League of German Maidens. This account recalls the comments of the older, female team leader
'There is no greater honour for a German woman than to bear children for the Führer and for the Fatherland! The Führer has ruled that no family will be complete without at least four children, and that every year, on his mother's birthday, all mothers with more than four children will be awarded the Mutterkreuz.'
Answer
Interpretation A highlights a lack of enthusiastic support for Nazi policies toward women. Interpretation A focuses on forced sterilisation and states "I felt sorry for the girl, but it was the law" (1). In 1933, Hitler introduced the Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring which forced sterilisation on certain women (1).
Interpretation B differs because it highlights enthusiastic support for the Nazi policies towards women. B states that "There is no greater honour for a German woman than to bear children for the Führer" (1). In Nazi Germany, propaganda persuaded many women that it was their duty to marry and have children to make Germany stronger (1).
Examiner Tips and Tricks
To help you understand how the interpretations differ, you should:
read each interpretation once for understanding
read the interpretations again, highlighting information that is different between both interpretations
make a note of the main difference between the interpretations
Our exam skills pages give further guidance and advice on comparing interpretations questions
Impact of Nazi policies on women
Nazi policies on women initially succeeded in increasing the marriage rate, the birth rate and the number of women unemployed
However, at the outbreak of the Second World War, many women had to work in factories and other industries to replace men who had gone away to fight
Examiner Tips and Tricks
You could be given a question which asks you if women or young people were the most affected by Nazi policies
This is a 12-mark question that expects you to refer to these two bullet points and another factor. Ensure you write three paragraphs that:
P - make a point about the question
E - use evidence that supports the point that you have made
E - explain why this evidence impacted the lives of women or young people. Avoid repeating the point. Explain how it either improved or worsened the lives of women or young people
L - link your explanation back to the question by stating how significant Nazi policies were for the relevant group
Write a conclusion about which factor you believed was most affected by Nazi policies. Make sure that you consider short- and long-term consequences, importance and impacts in your conclusion.
Our exam skills pages give further guidance and advice on the 'bullet point' question
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