Women in Nazi Germany were to have specific roles. Hitler was very clear about this. This role was that they should be good mothers and bring up their children at home while their husbands were working.
This was taught to Women at very young ages; for example girls of the age of ten joined the Jungmadel (Hitler Youth), then from fourteen they entered the Bund Deutscher Madel ( German Girls League ). In this they were taught their role of being a good wife and mother and that their place was to be in the home - the 3K's Kinder, Kuche, Kirche was their main rule to follow, which simply mean: Children, Church, Kitchen.Women had many roles in Nazi Germany, one of which was Marriage. When Hitler published 'Mien Kampf' (My Struggle), he clearly stated that he was going to go to war. Producing Children for Nazi's was vital, they saw children as the first generation that would grow up in a Nazi world. However, when Hitler came to power in 1933 the birth rate had fallen from two million births a year in 1900 to less than one million.
This was due to the shortage of men caused by World War One; more than 1. million German Women were unmarried.To over come this situation Nazis introduced a number of different laws and rewards to encourage women to get married and have children. For example, marriage loans of up to 600 marks were given to women who gave up there job in order to get married and these loans did not have to be paid back if the women have at least four children.
Another role (policy) Women had in Nazi Germany was to increase the birth rate; this was a biological purpose that Women had to serve during this period.A decrease in birth rate had come about when there was a shortage of men after World War One, leading to women unable to reproduce, so no children. To increase the birth rate Women were awarded with an Honour Cross for having children; to receive this cross in Nazi Germany was a great pride for Women, it was seen as an important role. A gold award was awarded for Women who had eight children. These awards were given out on the 12th August each year, this was Hitler's Mother's Day.
In 1939 three million women received a medal for having produced four or more children.Furthermore, anti-abortion laws were also brought in and contraceptives were banned and virtually impossible to get hold of in Nazi Germany. On the contrary, Nazi's only wanted healthy Aryan children to be born, therefore Jews could not have the privilege of marriage loans or Honour Medals. In addiction, any woman thought to have a hereditary disease could be sterilised. By 1945 over 300,000 men and women in Nazi Germany had been sterilised to produce healthy Aryan Children. Another policy towards women in Nazi Germany was employment.
The view that women should stay at home and be a good mother and good wife was contradicted when a decline in unemployment occurred after the Nazis gained power meant that it was not necessary to force women out of manual work. However, action was taken to reduce the number of women working in the labour market; in order to raise the birth rate. In 1934 married women were dismissed from certain professions altogether; and from 1936 women were not allowed to be judges or public prosecutors.Hitler's attitude towards women was shown clearly by his decision to ban them from public prosecution, because he believed them to be unable to 'think logically or reason objectively, since they are ruled only by emotion. ' Additionally, Scholtz-Klink head of the Women's Bureau which was also seen a role model, persuaded women to work for the good of the Nazi Government.
In 1938, in one of her speeches she argued that 'the German woman must work and work; physically and mentally she must renounce luxury and pleasure. " During 1937, there was a great skills shortage in Germany, so in 1937 a law was passed where women had to do a 'Duty Year'.This meant that they could work 'patriotically' in a factory or other labour workplace to help the Nazi's "Economic Miracle"; meanwhile in 1937 the marriage loan was also abolished to help boost the economy. To conclude, Nazi policies towards women were successful to an extent, because some German women (non professional and non academic) were positive about the changes made as they enjoyed the status of motherhood and the domestic role; also the divorce rate decreased.
However, the birth rate only rose slightly from 970,000 in 1933 to 1, 413, 00 in 1939 and Nazi sterilization polices reduced the potential growth of the population.
