Women in Nazi Germany
Women in Nazi Germany by Hanan Mahmud
In what ways did the Nazi party impact the role of women during the Third Reich?
Under the Weimar Republic, the status of women was one of the most progressive in Europe. Under the constitution, women had proclaimed the right to vote and were given equality with men. But when the Nazis came to power, all this changed. The Nazis believed that everyone had a role in society and was to be accepted without thought. In Hitler’s mind, for women, it was the lesser role.
The doctrine of the Nazi party was clear and made no secret of its desire to exclude women from the political life of Germany. No women held any high position in Nazi Germany and they were discriminated in the workforce. Although single women were allowed to work, there was a policy allowing married women to be forced out of the workforce and into the home. Women only had a limited right to training revolving around domestic tasks, and were, over time, restricted from teaching in universities, from medical professions and from parliament.
Despite all this, women were still strong supporters of Hitler and his movement. The Nazi woman had to conform to the German society desired by Adolf Hitler (Volksgemeinschaft), racially pure and physically robust. She did not work, living in the cult of motherhood. Women were to be beautiful and to bring children into the world. German women were expected to be homely and weight reduction, slim figures and smoking were discouraged and were considered bad for childbirth.
Since the First World War, the German birth rate had been declining and the Nazis were determined to stop that. The ideal family was one that had four children. These families were considered as kinderreich (rich in children) families and these families gained concessions. According to the source ‘Family’ by Wolf Willrich, the idea families were all pure Aryans and the woman was the core of the family. Before marriage there were strict checks on the racial
In what ways did the Nazi party impact the role of women during the Third Reich?
Under the Weimar Republic, the status of women was one of the most progressive in Europe. Under the constitution, women had proclaimed the right to vote and were given equality with men. But when the Nazis came to power, all this changed. The Nazis believed that everyone had a role in society and was to be accepted without thought. In Hitler’s mind, for women, it was the lesser role.
The doctrine of the Nazi party was clear and made no secret of its desire to exclude women from the political life of Germany. No women held any high position in Nazi Germany and they were discriminated in the workforce. Although single women were allowed to work, there was a policy allowing married women to be forced out of the workforce and into the home. Women only had a limited right to training revolving around domestic tasks, and were, over time, restricted from teaching in universities, from medical professions and from parliament.
Despite all this, women were still strong supporters of Hitler and his movement. The Nazi woman had to conform to the German society desired by Adolf Hitler (Volksgemeinschaft), racially pure and physically robust. She did not work, living in the cult of motherhood. Women were to be beautiful and to bring children into the world. German women were expected to be homely and weight reduction, slim figures and smoking were discouraged and were considered bad for childbirth.
Since the First World War, the German birth rate had been declining and the Nazis were determined to stop that. The ideal family was one that had four children. These families were considered as kinderreich (rich in children) families and these families gained concessions. According to the source ‘Family’ by Wolf Willrich, the idea families were all pure Aryans and the woman was the core of the family. Before marriage there were strict checks on the racial