How did life change for women and families (CH4) Flashcards
What were women granted during the weimar/golden era?
- Equal voting rights
- Accepted in professional jobs (jobs, teachers)
- Freedom to participate in leisure activities
What ‘clear path’ did Hitler have in store for women?
- Wanted women to leave the workplace and not attend higher education
- Wanted woman to marry and have children
- Wanted women to stay at home and care for her child
How did Hitler perceive women?
He considered the female sex as the key to securing a pure Aryan race. They were meant to be traditional, german mothers.
Why did Hitler want women to stay at home and be mothers?
- He wanted to raise more Aryan children
- Needed their jobs for the unemployed men
- Worried about the falling birth rate
Why did Hitler want women to stay at home and be mothers?
- He wanted to raise more Aryan children
- Needed their jobs for the unemployed men
- Worried about the falling birth rate
Describe 5 properties of what an ideal Nazi woman would have been like
- Plain dresses, only aryan-designed and manufactured clothes
- Hair was either in a bun or a braid
- No cosmetics, alcohol or cigarettes
- Has lots of children (at least 4)
- Blonde hair, blue eyes
- Not slim and does not diet
- Encourages her daughters to love motherhood
- Athletic build
- Believes in Nazi ideas
What policies were implemented in regards to fashion and how women dressed?
- French, American and Jewish clothing were prohibited
- Only aryan-designed and manufactured clothes were allowed
- In 1933, ADEFA was established to secure Aryanisation of fashion
- No cosmetics, alcohol or cigarettes
What policies did women have to live by?
- Kinder (children)
- Kuche (kitchen)
- Kirche (church)
What programe was set up for women to volunteer and have a baby with an SS Aryan?
Lebensborn - 20,000 babies were born under this policy
Name 3 rewards/incentives Aryan couples get if they get married
- The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage gave newlyweds a loan of 1,000 and they were allowed to keep 250 marks for each child
- Mothers were rewarded with medals/crosses for every number of children they had
- The Marriage Law of 1938 made divorce easier. Men could divorce and remarry to have more children.
What criteria are applied to marrying?
- Both parents should be a ‘pure-blooded’ German without any jewish blood going back to the 4th generation
- Mothers should be cleared of any criminal or moral offense
- Children should not be born with any hereditary or genetic disorders
What did the Law for Reduction of Employment change
- Encouraged women to stay at home
- Resign from jobs and not study higher education
- Hitler wanted them to stay and care for their child
How did women feel about the rules and expectations? (Successes)
- Most women complied with the Nazi policies
- Women from the working class approved the ‘three Ks’ policy
- They accepted the traditional role as they disapproved the moral decline in the 1920s
How did women feel about the rules and expectations? (Failures)
- Some women (especially manual workers) managed to keep their jobs due to the lack of replacement
- In 1939 there was a shortage of workers so women were, once again, encouraged to go back and work
1920 - work
1933 - don’t work
1939 - work
Did Hitler achieve ‘Volkgesmeinshaft’ for women?
No, not really.
Although he implemented all those policies, birth rates were still low and in 1939 there was a shortage of workers, so women were encouraged to go back and work.
