The Impact of Nazi Policies on the Position and Role of Women in Germany, 1933-39

The Impact of Nazi Policies on the Position and Role of Women in Germany, 1933-39

The Nazi regime aimed to utilize the family for its own needs. Women

were obligated to marry and have children, instead of having their own

personal decisions. The functions of the family were reduced to the

single task of reproduction. They aimed to break the family, and to

place it as a breeding and rearing institution completely in the

service of the totalitarian state.

The main objective of Hitler and the Nazis was to increase population

to help with 'Volksgemeinschaft'. Germany had a declining birth rate,

so they wanted to promote higher birth rates among the Aryan race.

This was another key element of the policies adopted. Women were

encouraged to have as many children as possible, however this was not

acceptable with 'undesirables' like Jews and Black people, only

'Aryans'. The policies used like financial incentives-marriage loans

and birth grants, meant that women were placed better when having

children. Their role was to maintain high birth rates, and their

position and situation was desirable for this role. However all women

did not accept this and many did not gain from the measures taken.

Underpinned in the policy was the fact that it would restrict women to

the home and reduce employment with women, which is what the Nazis

wanted. However this was not the case as there was actually a growth

in female employment from 1933-39. This was very ironic, the Nazis set

out their policies for women to be able to gain from them in having

children, however by having less children and getting jobs, women

still gained as employment levels rose. Not all...

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... for with Nazi

beliefs, but were actually disagreeing with the traditional, rural

beliefs.

From this a mixed picture emerges, some women gained as a result of

the personalised and individualised nature of the evidence. Even

though the Nazi theory and policy were clear, there were significant

contradictions and conflicting issues in practise. The roles issued to

women were self-undermining and had logistical inconsistencies, for

example, they could not have all the men out fighting and women home,

who runs factories etc? These contradictions show some of the irony of

Nazism. Some women felt more valued and appreciate and felt more

stable, whereas others were sterilised, outlawed, and divorced on

spurious grounds. The role and position of women varied between

different groups because of the impact of Nazi Policies.