Women in Nazi Germany

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specific element of its propaganda. Women chose to vote NSDAP for the same reasons men voted for the party – out of self-interest, out of a belief that the party best represented their own idea of what German society should be, even if they may have disagreed with the party's stand on individual issues. The larger increase in the share of women's votes than in that of men's votes cast for the NSDAP from 1928 owes much to the party's growing prominence and respectability, as the party's dynamism, the contrast of its young leadership with the elder statesmen of the other parties, its growing strength, the disintegration of the liberal and local, conservative parties and the general disillusionment and dissatisfaction with what the Republic had brought or failed to bring all contributed to the reasons why German men and women turned to the NSDAP...Because of the preponderance of women in the electorate, the NSDAP received more votes from women than from men in some areas before 1932 and throughout the Reich in 1932. Claims that Hitler and his party held no attraction from women voters and that the NSDAP benefitted little from female suffrage cannot, therefore, be maintained. Historian Wendy Lower makes it clear that while "Women were not a majority of those who voted for Hitler...In the presidential election of March 1932...26.5% for Hitler. In the 1931 September elections, 3 million women voted for NSDAP candidates, almost half of the total of 6.5 million votes cast for the NSDAP." In terms of voting patterns however, a higher proportion of male voters supported the Nazi party compared to female voters.

2634:. They had to meet certain physical criteria determined by the regime: they must be aged 17 to 30 years and measure more than 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) tall, while over the long term, the enrollment criteria were relaxed (the age limit was raised to 40 years and minimum height dropped to 1.58 metres); they even accepted 15 Muslim students. Having been in a privileged status, war widows were favoured before the admissions were opened up to other social classes. Women enrolled at the Reichsschule-SS came from various economic, class and educational backgrounds and included a member of the aristocracy in the ranks, Princess Ingeborg Alix. The Reichsschule-SS appealed to female Nazi ideologues who foresaw the possibility of social ascent by becoming an SS-Helferin, and candidates were often from families with other SS and NSDAP members. It has been noted by historians that "some SS-Helferinnen knew about the persecution of those whom the Nazis deemed to be worthless; Hermine S., who worked as an administrator at Auschwitz, stated that she knew the word Sonderbehandlung meant the gassing of prisoners." In her review of Jutta Muhlenberg's book, 2959: 3212: 3231: 3345: 3178: 3290: 1449: 3272: 3193: 2006: 2509: 1630: 1574: 3250: 3325: 2137:. Nazi propaganda published pamphlets that enjoined all German women to avoid sexual relations with all foreign workers brought to Germany as a danger to their blood. German women accused of racial defilement were paraded through the streets with a shaved head and placard around her neck detailing her crime. Those convicted were sent to a concentration camp. When Himmler reportedly asked Hitler what the punishment should be for German girls and German women who have been found guilty of race defilement with prisoners of war (POWs) he ordered "every POW who has relations with a German girl or a German would be shot" and the German woman should be publicly humiliated by "having her 2417: 2205: 1866: 3364: 3379: 2582: 3306: 3394: 2643:

had individual responsibility over what she did, saw and knew, and it would be very difficult to identify the individual responsibilities of each SS-Helferin. Mühlenberg focuses on de-Nazification in the American sector, although the British zone is also discussed. A detailed report was drawn up by the Americans about the school, indicating how the women of the school should be dealt with; they were to be automatically detained... Mühlenberg concludes that the guilt of the former SS-Helferinnen lies in their voluntary participation in the bureaucratic apparatus of the SS.

3498:, "Can’t he understand it if a soldier who has crossed thousands of kilometers through blood and fire and death has fun with a woman or takes some trifle?" Many German women died in the midst of such trifles, their husbands and families suffering immeasurable grief along with them, and some of them chose to take their own lives in lieu of being raped. Even when not raped, women hid in apartments, cellars, and closets for fear of being violated, experiencing hunger, fear, and loneliness which left psychological scars for years to come. For more background see: 1829:

believing that they were obtaining an "acceptable arrangement", as they were accustomed to do under a patriarchal system. With respect to the widespread tendency to underestimate the threat that the regime presented, the historian Claudia Koonz highlights the popular proverb of the era: "The soup is never eaten as hot as it is cooked". Women who were the most resolute in their opposition either set their sights on emigration, or, if they took an active stance, risked being arrested and interned, and possibly executed, the same as male opponents of the regime.

1716:

and grace. For me, it is a catastrophe that we other poor male fools – I speak generally, because this does not mean you directly, we want to make women an instrument of logical thought, to educate them in everything possible, that we want to masculinize with time the difference between the sexes, the polarity will disappear. The path to homosexuality is not far. We must be very clear. The movement, the ideology cannot be sustained if it is worn by women, because man conceives of everything through the mind, whereas women grasp everything through sentiment.

2380:"played no political role and did not oppose the loss of hard-won women's rights. It defended the role of the mother of the family at home, conscious of their duties at the heart of the community. Provided, containing women within the private sphere does not hide their responsibilities under the Third Reich; we know today that the Frauenbewegung (women's movement) thought the place of a woman in society was at the heart of a community that excluded Jews and performed a civilizing mission in occupied Eastern Europe to preserve the race". 34: 1983:) proclaimed that women "painted and powdered were forbidden at all meetings of the NSBO. Women who smoke in public – in hotels, cafés, in the street and so on – will be excluded from NSBO". Activities considered traditional were encouraged only in appropriate places: music, manual labour, gymnastics. Sexuality was banned, unless for a reproductive goal; liberated young women were considered "depraved" and "antisocial". Mothers were encouraged to have children, and the "Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter" (in English: 3526:, who was involved with the first historians to highlight this issue, by asking women during the Nazi era. In 1984, in "When Biology Became Destiny, Women in Weimar and Nazi Germany", she wrote that women who are enslaved economically and morally, cannot exercise their freedom by being confined in the home and placed under the rule of their husbands. Thus, we associate studies on the subject during the 1980s mainly with perceptions that women were victims of "machismo" and a "misogynist" 1958:) was so highly organized indicates that women did not have the same status as they did in the nineteenth century. The new regime would have appealed to a conservative electorate and a fringe part of the population very critical of the image of the emancipated woman from the 1920s. But the goals were now different, asking each woman to take part in the building of the "Reich of 1000 years". Female liberation found itself therefore necessarily limited, with Heide Schlüpmann stating in 1995: 2286: 3653: 6851: 3625: 3639: 3537:, in "Mothers in Fatherland, Women, the Family and Nazi Politics" questioned this statement and acknowledged some guilt. She states as follows: "Far from being impressionable or innocent, women made possible State murder in the name of interests that they defined as maternal." For her, the containing of housewives just allowed them to assert themselves and grasp an identity, especially through women's associations led by Nazi 1588: 2305:(NSF) existed, the political organization for Nazi women, that sought above all to promote the ideal of the model woman of Nazi Germany; at its foundation, it was responsible for training in housekeeping. Young women joined when they were 15 years old. On 31 December 1932, the NSF counted 109,320 members. In 1938, it had 2 million, corresponding to 40% of the total number of party members. The NSF was directed by 1789:

some were recalled to work; also dissolved was the Association of Medical Women, which was absorbed into its male counterpart. Under the Weimar Republic, only 1% of university posts were filled by women. On June 8, 1937, a decree stipulated that only men could be named to these posts, if it was not in a social field. Nonetheless, on February 21, 1938 " in an individual and exceptional capacity " following lobbying by

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war. Just as the agency of women in history more generally is under-appreciated, here too – and perhaps even more problematically, given the legal and moral implications –the agency of women in the crimes of the Third Reich has not been fully elaborated and explained. Vast numbers of ordinary German women were not victims, and routine forms of female participation in the Holocaust have not yet been disclosed.

1991:, access to services was quickly prohibited, and in 1935, the medical profession became obliged to report stillbirths to the Regional Office for State Health, who would further investigate the loss of a child. In 1943 the ministers of the Interior and Justice enacted the law "Protection of Marriage, Family and Motherhood", which made provisions for the death penalty for mothers convicted of infanticide. 2615:, see next section). There was an internal hierarchy in the women's wing of the SS, which had no influence on the male troops, although the titles designated to the women sometimes had an influence upon the owners. However, whereas female camp guards were civilian employees of the SS, the SS-Helferinnen who completed training at the Reich-school in Obernai (Oberehnheim) were members of the Waffen-SS. 2034:) archetype as the ideal physical appearance: women were to be blonde, blue-eyed, beautiful, tall, thin and robust all at once. This image was spread as much through advertising as through official art, then through ancient art, and more specifically through Greco-Roman statues. Academic Monique Moser-Verrey notes: "a revival, during the course of the Thirties, of mythological themes such as the 1626:, businesses and government had an increasing need for labour; although work became a route to emancipation for women, they were often restricted to clerical work as secretaries or sales staff, where they were generally paid 10 to 20% less than male employees, under various pretexts, such as the claim that their understanding of domestic tasks freed them from certain household expenses. 2864: 1825:); she then left for the Netherlands, and then Sweden. In the scientific field, there were almost no nominations of women; in 1942, a woman was not permitted to direct a scientific institute, despite the fact that no male candidate had applied. The exile of women from political life was total: they could not sit in either the Reichstag, the regional parliaments or municipal councils. 2064:. However, Nazi officials also did not want to hinder the German clothing or fashion industries from making profits, as the government also sought to create a consumerist society based for the most part on German domestic products. These differences in goals often led to disparities in what was considered fashionable, nationalistic, and politically correct for women in Nazi Germany. 2309:, who had the title of Reichsführerin; she called the members "my daughters" and acquired a strong influence over them and a certain credibility. Her views on women were obviously in agreement with those of Adolf Hitler, but she still defended access to some positions of responsibility. She did not participate in major meetings of the party but was invited to the party congress. 3541:. They therefore helped to stabilize the system. The women took pleasure in politics and eugenics of the state, which promised financial assistance if the birth rate was high, so they would help to stabilize the system "by preserving the illusion of love in an environment of hate." In addition, if Gisela Bock denounced the work of her colleague as "anti-feminist", others as 1479:(NSDAP), which promoted exclusion of women from the political and academic life of Germany as well as its executive body and executive committees. On the other hand, whether through sheer numbers, lack of local organization, or both, many German women did indeed become Nazi Party members. In spite of this, the Nazi regime officially encouraged and pressured women to fill 3560:

the orders, answered the telephones, and sent the telegrams. Female administrators had the opportunity to question their orders and find out more about the Holocaust, but generally, they did not. They had some awareness of the Holocaust, and did nothing. Many recalled their time working for the Third Reich with fondness and nostalgia." Recent work from historian

2666: 2050:. The heroines of women's novels during this period are often a strong and tenacious type of woman, while the sons and husbands are quickly delivered to death. Everything happens as if one perceives through these fictions a true antagonism between the sexes generated by the constant mobilisation of these two groups independent of one another. 1520:

chores such as cleaning and cooking. Women had a limited right to training of any kind; such training usually revolved around domestic tasks. Over time, Nazi-era German women were restricted from teaching in universities, working as medical professionals, and serving in political positions within the NSDAP. With the exception of

3511: 2483:"What use are beauty salons that encourage a cult of beauty and that takes up an enormous amount of our time and energy? They are wonderful during times of peace, but are a waste of time in a time of war. Our wives and our daughters will be able to welcome our victorious soldiers without their beautiful peacetime adornments." 2486:"It is why we hire men that do not work in the war economy and women do not work at all. They cannot and will not ignore our request. The duties of women are huge. This is not to say that only those included in the law can work. All are welcome. The more who join the war effort, the more we free up soldiers for the front." 2974:

protested in 1933 against the appointment of Adolf Hitler as chancellor and managed to get information to foreign governments about the rearmament of Germany. In 1935 she was arrested, sentenced to death two years later and executed in 1938. She was the first German mother to suffer the death penalty

2642:

Mühlenberg is very careful not to generalise and tar all the SS-Helferinnen with the same brush. Although all these women were a part of the bureaucratic staff, and were ‘Mittäterinnen, Zuschauerinnen und zum Teil – auch Zeuginnen von Gewalttätigkeiten’ (p. 416), she notes that each woman still

2499:

The mobilisation of women in the war economy always remained limited: the number of women practising a professional activity in 1944 was virtually unchanged from 1939, being about 15 million women, in contrast to Great Britain, so that the use of women did not progress and only 1,200,000 of them

2361:

One more thing shall you children learn from the long history that I have told you about Adolf Hitler: You, Fritz and Hermann, must only be German boys who fill their place in the Hitler Youth, and later become capable and courageous German men so that you will be worthy to have Adolf Hitler for your

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and another in 1942 in Luxembourg. These institutions did not have a purpose of enabling women to re-enter political life but of endowing the best with the cultural baggage required to occupy posts related to the management of women's affairs. This concerned a very small minority. However, on June 5,

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fashion to be "French-Dominated" and "severely Jewish." Additionally, the Nazi Party was strictly against the Flapper style because they felt it masculinized women and created an immoral ideal. The desire to abolish 1920s fashion in Nazi Germany was consistent with Nazi propaganda which was insistent

1756:

In 1933, school programmes for girls were changed, notably with the goal of discouraging them from pursuing university studies. The five years of Latin classes and three years of science were replaced by courses in German language and domestic skills training. This did not bear productive results; on

1747:

points out that "this offensive offered the double advantage of pleasing their male colleagues worried by this competition, and returned to private life more than 100,000 people proud of their success, the majority of whom were voters who supported the political left". This policy created worry among

1715:

On the whole, in my view, we have too much masculinized our life, to the point that we are militarizing impossible things For me, it is a catastrophe that women's organizations, women's communities and women's societies intervene in a domain that destroys all feminine charm, all the feminine majesty

2953:

If we can say that, among the persecuted minorities, women are more often spared than men, it is their low status in a society dominated by men that did not make them sizeable enemies of the regime, however, it is they who understood the need to hide or flee before their misled spouses, whose social

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on September 13, 1936: "We possess a generation of healthy men – and we, National Socialists, are going to watch – Germany will not form any section of women grenade throwers or any corps of women elite snipers." Therefore, women were not assigned to combat units during the war, but were regarded as

2353:

Noch eines sollt ihr Kinder lernen aus der langen Geschichte, die ich euch von Adolf Hitler erzählt habe: Ihr, Fritz und Hermann, müßt erst ganze deutsche Jungen werden, die in der HJ ihren Platz ausfüllen, und später tüchtige und mutige deutsche Männer, damit ihr es auch wert seid, daß Adolf Hitler

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writes that, "The key merit of this monograph is that it makes visible the women who ultimately allowed the Holocaust to occur: as the author notes, while these women did not execute orders for the persecution of Jews themselves, the genocide could not have been accomplished without those who typed

3493:

What Solzhenitsyn's poem also reveals is the penchant for revenge the Red Army exacted upon Germany, a recompense promulgated by Soviet leaders. Soviet troops were given a certain degree of license in the early victories in repulsing the Germans, as even Josef Stalin expressed outright indifference

1680:

In regards to the role played by women voters in Hitler's rise to power, Helen Boak notes that the "NSDAP had been gaining proportionately more support from women than from men from 1928 onwards, not because of any concerted effort on its part nor because of its leader's charisma nor because of one

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shows, the physical performance demanded was sometimes the same as those of the boys (for example, to run 60 meters in less than 12 seconds). Every Wednesday evening, for girls from 15 to 20 years old, the "home parties" took place, for discussing art and culture. Vacation camps, held for one week

1828:

There was no substantial resistance to this control. The bourgeois women's associations reasoned, as did many others, that the Nazi government was a vulgar phenomenon that would soon fade, and that through their participation they could still exert some influence. They thus deluded themselves into

1700:

stating "women adore Hitler "; he was described as adapting his speeches to "the tastes of women who, since the beginning, count among his most fervent admirers". Women were also sometimes instrumental in bringing their husbands into the Nazi political fold, thus contributing to the recruitment of

1519:

The ideal woman in Nazi Germany did not have a career outside her home. Instead, she was a good wife (however her husband defined that), a careful and conscientious mother (taking special care to raise her children in accordance with Nazi philosophies and ideals), and skilled at doing all domestic

3568:

The entire population of German women (almost forty million in 1939) cannot be considered a victim group. One-third of the female population, thirteen million women, were actively engaged in a Nazi Party organisation, and female membership in the Nazi Party increased steadily until the end of the

2372:

Housekeeping training was promoted through Frauenwerk (German Women's Work), which opened thematic courses for "ethnically pure" women. It is notable, however, that although there were numerous courses for domestic training, gymnastics and music, they deserted those oriented towards antireligious

1788:

In 1936, a law was passed banning certain high-level positions in the judicial system to women (notably judge and prosecutor, through Hitler's personal intervention) and the medical field. Female doctors were no longer allowed to practice, until their loss had a harmful effect on health needs and

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from 1920 to 1933 and even presided over the assembly in the role of Dean. But Weimar did not represent a huge leap forward for women's liberation. Women remained under-represented in the parliament; motherhood continued to be promoted as women's most important social function; abortion was still

1760:

Some women's associations, notably communist and socialist groups were banned, and in some rare cases members were arrested or assassinated. All associations were requested to turn in Jewish members, such as the Union of Protestant Women, the Association of Household and Countryside, the Women's

1704:

In a society that was beginning to consider women as men's equals, Nazi policies constituted a setback, forcing women from political life. The Nazis' policies pertaining to women were one aspect of their efforts to stem what they viewed as the decadence of the Weimar Republic. In their eyes, the

2093:

The compulsory education for girls was not neglected and boys and girls were placed on the same footing at schools. Girls were encouraged to pursue secondary education but university courses were closed to them. Beginning in 1935 they were required to fulfill a work period of six months for the

1848:

Noticing the need for women in certain professions and their usefulness in the country's economy, the anti-emancipation policy in terms of the workforce was rapidly blunted. Women were otherwise invited to adhere to Nazism and reassured with the idea that they could be a mother and be employed,

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tended to see them as additional victims of Nazi oppression. However, during the late 20th century, historians began to argue that German women were able to influence the course of the regime and even the war. In addition, these studies found women's experiences during the Nazi regime varied by

2080:

While the Nazi government sought to create a maternal ideal for the Aryan woman, they also sought financial gain from the textile industry. While Hitler urged women to buy more products, he stipulated that women must only consume German products. The creation of the German Fashion Institute

2715:. Coming mostly from lower- or middle-class social origins, they previously worked in traditional professions (hairdresser, teacher, for example) but were, in contrast to men who were required to fulfill military service, driven by a sincere desire to reach the female wing of the SS, the 1692:, does not confer equal rights at all, but constitutes the deprivation of rights, since they draw women into a zone where they can only be inferior. It places women in situations where they cannot strengthen their position with regard to men and with society – but it only weakens them. 2948:

In addition to the resistors forced into their commitment because of their risk of being deported and exterminated because of their race, some were also committed against the German Nazi regime. Women represented approximately 15% of the Resistance. Monique Moser-Verrey notes however:

2111:

The Jungmädel (young girl) must know a) the date and place of the birth of the Führer, and be able to recount his life. b) She is capable of recounting the history of the movement and the struggle of the SA and the Hitler Youth. c) She knows the living collaborators of the Führer."

1656:'s attaining power as Chancellor marked the end of numerous women's rights, even though Hitler had succeeded in his social rise in part thanks to the protection of influential women and female voters. Hitler's socializing within affluent circles, and with socialites such as Princess 1926:

This was anti-feminism in the sense that the Nazis considered political rights granted to women (access to high-level positions for example) as incompatible with the nature of reproduction, the only role within which they could blossom and best serve the interests of the nation.

2630:. The SS-Helferinnenkorps has also been termed by historians as the 'SS-Frauenkorps'. 7,900 women were employed in the clerical unit of the SS, the SS Frauenkorps, and 10,000 as SS auxiliaries or Helferinnen. The training was more difficult than that for women enrolled in the 2201:, a conservative politician, threatened to cut grants to the second school, if it did not become a simple internship for adolescents, rejecting all political education for girls. Adolf Hitler decided otherwise on June 24, 1943, promising the construction of three new Napola. 2151:

writes about such cases of German women being found guilty of sexual relations with prisoners of war and foreigner workers. One case in March 1941 was of a married woman who had an affair with a French prisoner of war had her head shaved and was marched through the town of

1757:

the one hand, a significant number of girls enrolled in boys' schools, while on the other hand, the " enrollment restrictions " of 10% at the university level were generally ignored. Thus, the measures only decreased the enrollment in medical schools from 20% to 17%.

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significant new sources of financing. For example, Gertrud von Seidlitz, a widow of a noble family, donated 30,000 marks to the party in 1923; and Helene Bechstein, who had an estate on the Obersalzberg, facilitated Hitler's acquisition of the property Wachenfeld.

1612:

of January 19, 1919 proclaimed their right to vote (articles 17 and 22), equality of the sexes in civic matters (art. 109), non-discrimination against female bureaucrats. (art. 128), maternity rights (art. 19) and spousal equality within marriage (art. 119).

3211: 2059:

Fashion for women in Nazi Germany was problematic for Nazi officials. The Nazi government wanted to propagandize the "Aryan" woman. In various posters and other forms of media, this ideal Nazi woman was strong, fertile, and wore historically traditional

3472:("Rubble Women") participated in the rebuilding of Germany by clearing up the ruins resulting from the war. In the Soviet occupation zone, more than two million women were victims of rape. One of them would publish a memoir recalling this experience: 2492:"Especially for you women, do you want the government to do everything in its power to encourage German women to put all their strength into supporting the war effort, and to let me leave for the front when possible, helping the men at the front?" 2703:. They were guards, secretaries or nurses. They arrived before the start of the war, some of them being trained from 1938 in Lichtenburg. This took place due to the need for personnel following the growing number of political prisoners after the 2067:

However, although there was disagreement over how to ideally fashion German "Aryan" women, anti-Semitic, anti-American, and anti-French Nazi rhetoric played a key part in molding German women's fashion ideology. The Nazis severely criticized the

2920:, during the night of August 15 to 16, 1943. On October 7, 1944, members of the Sonderkommando, 250 prisoners responsible for the bodies of persons after gassing, rose up; they had procured explosives stolen by a Kommando of young Jewish women ( 2908:

In concentration camps, women were considered weaker than men, and they were generally sent to the gas chambers more quickly, whereas the strength of men was used to work the men to exhaustion. Some women were subjected to medical experiments.

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auxiliary military personnel, responsible for logistical and administrative duties in the areas understaffed due to the number of men sent into combat. Other women also worked in factories or in military education. Military members of the

3573:

Such realities make it abundantly clear that by the time the war ended, German women had traversed the full-circle of being once sheltered incubators for the Aryan future to effectual contributors in the Nazi concentration camp system.

3091:. Magda Goebbels became known by the nickname "First Lady of the Third Reich": she represented the regime during State visits and official events. Her marriage to Goebbels on December 19, 1931, was considered a society event, where 3192: 3482:("A Woman In Berlin"). As the Soviets entered German territory, German women typically had no choice, save suicide, to comply. Age did not matter with victimization crossing the generational strata entirely. Famed Russian author 3230: 2466:

as their assignment. Yet, referring to the decree of January 1943, calling for the mobilization of German women aged 17 to 45, Gertrud Scholtz-Klink from NSDAP said in September of that year at a conference in Bad Schlachen:

3289: 2495:"The great upheavals and crises of national life show us who the real men and women are. We no longer have the right to speak of the weaker sex, since both sexes show the same determination and the same spiritual force." 3052:, a Communist who had left Germany in 1934 and involved from July 1942 with clandestine networks, Deutsch Arbeit (German Labour) and Deutsche-Feldpost (My German countryside), from the School of Military Health in 1974:

The wearing of makeup was generally prohibited, and a certain modesty was demanded of women, contrasting with the Weimar Republic period, which experienced more freedom on a moral level. In 1933, meetings of the

2388:

During the Second World War, temporarily contradicting their past claims, the Nazis changed policy and allowed women to join the German army. Adolf Hitler had already affirmed in a speech to activists of the

3521:

The question of the culpability of the German people in their support of Nazism has long overshadowed the women, who had little political power under the regime. Thus, as explained by the German historian

2536:), as auxiliary personnel of the army (Behelfspersonal) and they were assigned to duties not only within the heart of the German Reich, but also within the German-occupied territories, for example in the 2412:

We often hear, even from the women, the most diverse objections against work in arms factories. The question of knowing whether we can require such work of this or that particular woman is now well past.

2730:

camps beginning in 1942. The following year, the Nazis began the conscription of women because of the shortage of guards. Later, during the war, women were also assigned on a smaller scale in the camps

2354:

euer Führer ist. Du Gertrud, mußt ein rechtes deutsches Mädel sein, ein richtiges BDM-Mädel und später eine rechte deutsche Frau und Mutter, damit auch du dem Führer jederzeit in die Augen sehen kannst.

6711: 2256: 1720:

5,000 to 6,000 women , because they preserve emotionally the ancient wisdom and ancient teachings, and because, emotionally, they do not let go, whereas men, they are logically and rationally disposed.

3271: 3249: 2889:, women belonging to these communities were equally discriminated against, then deported and for some exterminated. In many concentration camps there were sections for female detainees (notably at 3564:(consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum), demonstrates that a substantial number of women were accomplices to Nazi atrocities, and sometimes direct participants. Lower writes: 1705:

Weimar regime, which they perceived as having a Jewish character, in effect appeared as feminized, as well as tolerant of homosexuality – the veritable antithesis of German virility.

1950:, in that rather than being sidelined in society, women were expected to participate at a foundational level in the roles of mother and spouse. Indeed, the fact that the mobilisation of women ( 1641:

justified this position by explaining that "it is necessary to leave to men that which belongs to men ". Germany went from having 37 female Members of Parliament out of 577, to none, after the

2618:

The SS-Helferinnen were trained at the Reichsschule-SS at Oberehnheim in Alsace. The Reichsschule-SS (in full, the Reichsschule für SS Helferinnen Oberenheim) was the training centre for the

3177: 2532:. About half of them were volunteers, the others performing obligatory service connected to the war effort (Kriegshilfsdienst). They took part, under the same authority as prisoners of war ( 1895:) and should mirror its ideals: racially pure and physically robust. She should not work outside of the home, and should be devoted to motherhood, following the slogan of the former emperor 3344: 1805:, another mathematician, was terminated from her post by virtue of the "German law for the Restoration of the Public Service" of April 7, 1933, for having been active in the 1920s in the 1696:

The fact that Hitler was unmarried and that he represented a masculine ideal for many Germans led to his erotisation in the public imagination. In April 1923, an article appeared in the

2958: 2167:" Another case was Dora von Calbitz who in September 1940 was found guilty of having sexual relations with a Pole. She had her head shaved and was placed in the pillory of her town of 146: 3071:

are women. While many of them acted in cooperation with other family members, some of these courageous women were the initiators of the rescue and acted independently to save Jews.

2134: 2301:, but newcomers to the party were only admitted if they were "useful" (nurses or cooks for example). They numbered 5% of women in 1933 and 17% in 1937. But since October 1931 the 2103:. Adolf Hitler declared, on April 12, 1942, that the schools of the Reich must gather "boys and girls from all classes" to meet "all the youth of the Reich". The education manual 3305: 2901:, opened in May 1939, distinguished itself as a camp solely for women, by 1945 numbering about 100,000 prisoners. The first women's concentration camp had been opened in 1933 in 3583: 3079:

Although women did not have political power in Nazi Germany, a circle of influence did exist around Adolf Hitler. Within this circle, Hitler became acquainted with the British

5074:

Bericht über den befohlenen Abmarsch aus Oberehnheim, SS-Helferinnenschule, Mielck, 17.12.1944, BArch, NS 32 II/15, Bl. 3/4, hier Bl. 4. Cited from: Mühlenberg, Jutta (2011).

1987:) was created for mothers having more than four children. A "German Mothers' Day" was also created, and in 1939, three million mothers were decorated on that day. Concerning 1761:

German Colonial Society Union and the Union of Queen Louise. But rapidly, the majority of the associations disbanded or chose among themselves to disappear, such as the BDF (

1911:

bluntly summarizes the future role of German women: "Take a pot, a dustpan and a broom and marry a man". These ideals were embodied in various Nazi institutions such as the

5674: 2981: 3324: 2232:(BDM), occupied female adolescents from 14 to 18 years. Founded in 1934, the movement was needed after the law of December 1, 1936. It was led from 1934 to 1937 by 5061:

Rachel Century, review of Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949, (review no. 1183);

2500:

worked in the arms industry in 1943, in working conditions that were difficult and often poorly treated by their bosses, who deplored their lack of qualification.

2366:. You Gertrude, must be a proper German girl, a real BDM girl and later a proper German wife and mother, so that you also are able to look the Führer in the eyes. 5027:

Rachel Century, review of Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949, (review no. 1183)

3033:, Bishop of Munster, as well as helping Jews escape to abroad. She was executed on 5 August 1943. The successful protests of women can also be noted, called the 3542: 90: 3060:

attempted in 1933 to galvanize British public opinion against the Nazi regime. She returned to Germany during the war but was executed at the bend of a road.

2042:

Yet it is striking that the image of women projected by women's literature of the 1930s is clearly contrary to traditional views of sweet housewife spread by

5553: 2424:(May 1942 issue) states: "bringing all the enthusiasm and life force of their youth, our young daughters of the Work Service make their contribution in the 1737: 5415:

Mouton, Michelle (Summer 2010). "From Adventure and Advancement to Derailment and Demotion: Effects of Nazi Gender Policies on Women's Careers and Lives".

5217: 4330: 1637:

While most of the other parties under the Weimar Republic ran female candidates during elections (and some were elected), the Nazi party did not. In 1933,

1765:), established in 1894 and which disbanded in 1933 to avoid being controlled. Only one women's association persisted under the regime (the association of 1622:

prosecutable (§ 218 of the Criminal Code); and female workers did not achieve substantial economic progress such as equal salaries. With the emergence of

5911: 2264: 3552:

refuse to stop at a strict choice between complicity and oppression and are more interested in how Nazism included women in their project for Germany.

3123:. Hitler did not forget that he owed part of his political ascension to women integrated in the society world (aristocrats or industrialists), such as 2153: 1435: 4415:

Makela, Maria (2004). "The Rise and Fall of the Flapper Dress: Nationalism and AntiSemitism in Early-Twentieth-Century Discourses on German Fashion".

2929: 5563: 2313: 2458:, for whom such work was compulsory. Adolescent girls were employed in the Brandebourg Market for the agricultural work program. They were active 6878: 6645: 2133:. During the war, repeated efforts were made to propagate Volkstum ("racial consciousness"), to prevent sexual relations between Germans and any 5761: 4941:"Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949 | Reviews in History" 2471:

The educated women in the women's league and made available to the Wehrmacht not only have to type and work, but also be soldiers of the Führer.

1943:. If a German girl must choose between marriage or a career, she will always be encouraged to marry, because that is what is best for a woman". 6626: 4117: 2925: 2489:"For years, millions of German women have worked with brio in war production and they patiently wait to be joined and assisted by other women." 2243: 1806: 2611:. They were in charge of auxiliary transmissions (telephone, radio operators, stenographers) in the SS and sometimes in camps (these were the 5669: 2272: 1748:

the militants in the NSDAP, who were concerned that it would harm the number of female graduates, a reservoir needed for future party ranks.

902: 4617: 5664: 2138: 1976: 1527:, women were not permitted to carry out official functions. However, there were some notable exceptions, either through their proximity to 6638: 1642: 937: 2601:, but in contrast it was only confined to voluntary work in Emergency Service (Notdienstverpflichtung). SS Women belonged either to the 303: 141: 3486:, outraged by finding the body of a small girl murdered following a gang rape, wrote a scathing poem to mark the moment for posterity 2479:

speech delivered on February 18, 1943 at the Berlin Sports Hall, called on German women to work, and to be sober in their commitment:

6616: 3363: 2682: 5302:

Century, Rachel. "Dictating the Holocaust: Female administrators of the Third Reich" (PhD Dissertation, University of London, 2012)

2085:) sought to create a Western high-fashion niche market, creating varying opinions on how fashion and Nazi politics should interact. 1966:, the official film director of the regime, "value quite a negation of female sexuality and only offer women a deceptive autonomy". 1769:, Die Frau, or Woman), until 1944, but placed under the guardianship of the Reich Minister of People's Education and of Propaganda, 6749: 6701: 6304: 4747: 4628:

sfn error: no target: CITEREFPayne,_Stanley_G.A_History_of_Fascism_1914–1945,_1995,_University_of_Wisconsin_Press,_Madison_p._184 (

475: 3393: 2173:

I have been a dishonourable German woman in that I sought and had relations with Poles. By doing that I excluded myself from the

294: 4623: 2561:

in anti-aircraft defense, as operators of listening equipment, operating projectors for anti-aircraft defense, employees within

6716: 1448: 1428: 1362: 398: 151: 2975:

since the beginning of the regime. Twenty women from Düsseldorf, who saw their fathers, brothers and son deported to the camp

5792: 5370: 4629: 4608: 4583: 4558: 4513: 3499: 555: 114: 3378: 6633: 5689: 3695: 3130:

Women were also able to distinguish themselves in certain domains, but they were the exceptions that proved the rule. Thus

2719:. Of the 50,000 total number of guards at all the Nazi camps, there were 5,000 women (approximately 10% of the workforce). 2425: 2390: 1984: 1592: 1546:

The historiography of "ordinary" German women in Nazi Germany has changed significantly over time; studies done just after

587: 6239: 4681:"Von Giftpilzen, Trödeljakobs und Kartoffelkäfern – Antisemitische Hetze in Kinderbüchern während des Nationalsozialismus" 2716: 2594: 2520:

In 1945, there numbered 500,000 women auxiliaries in the Wehrmacht (Wehrmachtshelferinnen), who were at the heart of the

1801:

was able to receive her doctorate, but could not obtain the right to teach and was forced to work for national industry.

1554:

While many women played an influential role at the heart of the Nazi system or filled official posts at the heart of the

654: 3162:, an aviator, distinguished herself with her handling of test aircraft and military projects of the regime, notably the 6672: 5696: 2459: 2444:). He extended the existing laws of the Reich, concerning the protection of minors and of employment standards for the 1810: 3530:. In terms of voting patterns, a higher proportion of male voters supported the Nazi party compared to female voters. 5101: 5076:

Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS, 1942–1949

4910: 4777: 4537: 4484: 4215: 2182:

The education of girls also meant political education; there already existed elite schools of political studies, the

2005: 1821:, was able to remain in her post until 1938, but this was only due to her Austrian nationality, which ended with the 1684:

In 1935, during a speech to the National-Socialist Women's Congress, Hitler declared, with regard to women's rights:

1421: 1357: 5453:

Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949

5342:

Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949

4858:

Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949

4842:

Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949

2813: 2739: 2650:

Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949

2636:

Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949

6883: 5947: 5602: 3588: 2894: 2801: 2781: 2586: 2508: 1629: 104: 54: 5547: 6823: 6001: 5754: 5679: 1573: 907: 827: 649: 444: 5523:

Re-educating German Women: the Work of the Women's Affairs Section of the British Military Government, 1946–1951

5367:

Military or Civilians? The Curious Anomaly of the German Women's Auxiliary Services during the Second World War.

1483:

only. Women were excluded from all other positions of responsibility, including political and academic spheres.

6873: 5684: 4309: 4259: 3961: 3045: 2998: 2817: 2758: 2253:

during Summer, in Germany or abroad, were organized. There also existed a required six-month work service, the

364: 200: 3119:

of the SS and permitted her free access to the concentration camps, which she went to regularly, particularly

6169: 6139: 6127: 4665: 2805: 2789: 2777: 2732: 2327:, which was widely published, and promoting the driving role of the German mother in building the regime, or 2213: 2129:(racial defilement), which was treated with particular importance for young females in order to preserve the 1543:. Many restrictions on women were lifted once wartime necessity required policy changes later in the regime. 1107: 674: 6691: 5942: 4624:

Payne, Stanley G. & A History of Fascism 1914–1945, 1995, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison p. 184

3134:

was the official film director of the regime and was given enormous funding for her cinematic productions (

1342: 577: 495: 470: 403: 5575: 2416: 6438: 3064: 2750: 2727: 1762: 1618: 1559: 572: 210: 6473: 1865: 6652: 6538: 6159: 5906: 5749: 4860:(Oxford University Press: Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Volume 30, Issue 1, Spring 2016) pp. 144–146. 2762: 2204: 1367: 957: 5957: 4643: 3752:

Sharman, Fiona. "How has the historical representation of women in Nazi Germany changed since 1933?."

2116:

It was also required that they know the geography of Germany, its hymns as well as the clauses of the

6582: 5381: 3120: 3006: 2785: 2198: 745: 75: 3533:

However, the simplicity of this analysis tends to disappear with recent studies. In 1987, historian

1490:, and is equally distinguishable from the mostly male-dominated and conservative attitude under the 6795: 6739: 6523: 6509: 6039: 5952: 5876: 5802: 5778: 5744: 5303: 2848: 2692: 2581: 2069: 1920: 1555: 1486:

The policies contrasted starkly with the evolution of women's rights and gender equality under the

1197: 891: 220: 185: 6443: 4788: 3982: 1900: 1854: 6790: 6744: 6696: 6498: 3666: 3547: 2994: 2631: 2521: 2433: 1563: 33: 3870:, The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 48, No. 1, On Demand Supplement (Mar., 1976), pp. 123–175. 2269:(for the war effort). For young women aged 18 to 25 years old wishing to find work, in 1938 the 2227: 1951: 1497: 6562: 6383: 6244: 6072: 5921: 5659: 3483: 3459: 2820:. Many supervisors worked in the sub-camps in Germany and some in Poland, France, Austria, and 2603: 2446: 2010: 1818: 1494:. The regimentation of women at the heart of satellite organizations of the Nazi Party, as the 550: 235: 225: 161: 4900: 3494:

towards rape. An example is discernible in what Stalin once asked Yugoslav's communist leader

1946:

These ideals differed to the conservative and patriarchal norms that had prevailed during the

1742: 6595: 6234: 6184: 6179: 4207: 3538: 3400: 3330: 3155: 2405: 2306: 1980: 1932: 1896: 1790: 1524: 1387: 1332: 1262: 1242: 1227: 1097: 619: 582: 490: 354: 190: 5542: 4995: 4234: 6828: 6721: 6611: 6393: 5797: 5595: 5007: 3034: 2117: 1999: 1916: 1778: 1579: 1272: 1267: 1212: 1162: 1147: 1032: 922: 872: 752: 313: 274: 109: 99: 85: 6227: 6222: 2312:

School textbooks were edited beginning in 1934, often under the supervision of the doctor

8: 6768: 6601: 6013: 5982: 5817: 5404: 5318:

What Difference Does a Husband Make? Women and Marital Status in Nazi and Postwar Germany

4992:

German Women during the Third Reich: The Evolution of the Image of the Female Perpetrator

3722: 3476: 3142: 3136: 2158: 2096: 1998:

Statues of the ideal female body in the streets of Berlin, raised on the occasion of the

1988: 1936: 1912: 1833: 1609: 1377: 1307: 1237: 1112: 1087: 1067: 1047: 927: 802: 792: 669: 500: 422: 415: 410: 325: 230: 215: 175: 136: 5994: 5146: