Women in Nazi Germany

1. Women in Nazi
Germany

2. Women in Nazi Germany
Today we are developing our knowledge and understanding of the role of women
in Nazi Germany.
By the end of today’s lesson I should be able to:
1) Describe at least three Nazi policies aimed at Women.
2) Explain how each policy affected women in Nazi Germany.
Today’s lesson involves:
1) Class discussion
2) Note taking

3. ‘For a woman, her world is her
husband, her family, her children
and her home’ – Adolf Hitler
Write down an answer to the following question.
What does this quote tell you about the Nazi view of women?

4. Women in Nazi Germany
• The Nazi dictatorship introduced various policies
aimed at ‘improving’ the lives of women in
Germany.
• Women were given limited opportunities in life
instead they were designed to focus on the three
K’s (Kinder, Kuche & Kirche)
Do you think suggests that the Nazis value the
role of women in society?

5. The Changing 20’s
• The 1920’s saw an expansion in women’s
rights. With women across Europe gaining
the right to vote, including in Germany.
• They also were more likely to hold jobs and
make their own income.
• Hitler and the Nazis were not in favour of
this, instead they wanted to reverse many
of these changes to fit in with traditional
Nazi beliefs.

6. Life as a Woman in Nazi Germany
• Despite the ‘strong-man’ image of the Nazi Party, women were
generally more likely to vote Nazi than men.
• This is due to a host of reasons such as propaganda and Nazi
women’s groups such as the National Socialists Women’s League.
• Nazi Germany however was an extremely sexist place with women
having little opportunities with the Nazi’s holding the belief that a
woman’s place is at home with her husband and children.
• Employment and education were not seen as priorities for women so
many did not have jobs or went to college/university. Women’s
places at university were limited to 10% and many did only learned
‘home’ skills at school.

7. National Socialist Women’s League
The National Socialist Women’s League was the female wing of the Nazi
Party that was founded in 1931.
By 1938 their membership totalled 2 million which was around 40% of
all Nazi party members.
The first speaker or leader of the National Socialist Women’s League
was a woman called Guida Dheil.

8. Task 1
Take a new double page in your jotter and write the following in the
middle of your jotter.
Nazi policies
for women

9. Lebensborn
• One Nazi policy was Lebensborn to counter falling German birth rates.
• This was a Nazi programme that ‘encouraged’ young, healthy German
women to have children with SS Officers.
• But there was a catch, the SS Officer had very little to do with the child
afterwards.
• Lebensborn also included many Government sponsored maternity homes to
allow the young children to go to ‘racially pure’ couples.
Why do you think the Nazis
came up with this policy?
Was this policy fair?

10. Mother’s Cross Medal
• The Nazi Party wanted to get a higher birth rate so they could create
their racially superior Aryan race.
• The Nazi Party encouraged this using the Mother’s Cross Medal
programme.
• Women who had four or more children received a ‘Mother’s Cross
Medal.’
• If you had 4 children you received a bronze, 6 children was a silver
and 8 or more was a gold.

11. Marriage Loans
• The Nazi’s wanted more marriages so they introduced marriage loans
for the unemployed.
Unless
• You were married to a Jew which was illegal at the time.
Why would the Nazis want to
encourage marriage?

12. Employment
• The Nazis wanted to reduce women’s employment.
• Women were stopped from being civil servants, doctors, lawyers or
judges.
• They were also banned from being members of parliament/Reichstag.
• Women were also banned from being members of a jury.
• However, some women still played a role in Nazi Germany.

13. Impact of Daily Life
• The Nazis also affected everyday life for ordinary women.
• Women were encouraged to wear plain clothes in order not to seem
‘too controversial’.
• Women were also banned from wearing trousers, smoking in public
and wearing make up.
Why do you think the Nazis restricted
women’s lives in such a way?

14. Policies aimed at Jewish Women
• Jewish women were heavily impacted by Nazi
policies.
• They alongside other Jews were forced from their
jobs, prevented from using public transport and
eventually forced to live in poor slum-like areas
known as ‘Ghettos’.
• They also had a ‘all-female’ concentration camp at
Ravensbruck.
• Jewish women were also stripped of citizenship so
they could not marry.
• Adult female Jews had to add ‘Sara’ to official
documents to show that they are Jewish.

15. Discussion Points
Discuss and be prepared to share answers to the following question(s).
Girls only
1) How would you feel being a woman in Nazi Germany?
2) Is there any policy that would be especially struggle with?
Boys only
1) How would you feel about women being treated this way in Nazi Germany?
2) Is there any policy that you think is particularly horrible for women to deal
with?

16. Comprehension Questions
Answer the following comprehension questions and
extension in your jotter, in full detailed sentences.
1) What were the 3 K’s that cemented Nazi views
towards women in 1930’s Germany?
2) In your opinion, what was the most difficult policy
for women to live with? Why?
3) In what way were Jewish women treated differently
from German women?
If finished use your notes to
create two more questions
for someone else in the
class. We will use these next
lesson.

17. How successful were Nazi policies aimed at
women?
Today we are developing our knowledge and understanding of the role of women
in Nazi Germany
By the end of today’s lesson I should be able to:
1) Explain how successful Nazi policies aimed at women were.
2) Attempt a 9 mark question.
Today’s lesson involves:
1) Guided reading
2) 9 mark question

18. How successful were Nazi policies towards
women?
• The Nazi Party introduced many policies aimed at restricting the lives
of women.
• These policies were introduced out of the belief that a woman’s place
is at home so they can raise they next generation of the Aryan race.
• So the question posed is how successful were these policies in action?

19. Task 1
• Every pair has two guided readings in front of them both by historians
with different views.
• They must read the article and answer the questions.
• Extension – Rank the Nazi policies from the most successful to the least
successful.

20. Task 1 – Summary
The Nazi Policies aimed towards women were
successful because…
The Nazi Policies aimed towards women were
unsuccessful because…

21. Reading 1
The Nazi Party introduced many measures to restrict the lives of women in order to create their
racially superior Reich. However despite popular policies such as Lebensborn and the Mother’s
Cross medal Hitler did not achieve his aim of doubling Germany’s population by the outbreak of
war in 1939.
Despite numerous attempts to stop them, women still attended university and work. War
presented Hitler with a challenge on this front to keep women out of the workplace which
ultimately led to women taking jobs in essential industries.
Also this belief that all women supported the Nazi’s policies was wrong. Women formed a huge
part of the resistance against the Nazis senior communist figures such as Judith Auer worked
against Nazi rule until her death in 1944.
For each paragraph write down
Yes/No to whether this suggests
the Nazis were successful or not.
Questions – Use the reading and your own knowledge.
1) Was Hitler’s aim of doubling Germany’s population achieved?
2) What policies did Hitler use to stop women going to work? What
is the author’s view on this?
3) What happened to Judith Auer? Why is this significant?
5) You are now going to debate with your
partner about how successful Nazi Policies
against women were. You must use the
reading to write a speech explaining your
answer with 3 reasons why.

22. Reading 2
The Nazi Party invested heavily in trying to increase the Aryan population of
Germany so much so that Germany had the highest birth rate in Europe
between 1933-1934. This was much larger than the rate in neighbouring
France.
Nazi policies towards women were focused around the idea that women
should be at home, hence why they excluded women from work. By excluding
women from jobs such as members of Parliament the Nazis ensured that
women voices were not heard.
People quite rightly criticise the Nazi policies towards women, but women
heavily supported the Nazi Party more so than men at the beginning, so
although it halted women’s progress for some reason women were
supportive.
For each paragraph write
down Yes/No to whether this
suggests the Nazis were
successful or not.
Questions – Use the reading and your own knowledge.
1) What did Germany have between 1933-1934? Why is this
important?
2) Why did Nazis want to stop women working?
3) Did the policies harm how much women supported the
Nazis? Do you find that surprising.
5) You are now going to debate with
your partner about how successful Nazi
Policies against women were. You must
use the reading to write a speech
explaining your answer with 3 reasons
why.