How successful were Nazi Policies towards women?
By Jahnavi Tomar
In the recent times, women’s liberation and feminism are much talked about and this has generated a great deal of interest amongst the present day society for the position of women under various regimes in the history.
One of the most intriguing aspect of women’s journey across the globe to the present day society is the position of women under Nazi regime and the success of Nazi policies towards women. The situation of women in the Nazi society is an interesting aspect in view of prejudicial policies that the Nazi government adopted towards women and the contribution the women imparted to the society in those difficult times. The Nazi ideology for women was a total reversal to the development and emancipation that was envisioned for women in the Weimar system. The Nazis had a very rigid ideology towards women and the women were enslaved in this ideology . There is little known about the actual position of women in the German society. There are many myths and unsubstantiated bodies of information existing on the subject. In the international context the women during this time were neither better off nor worse off than women in other countries in terms of status and opportunities. In the words of Alice Hamilton, an American doctor, “German women had a long and hard fight in the Weimar republic but they had won a fair measure of equality. During the Nazi times all seems to have lost and there were setbacks perhaps as much as a 100 years ”
During the Nazi time women had to undergo the discrimination under the traditional divisions of class, creed and race. On top of this they were also the discriminated gender. The Nazis believed in the ancient doctrine that man was a worrier and women was a homemaker. All the Nazi policies towards women were guided by this basic attitude towards women. These policies were successful to the extent that it furthered the agenda of the Nazi and are totally reflective of their attitude towards women.
The position of women in marriage and family life.
The Nazi viewed the role for men and women differently. According to them man was essentially productive and women fundamentally reproductive. By the same logic man was considered creative and women were considered imitative. Hence the Nazi policies towards women were targeted to subdue the attributes of independence, intellectual ability or a competitive spirit. On the other hand the Nazi policy encouraged women to be self sacrificial. Following from this the Nazis were ideologically opposed to the employment of women outside their homes.
The Nazis were strong believers of the traditional values and they viewed women as centers of marriage bringing up children to raise the birth rate, with a view to give stability to the society. The Nazis viewed women as instruments of boosting the birth rate. They believed that women were important to enhance the master german race which would occupy and populate new colonies and conquests, hence the Nazis adopted policies towards women where by they were encouraged to be in the kitchen, look after the children and go to the church (the three K’s Kinder, Kirche und Küche)
To further this the following measures were adopted,
● Marriage loans worth about six months of salary where offered to newly wed couples.
● Fertility medals were awarded to women for bearing children (Bronze for 5 children ,Silver for 6 children and gold for 8 children or more)
● Family allowances were introduced whereby families received a weekly welfare payment for each child.
● Parenting and craft classes were given to the women, unmarried women were encouraged to get themselves impregnated by racially pure men and donate the child to the state.
● Women were deprived of their vote and prevented from sitting in the Reichstag, women were either forced out of profession or their numbers were substantially reduced and women were requested to stick to the three K’s( Kinder, Kirche und Küche)
Higher education for women and girls
The Nazi policy also restricted education for girls. According to the Nazi men and women were treated as “gleichartig aber nicht gleichwertig” (same but not equivalent ). A young women’s education during the Nazi times would prepare her for presumed future as a wife and mother and after her education she would take paid work until she married. After marriage she was supposed to retire to devote herself to her home and children. The entire social system was geared to depriving women free choice. Hence women did not enjoy a very good status under the Nazi policies.
Policies on women in profession
After 1939 the pool of unemployed men was getting exhausted and there was a great demand for labour in the German industry. To cope up with the labour demand the Nazis had to turn towards women. They had to take a complete u-turn on their previous policies. The marriage loans were canceled and the women were required to perform a compulsory duty year in which they had to work on a farm or in a family home the women were paid low wages and had to work under poor conditions. By this time the Nazi regime did not have a clear policy on women, and were pursuing to contradictory policies. On one hand they wanted to increase the birth rate and on the other hand they wanted to enhance the wellbeing of war economy through women.
Conclusion
Under the Nazi regime the position of women was limited to home and hearth. All the womens policies designed by the Nazi government were centered around this notion. The Nazis launched various initiatives and programs to encourage women to take their role as a nurturer seriously. However in the late 1930’s as the demand for industrial labour increased, they had to take a U-turn on their womens policy.
One one hand they wanted the women to produce more children and on the other hand they devised policies so that women would be encouraged to take up the vacant positions in industry and armed forces.
This reflected a complete confusion in the Nazi policy towards women as there were contradictory policies designed. One set of policies like marriage loan, fertility medals and family allowances encouraged the women to stay at home and the second set of policies like compulsory “duty year” cancellation of marriage loan etc. , required the women’s presence on the factory floor. In short it can be said that the Nazi’s had no respect for the status of women and they saw them as slaves who could be used to further their war goals. This has all along been reflected in their policies. The Nazi policy of oppression, discrimination and exploitation of women were quite successful as they managed to control the most productive group of the society to enhance their racial and war agenda.
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