The impact these ideals had on Aryan women, were manifest through 2 main policy areas: keeping women out of the labour market and secondly encouraging marriage and child rearing. There were 3 main policy areas that were geared towards keeping women out of the Labour market.
Indirectly Education was a method of keeping women out of the Labour market by restricting opportunities. University enrolment of women was limited to 10%, and the curriculum concentrated on skills that would help women at home, as opposed to key skills needed for working. The effect was a drop in numbers of women at university until the Second World War.
As a means to incorporating women within the Volksgemeinschaft distinct groups were created to differentiate between women and workers, with this gender segregation, it would be a lot harder for women as a group to enter the labour market. But Nazi women’s groups were made, causing an increased participation in Nazi bodies by women, but they did not allow any female Nazi members of the Reichstag. A law was passed in 1937 which meant women had to do a "Duty Year" perhaps work in a factory- allowing them to contribute to the Nazi economic miracle in a patriotic way.
Aiming directly to reduce female employment, in 1933 women in top civil service and medical jobs were dismissed, and later in 1936 were banned from being judges and lawyers. Female teachers were dismissed in 1933. However teachers had to be brought back after a shortage. The overall effect was marginal, as women were simply changing professions rather than getting out of employment. The overall impact was that a workforce was freed up for the emergency agricultural work of 1939-45.
The % of women aged 15-60 in regular employment in 1939, was 52% in Germany compared with 45% and 36% in the USA and Britain. Women in Germany were more likely to work than in USA and the UK. The number of women in regular employment actually increased between 1933 and 1939 from 12,300,000 to 14,600,000 women. These statistics show that the policies failed to an extent and thus the impact on woman, was minimal to the extent it did not force them out of the workforce altogether.
The second Nazi aim for Aryan women was to encourage racially pure child bearing and marriage. Aside from the women’s groups which encouraged all aspects of Nazi ideology, and the education that was geared towards preparation for roles as mothers and wives (there were marriage schools, and eugenics and homemaking made up an essential compulsory part of the school curriculum;) there were policies that directly affected women with regard to Marriage, Births and Welfare. Aimed respectively at increasing suitable marriages, increasing pure German births and developing healthy Germans.
With regard to marriage, in 1933, 600 RM marriage loan was introduced for unemployed women. In 1937 the loan was extended to women in work. The 1935 marriage law required certificate of “fitness to marry,” before a marriage license is issued. In October 1935 the blood protection law forbade marriage to “bad” elements outside of the Volksgemeinschaft. In 1938 the marriage law extended the grounds for divorce. The effect was generally an increase in marriages. In 1932 there were 516,000 marriages, which had risen to 740,000 in 1934. However it can be argued that the rise in marriages was due to the economic growth, not Nazi policy.
To increase pure German births, financial incentives were offered, e.g. marriage loans and birth grants that decreased proportionately to the births of the woman’s children. Maternity services were improved tremendously. Propaganda to raise status and self-esteem of mothers like the mothers cross, which was an award to mothers who have a certain number of children, on three levels, bronze, silver and gold. The honour that was afforded to a gold cross carrier was the ultimate in respect, Hitler youth members had to salute a mother that was given a mothers cross. Then there were the penalties of higher taxes on childless couples, tighter penalties on abortion and restriction on contraception information. The effects were a rise in birth rate, followed by a slow decline. However we do not know what % of births were pure Aryan, Nazi policies towards non-Aryan women reduced the population potential. Just looking at Aryan women, I expect that overall the Aryan birth rate increased due to the eugenic policies, but nationwide there were less women giving birth, never reaching the levels of Weimar Germany, the Nazis failing in their aim to turn women into baby machines. The temporary baby boom may have been due to the economic recovery from the depression as opposed to direct Nazi policies.
Then welfare measures were taken with a view to developing healthy Germans, the NSV – the National Socialist Welfare Organisation was set up followed by a large expansion in health offices. There was improved sanitation, preventative medicine and genetic and racial care for Aryan women. The result was a staggering decrease in infant mortality from 7.7% in 1933, to 6.6% in 1936. The NSV was largely staffed by women, meaning that there were increased work opportunities whilst welfare increased immensely.
There were other policy areas that did affect women: women were not expected to wear makeup or trousers. They dyeing of hair was not allowed. Slimming was discouraged, and so was smoking. These reflect Nazi attitudes towards women, slimming was thought of as bad for child birth, whilst smoking and American style fashion was considered un-German. However there are sources, such as comical personal ads written by women in Nazi Germany that display an air of confidence, contravening the NSDAP’s own image of women and our stereotypes of women before the war. It was not by any means total oppression into a big hipped mould, individuality was possible in Nazi Germany for women.
All the practical policies Aryan women benefited from were completely restricted to Aryan women within the Volksgemeinschaft. For non-Aryan women the picture was extremely different
For Aryan women there were many benefits in Nazi Germany, there were large loans at no interest upon marriage; 12 weeks paid maternity leave; many social organisations; generous help for poorer mothers; freed health care for pregnant women; some equal rights in divorce after 1938 and tax benefits for women with children to name but a few. The benefits took the form of practical benefits that helped with make and break issues for Aryan women, which tremendously changed a womans quality of life, particularly if she is working class. The benefits in Nazi Germany for Aryan women make up the foundation for the welfare state as we know it. Because we in the 21st Century have the benefits of the welfare state we see the position of Nazi women as being quite bad, with many constraints, however relative to the standards of the day the practical benefits of Aryan women in Germany far exceeded their French, British and American contemporaries. There was a legalistic decrease in rights, which we with our practical benefits see as significant and so very negative. The truth is without practical or legal benefits, we would really appreciate the positive impact Nazi policies, practically had on women.
