He even publicly praised women for their "services to the state, and race." As a result they were more willing to co-operate with his policy. He thought that it was their duty to assure the future of the human race. They failed to oppose him, and let him control their minds and accept their traditional house-wife role. The policy came to its most extreme when the Nazi’s built Lebensborns (spring of life) clinics, which were buildings where selected unmarried women with ideal Nazi characteristics could go and become pregnant by a "racially pure" SS man. They provided shelter for the offspring, birth documents, and financial support. These were not buildings that were hidden away in the back street, they were openly publicized and had a special flag so that they could be identified, which just shows how far the Nazis would go to achieve their goal on tackling the falling birth rate and create a ‘super Aryan race’.
The other main aim of encourage women staying at home and have babies was to solve the problem of unemployment. During the election Hitler promised German people to slove the problem of unemployment. to encourage newly weds to have as many children as possible. If Hitler wanted to achieve his policy of "lebensraum" (living space) Germany would need to start a war and Hitler new this. The children that these mothers were going to give birth to would provide the army that Hitler needed. He knew perfectly well that lots of Germans were going to die, and this was just another reason for war. These new soldiers would take over his conquest, and replace those that were going to die. He wanted to have a constant supply of perfect Aryan soldiers. He also thought that the population had to increase for the country to become more powerful. Women played a vital role in his plan to develop an ideal German Community and make Germany more powerful, as he believed that a larger, racially purer population would as well as enhancing Germanys military strength, they could provide 'settlers' that could settle down in, and convert the new territory that Germany would take over in Eastern Europe. Another reason for his policies that encouraged population growth was that Hitler had to encourage and somehow justify his beliefs that the 'Aryan' race was superior. In order to be 'superior' it had to outnumber, and excel other populations, particularly Russia and Poland that were also growing fast. Poland knew that Germany wanted its land back, and its population was steadily increasing- so Hitler wanted to satisfy his fears that they may outnumber him, he knew that they were a growing threat.
The Nazi concerns about unemployment. The Nazis had policies that forced women to leave their job. For example, during Weimar, women had lots of career and educational opportunities. The nazis tried to stop this, by banning them from professions and putting pressure on those who worked. Work forces were encouraged to take on and favour men instead of women. The numbers of women allowed to enter university was also restricted. Infact, the only women who were allowed to work outside the home were single women, because it was understood that they needed to work in order to survive.
The reason for this policy was that Employment Oppurtunitys were low, and Hitler had to keep up his promise of providing jobs for the people and keep them happy. Women were removed from their jobs so that men could occupy them, and ensure that they could have jobs to support their wives and children.
Another reason for his policies towards unemployment was that Hitler wanted women to have more time for children, and domestic work. It was part of his plan to force women back to their 'traditional roles' as wives and mothers. Hitler did not really believe that women were intelligent enough to do more than bear a healthy baby, he described them as 'inferior. He did not like the womens weak nature, and did not want them to compete for jobs with men, who he thought were far more 'superior' than them.
An interesting fact is that Hitler actually went against these policies, when he soon discovered that he could not completely do without women in the workforce. With all of his capable men gone to fight the war, the Nazis had to invite women into certain Jobs to keep the
economy going.
The final policy that Hitler had towards women that I am going to discuss is indoctrination. These were certain policies that defined the role of women in society. They used images as propaganda of the 'ideal nazi family'. The women was shown to have blonde hair, blue eyes, heavy hips (for child bearing), no make up, and no desire for a career. Their lives were controlled, women were not expected to wear make up, trousers, revealing clothes or perms.
The also presented their views on women in the educational system. The girls education was divided into a number of different lessons, each one encouraged life at home, e.g Hauswirtschaft- This involved domestic science, cooking, house and garden work. They were taught that women had to have children and look after their husbands. They were told not to smoke, or diet, as it could affect their ability to have healthy babies. Women had to wear plain and simple dresses, with flat shoes. They had to change their everyday social habits- they could not show-off their sexuality, or have sexual relationships with more than
I think the most important reason for Nazi’s polices towards women is to tackle the problem of unemployment. Hitler solved the problem of unemployment by 1939, this helped him to stay in power as a dictator.