The role of women in Hitler’s Germany
The role of women changed when Hitler came to power. Before they would have had a job and get paid but Hitler changed that. Women were sacked and told to stay at home and clean, their job was to clean, shop and to be mothers.
Hitler believed that a woman’s role in the world was not to work but to stay at home. They were to keep tidy decent home and to be a good mother to as many children as possible. Women were to marry young and to a proper German. From his beliefs he created laws about marriage and families. This was caused by the dropping birth rate. In 1933 the law was passed saying that newly weds would get a government loan of 1000 marks this was about a 9 month salary. Couples could pay this loan off by having child. One child would pay off 25%, two children would pay off 50% and four children the whole loan would be paid off. The law was considered simple. The law encouraged larger families which would lead to a booming population, but there was a more long term and sinister aspect to this plan. The boys to grow up to be soldiers and the girls to be young mothers. This was Hitler’s plan to make Germany a more powerful country. Hitler also made August 12th a day of awarding the motherhood cross. It was this day every year because this was his mother’s birthday. The award was awarded to the women who had the most children. The gold was for 8 children, silver for 6 children and bronze for 4 children.
