How did the Nazis treat women? I feel like I never really hear about how they treat women.

So, this is one I feel decently equipped to answer! With that said, I’m away fro. My computer and answering on mobile, so you’ll have to excuse me if formatting and citations take a few passes. With that said I’ll try my best to answer the question!

The very, very brief answer to your question comes in two parts:

The Nazis generally treated women poorly and as objects.
Women were subjected to the same sort of ethnic, religious, and racial judgements as men, and so one’s quality of life could vary greatly.

To point one:

Like all aspects of Nazi ideology, there was a specific “role” for women; the ideal, or model, woman had an explicit, specific image. This notion is called Volksgemeinschaft, which is essentially “the people’s culture,” or, in this case, the ideal people’s culture.

Interestingly, the ideal model for German women isn’t actually original to the Nazis. Nazis famously relied upon a slogan known as Kinder, Küche, Kirche, which means “Children, Cooking, and Church,” but this slogan was coined by Wilhelm II, well before the Nazi rise. Rebate Bridenthal has an interesting essay on the subject, which you can look into here.

Göring summarizes the role of women pretty succinctly in his Nine Commandments For the Worker’s Struggle. I’ll use the translation provided by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Commandment three:

To the German woman: Take hold of the cooking pan, dust pan and broom and marry a man.

Commandment five:

To women with professions: You cannot be happy in a profession when your proper place is in the home.

Commandment seven:

To our women at home: Do not take time from your children and your husband, accept the help of a maid.

So very clearly, Nazi thought was that women had a singular role: to tend to the home, and especially to raising the next generation. This is a marked departure from life in the Weimar Republic.

Now that we know the ideal woman, we’re left with how that played out in practice. What was life actually like?

For a really in-depth and nuanced look at the subject, I really recommend the (neatly titled!) Women in Nazi Society by Jill Stephenson. It’ll be a while before I can get my hand on proper excerpts, but I’ll try to throw those in later this evening. :-)

Anyway, to get back to trying to answer the question.

Nicole Loroff’s essay, “Gender and Sexuality in Nazi Germany,” is brief, but can give us a decent overview. (For posterity, I’m using this version of the essay, though you can access several online!)

In order to indoctrinate their ideals on gender and sexuality into society, the Nazis used a number of different methods. One such method was the institution of laws and policies aimed towards achieving Nazi racial ambitions. Between the period of September to October 1935, the regime introduced several laws that effectively eliminated the freedoms associated with marriage in Germany. Under the “Marriage Health Law,” couples who wished to be wed were forced to provide evidence that proved their hereditary fitness in order to demonstrate that their marriage would produce racially pure children. (Pg 54.)

Laws and policies were also set in place in an effort to drive women from the workplace. Under the Nazi rule, the policy against Doppelverdiener or „double earners,‟ which was first established during the Weimar period, continued to be enforced... Although women were not entirely banned from working in the industrial sector, they were encouraged to work in areas more suited to their „biology‟ or to participate in tasks that would distract them from their family duties. (Pg 55.)

There were lots of other institutions to control women in daily life. You’ve probably heard of the Hitler Youth, but might not know much about the Bund Deutscher Mädel, the League of German Girls, the girls’ branch of the Youth. Beginning in 1939, it was mandatory for all girls 14-18 to be in the BDM.

According to the UK’s National Holocaust Center and Museum (from here.)

... BDM were encouraged to choose an ‘appropriate’ partner with which to start a family. The girls were taught that good health and an acceptable racial background, in line with Nazi racial theory, were essential qualities. The intention was they should leave the movement with the ability to do practical work, have many children, and be devoted to their community. The intention was that former members of the BDM would raise their children in line with Nazi ideals, in order for their beliefs to become embedded in the minds of future generations.

As yet another example of how the Nazis attempted to foster this model of femininity, look no further than the “Cross of Honor for the German Mother.” As described by the German Historical Institute, the cross was awarded by the Nazi Party to women who had four or more children. About three million women received the cross in 1939, when it was first introduced. While I have no way to testify as to the efficacy of such medals, it’s clear the Nazis sought to encourage the behavior by rewarding women racing the next, “genetically fit” generation with medals and state recognition.

So, hopefully this meets the expectations of the subs; my citations might be a bit lacking, and this might be a bit brief at present, but I hope it answers some of your question.

In short: Women in Nazi Germany were envisioned to meet a very strict vision of femininity, where the role of a woman was to care for children, take care of the home, and other such “traditional” duties. The Nazis relied on legislation and youth indoctrination to enforce this.