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Home > Modern History > National Studies > C Germany 1918-1939 > Germany 1918 - 1939: impact of Nazism on family life

 

A membership card for the Nazi Party -
essential for a good job in the Third Reich.
Artefact courtesy of the Treu family

• Outcomes
• Key features and issues
• Birth rates
• Role of the mother
• The family unit
• The single parent
• Effects of the Nazi policy
• Questions to consider

Outcomes

• Explain forces and ideas and accesse their significance in contributing to change and continuity during the twentieth century (H2.1)
• Locate, select and organise relevant information from different types of sources (H3.2)

Extract from Modern History Stage 6 Syllabus © Board of Studies NSW 2004.

Key features and issues:

• changes in society
• the nature and impact of Nazis

From this tutorial you will learn about the transformation of German social and cultural life in the Nazi state in respect to the family and the role of women. The effects of Nazism on other aspects of family life and on levels of divorce is also covered.

The following notes are on the transformation of German social life under Nazism. The information is based on a summary of an excellent and detailed account of social life in Germany between 1933 and 1945 by Grunberger, R 1987, Social Life in the Third Reich. Pelican Books.

Birth rates

The Nazi regime directed much of its attention towards the family and its declining birth rate. Hitler saw a high birth rate as a prerequisite for a victory on the battlefront. The fear the Nazis had can be shown by this comparison. In 1900 the annual average of births per thousand was 3.3; by the 1930s it was 14.7.

The Nazi catch cry was "Restoring the family to its rightful place". Ironically in this the Nazis "proved to be better protectors of family life by imposing harsh curbs on equality for women, abortion, homesexuality and (conspicuous) prostitution" (Grunberger). The baby boom reflected "a biological vote of confidence in the regime", according to Grunberger. In 1934 the birth rate climbed to 18 per 1000 and by 1939 it had reached 20.4.

There were financial incentives to have a large family, marriage loans, child subsidies and family allowances. The term family was officially reserved for parents with four children and over.

Role of the mother

A motherhood cult was put in place. On the 12 August (the birthday of Hitler's mother) fertile mothers were awarded the Honour Cross of the German Mother (bronze for more than four children, silver for more than six, gold for more than eight). Prolific mothers were honoured the same as front line troops. A wartime slogan says it all, "I have donated a child to the Führer "

The Schwarzes Korps (the SS newspaper) advocated nappy services, equality in marriage in domestic duties and backed this up with propaganda photographs of non-typical German husbands pushing prams and carrying shopping bags. This was largely in the fantasy world at this time, but more down to earth help came from "duty-year for girls" and wartime conscription of "maids" from occupied Europe.

The advertisement and display of contraceptives was banned and all birth control clinics were closed down. Abortions were termed "acts of sabotage against Germany's racial future" (Grunberger).

The family unit

The young were more conformist and fanatical than their elders as a result of Nazi policy. Parents became fearful of innocent family talk being raised in public ( see The Informer). Mother and son relationships were particularly affected after a stint in the Hitler Youth

Political widowhood occurred for those women whose men were actively involved in the Nazi Party. Their husbands were often away from home almost every night. On the other hand a woman was granted a divorce because her husband said that her membership of the National Socialist Association of Women was like belonging to a ladies' coffee circle.

Additional pressures on families came from the following:

• the removal of young people for long periods for military and labour service, Hitler Youth camps and the girls' duty year
• the widespread industrial employment of women (female labour force increased by nearly 50% between 1937 and 1939)
• the increasing incidence of overtime and shift work
• the creation of work places from which employees could only come home at weekends.

Juvenile crime increased from 16000 in 1933 to over 21000 in 1940.

Degradation of family life is illustrated by the following terms that were used:

• Rekrutenmachen (producing recruits) for sexual intercourse
• Gebärmaschinen (childbearing machines) for procreative women
• Bevuölkerungspolitische Blindgänger (ethnic duds) for barren women.

Children could be taken away from their parents if they did not provide a "politically reliable" home. Both marriage and divorce increased dramatically during the Third Reich . Divorce was made easier to allow dissolution of mixed marriages (i.e. between Aryans and non-Aryans) and those between couples who held different views of the Nazis.

The single parent

Unmarried mothers received a new level of support from the Nazis. This was in line with their desire to increase the pure Aryan race. Himmler started a program called Lebensborn (Spring of Life). It provided assistance in the last weeks of pregnancy to unwed mothers who had children by Schutzstaffel men, and helped with legitimisations and acted as an adoption agency to interested party members. Himmler said, "We only recommended genuinely valuable, racially pure men as Zeugungshelfer (procreation helpers)".

Himmler also issued a notorious procreation order to the entire Schutzstaffel during the war "...Only he who leaves a child behind can die with equanimity".

Before coming to power the Nazis had gained wide support from German women by promising every German woman a husband. By the war they were virtually promising every girl a baby. In 1944 a report to the Ministry of Justice quoted leaders of the German Girls' League saying that "not every girl could expect to get a husband in the future, and that the girls should at least fulfil their task as German women and donate a child to the Führer".

Effects of the Nazi policy

Two results of the drive to increase births by the Nazis were that by 1945 23% of all young Germans were infected with venereal disease and that the peacetime incidence of prostitution had quadrupled. These facts are a sad commentary on the erosion of family life in the Third Reich.

In 1932 there were 42000 divorces.
In 1939 there were 61000 divorces.

Questions to consider

1. Why were the Nazis so concerned about families?
2. What incentives were used to encourage large families?
3. How were mothers particularly encouraged to produce large families?
4. Why did divorce rates increase in the years of the Third Reich?
5. What were two of the more tragic results on family life over the twelve years Hitler was in power?
6. Write a paragraph of about eight lines describing the effects of the totalitarian policies of the Third Reich on family life.

Useful websites

This website has extracts from Lisa Pines book Nazi Family Policy 1933-1945. It is very detailed so skim for key data and viewpoints for a few well-structured paragraphs.