Treatment of Women in Nazi Germany

Focus Task p.211
1. Read these two statements:
a. 'Nazi policy for women was confused.'
b. 'Nazi policy for women was a failure.'
For each statement explain whether you agree or disagree with it anduse examples form the text to support your explanation.

a. ‘Nazi policy for women was confused.’

I agree with this statement because at one point in the Third Reich some Germans were confused on whether or not to let women work in industries and the work force when there was a shortage on the amount of workers. In the text it mentions that the crisis period was during 1942 and 1945 when the men were going off to war and there was a shortage in war supplies, there was the possibility to hire women and some women were willing, however, some Nazis were undecided on whether to supply armaments for the soldiers or to keep traditions alive and not allow women in the work force. In Source 56 Albert Speer suggests to Sauckel to allow women to work, but he’s confused on whether or not to allow it so he asks Goering. Goering basically says that the idea of women in the work force is ridiculous, and Sauckel checked with Hitler who agreed with Goering. So there is little confusion, but there still is confusion because Sauckel has to check with two people to make sure the idea was absurd.

b. ‘Nazi policy for women was a failure.’

I disagree with this statement because it seems to me that there was an increase in the birth rate and there were women in the countryside whom agreed with the policies towards women. In the text it mentioned that women were awarded prizes for having four children and a greater award towards those who had eight children, such as the Gold Cross. Also, the birth rate increased from fifteen per thousand in 1933 to twenty per thousand in 1939, which is a major increase if you think on a larger scale of how many babies must’ve been born to increase the birth rate by another five per thousand. Third, the main point of the policies towards women was to keep them at home and care for the children, to be the traditional woman. This part of the policy worked because it was incredibly difficult for women to get jobs as discrimination was encouraged, and women who lived in the countryside agreed with the Nazi policies towards women. This gave the women an immense amount of pressure to conform to being a traditional woman, therefore I disagree that the Nazi policy for woman was a failure.