Historians argue Hitler had very clear ideas about the role of women in Nazi Germany. She was the centre of family life, a housewife and a mother. Hitler even introduced a medal for women who had four or more children. On August 12th each year, the Motherhood Cross was awarded to women who had given birth to the largest number of children. The gold cross went to women who had produced 8 children; silver was for 6 children and bronze was for 4 children.
The Nazis had very clear ideas of what they expected from women. Women were expected to stay at home and look after the family. In Weimar Germany there had been 100,000 female teachers, 3000 female doctors and 13,000 female musicians. Within months of Hitler coming to power, many female doctors and civil servants were sacked. This was followed by female teachers and lawyers. Even at the end of the war, women were never asked to serve in the armed forces. Their job was to keep the home clean and tidy for their husband and family – their life should revolve around the three K’s: “Kinder, Küche, Kirche” translated as “children, kitchen, and church.” Joseph Goebbels Minister of Propaganda said: "The mission of women is to be beautiful and to bring children into the world."
Hitler wanted a high birth rate so the population would grow. The Nazis even considered making it law that families should have at least four children. Girls kept fit in the BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädel) to make themselves healthy for childbirth, but they were discouraged from staying slim, because it was thought that thin women had trouble giving birth. One of the earliest laws passed by Hitler once he came into power in January 1933 was the Law for Encouragement of Marriage. This law stated that all newly married couples would get a government loan of 1000 marks which was about 9 month’s average income. 800,000 newlyweds took up this offer. This loan was not to be simply paid back. The birth of one child meant that 25% of the loan did not have to be paid back. Two children meant that 50% of the loans need to be paid back. Three children meant that 75% of the loan need not be paid back. Four children meant that the entire loan was cleared. The aim of the law was very simple – to encourage newlyweds to have as many children as they could. There was also a more long term and sinister aspect to this: as Germany grew she would need more soldiers and mothers; hence a booming population was needed with young boy being groomed into being soldiers and young girls being groomed into being young mothers.
The guidelines for being an ideal woman in Nazi Germany were as follows: Women should not work for a living, Women should not wear trousers, Women should not wear make-up, Women should not wear high-heeled shoes, Women should not dye or perm their hair and Women should not go on slimming diets. The source entitled ‘Family ‘painted by German artist Wolf Will rich shows the ideal Aryan German family. The young blond-haired blue-eyed couple are seated outside their rural cottage with their four children. The mother wears a plain dress and is shown breastfeeding the couple’s new-born baby. She wears no make-up