Life in Nazi Germany, 1933-1939: Women and Young People
Nazi policy aimed to shape the everyday lives of German women and young people to serve the regime's racial and military goals. Women were encouraged, through propaganda summarised as 'Kinder, Kuche, Kirche' (children, kitchen, church), to leave paid work, marry and raise large, racially 'pure' families; marriage loans and awards such as the Mother's Cross rewarded women who had many children, while women were discouraged or barred from professions such as medicine, law and the civil service. As rearmament increased the demand for labour later in the 1930s, some of these restrictions were quietly relaxed. Young people were targeted even more intensively: the Hitler Youth for boys and the League of German Maidens (Bund Deutscher Madel) for girls organised sport, camping and political indoctrination outside school, while school curriculums were rewritten to emphasise Nazi ideology, racial 'science' and physical education. Membership of the Hitler Youth became effectively compulsory by 1936, as the regime worked to raise a generation loyal to Hitler above family, church or any other institution.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn the Nazi ideal of womanhood precisely, using the phrase 'Kinder, Kuche, Kirche' (children, kitchen, church), and be ready to link it to specific policies: marriage loans, the Mother's Cross award for large families, and restrictions on women working in professions such as medicine, law and the civil service.
- Learn that policy was not fixed throughout the period: economic need for labour, especially as rearmament increased from the mid-1930s, led the regime to quietly relax some restrictions on women working, showing ideology sometimes gave way to practical necessity.
- Learn the two main youth organisations by name and audience: the Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) for boys and the League of German Maidens (Bund Deutscher Madel) for girls, and that both organised activities such as sport, camping and hiking alongside political indoctrination.
- Learn how schools changed under the Nazis: curriculums were rewritten to stress Nazi ideology, racial 'science' (including antisemitic teaching) and physical education, and teachers were expected to support Nazi aims.
- Learn that Hitler Youth membership became effectively compulsory by 1936, and that the regime's underlying aim was to make young Germans loyal to Hitler above their own family, school or church.
- For a 4-mark 'give two things you can infer' question, look carefully at whether the source reveals genuine enthusiasm, propaganda pressure, or the practical limits of Nazi policy on women or young people.
- For a 12-mark 'explain why' question, treat ideology (the Nazi vision of racial and gender roles) and practical/military need (future soldiers, wartime labour) as separate but linked reasons, and explain HOW each specifically shaped policy towards women or young people.
Worked example
Explain why the Nazis targeted young people so intensively between 1933 and 1939.
- Identify the regime's underlying goal: the Nazis wanted to raise a generation completely loyal to Hitler and Nazi ideology, seeing children as easier to shape than adults who had grown up under different values.
- Explain the organisational method with detail: the Hitler Youth for boys and the League of German Maidens for girls organised sport, camping and political activities outside school hours, giving the regime influence over young people's free time as well as their education.
- Explain the educational method with detail: school curriculums were rewritten to emphasise Nazi ideology, racial 'science' and physical fitness, while teachers were expected to support Nazi aims in the classroom.
- Explain the compulsion and outcome with detail: by 1936, Hitler Youth membership had become effectively compulsory, meaning almost no German child grew up entirely outside the regime's influence.
- Conclude by linking this to the regime's longer-term aims: healthy, ideologically loyal, physically prepared young people served both Hitler's vision of racial strength and Germany's future military and labour needs.
Practice questions
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Q1What phrase summarised the Nazi ideal role for women?Show answer
Answer: 'Kinder, Kuche, Kirche' - children, kitchen, church.
Q2What award did the Nazis give to mothers of large families?Show answer
Answer: The Mother's Cross.
Q3Give one profession from which women were discouraged or barred under the Nazis.Show answer
Answer: Medicine, law, or the civil service (any one).
Q4Why were some restrictions on women working quietly relaxed later in the 1930s?Show answer
Answer: Because rearmament increased the demand for labour, creating a practical need for workers that conflicted with Nazi ideology about women's role in the home.
Q5What were the Hitler Youth and the League of German Maidens?Show answer
Answer: Nazi youth organisations, the Hitler Youth for boys and the League of German Maidens (Bund Deutscher Madel) for girls, organising sport, camping and political indoctrination.
Q6By what year had Hitler Youth membership become effectively compulsory?Show answer
Answer: 1936.
Q7How did school curriculums change under the Nazis?Show answer
Answer: They were rewritten to emphasise Nazi ideology, racial 'science' and physical education.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE History exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Study Source A. Source A: from the memoir of a former Hitler Youth member, recalling a summer camp in 1937. 'Each morning began with drill and a flag ceremony before breakfast. Our leaders talked constantly about sacrifice for the nation and loyalty to the Fuhrer, and any boy who complained about the long hikes was mocked in front of the group until he stopped.' Give two things you can infer from Source A about life in the Hitler Youth. Complete the table below. Inference 1: Detail in the source that tells you this: Inference 2: Detail in the source that tells you this:
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Explain why the Nazis targeted young people so intensively between 1933 and 1939.
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Study Sources B and C. Source B: text from a Nazi propaganda poster, 1934, showing a smiling mother surrounded by several children. 'The German mother is the guardian of the nation's future. Her place is at the heart of the family, raising strong children for Germany.' Source C: from the recollection of a woman who worked in a Berlin electrical factory in 1938. 'Despite what the posters said, I was still at my machine six days a week. The factory needed hands, and with so many men now in uniform or building roads, women like me were quietly asked to stay on rather than leave.' How useful are Sources B and C for an enquiry into Nazi policies towards women in the years 1933 to 1939? Explain your answer using Sources B and C and your contextual knowledge.
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