Women in Nazi Germany

On the morning of December 7, 1941 a surprise attack conducted by the Japanese Navy on the United State naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii resulted in America’s involvement in World War II. While the rest of the world was at war, America stayed neutral until the attack on Pearl Harbor which ironically was intended as a preventive action towards America’s involvement in the war. After the attack, America entered the war, a war that the Americans were not prepared for. America just has gotten out of the Great Depression in the 30s and was still recovering. The war brought about draft and new job opportunities for men and women. Nancy Potter, a teen during the time described the effects of the war, "I think for girls and women, and perhaps

Women had a huge role in the World War II that so many do not recognize. Women were involved in many different jobs that allowed them to step out of the ordinary norm as the “typical housewife”, and dive into fierce hardworking jobs that until then only a man could do. Women jumped into the factories and many different roles that contributed to World War II, because the need for more American workers was crucial.

Burleigh is further substantiated by Heyman who states that ‘women lost most of the new positions in the labour force they had occupied during the wartime year”. This suggests that women were easy and cheap to employ and when no longer needed they were dismissed so men could return to their old positions, thus showing the decline in their status. Women were unhappy about being forced into their homes and were treated like servants rather than respected for this role. Victor Klemperer, a diarist whose journals, published in Germany in 1995, detailed his life under Nazi rule during the third Reich. He states, ‘a son even the youngest today laughs in his mothers face. He regards her as the natural servant’.This shows how the next generation saw women’s role as worthless therefore decreasing their status. Victor Klemperer experienced this first hand and wrote them in his diaries and from his own memories so can be considered as credible source. Furthermore women were removed from many jobs as time went on. This therefore left them with no other choice but to have children. “Moreover, in the economy as a whole two thirds of married women were still not registered as employed on the eve of the war in 1939. If they did work, it was often as unregistered, part time cleaners

In the past, WWII and WWI, women were very dominant; they had to take care of their children, do all the chores and also had to cook the food. During WWII, women had to take place for the men (First world war.com). The war changed the life for all Canadian women. When men went to fight, women were called upon to fill their jobs, and this included many jobs that were previously thought of unsuitable for women. Women were called up for war work from March 1941(Women during World War II). The roles of the women were positively impacted by World War II, because they had the potential to re-enter the workforce, control the farms and join the military for the first time. Taking control of the military was tough, but women had shown that they could work together and handle the situation.

In the book Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich by Alison Owings, we are provided with plenty of women who describe their lives before, during and after Hitler received power. This book provides us with different views of the time era and as well as how the impact of Hitler affected every woman differently through social class, age, marital status and etc. This paper will explore the lives of three German women who seem to be in the Grey area during the over control of Hitler but mostly with the killings of the Jews. This paper will further explore the complicity and the different levels of resistance that these three women had during this time era which is 1933-1945. The three women that will be discussed in this paper are Margarete (Margrit) Fischer, Ellen Frey, and Christine (Tini) Weihs. When looking into the lives of all three women these women it seems as though women didn’t have much of a responsibility for the events that were happening around them. Although these women seemed to be complaint to a certain degree with the events there were going on around them. These women would have been complaint due to the fear of what happened to Germans when they stood against the events that took part.

In World War II, women contributed in many ways by entering the battle. Some of the jobs the women held were Army nurses, Red Cross members, factory work, etc. The United States were one of the few countries that put their women to work and was ridiculed for it. In 1948, President Truman signed the Women 's Armed Services Integration Act which authorized regular and reserve status for women in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. These women showed true leadership by becoming leaders in battle and left a lasting legacy for all women to come.

Many women took over the mens jobs once the war started, and the war gave women good motivation to fight for their suffrage. President Wilson believed that the women were a vital part of the war effort. For the womens effort to help the war in 1920 the 19th amendment was ratified. The developments for women during the war, foreshadowed the future acomplishments women would gain.

Before the war women had to fit into a stereotype of “the perfect family” (“A Change in”). Prior to 1941 only 30% of women worked for 10 years and only 50% worked for 5 years (Discovery Education). Women were encouraged not to work, because it broke “the perfect family” stereotype (“The Women of”) (“A Change in”). Even husbands did not want their

Women’s contributions to the war had a significant impact to life in Canada during WWll. During the Second World War, Canadian women were left to fulfill the void of a man’s job at home and out in the work force and also felt that it was their job to serve in the army alongside with the men. They heavily contributed to the war without and change the views on women’s roles .Society always viewed the man to be the supporter of the family. Those views were no longer valid after the men were off to war and it was the women’s job to uphold the manpower. Women had no choice but to sustain the economy, keep the family together and support the men overseas if needed The economy was exceptionally sustained regardless of the men not being there to fulfill their jobs Women were viewed in a whole new way as they contributed heavily to keeping society together during the war.

Before World War II, women were the ones customarily responsible for taking care of their houses and children. Typically, they were not allowed to pursue their dreams of having a career in the field of their choosing. It wasn’t until the start of World War II that women were allowed to venture outside of their homes and housekeeping tasks to explore a whole new world of opportunities created by wartime efforts. Women were needed to fill the voids left by the departure of the 690,000,000 men from 61 countries that were headed to war. With American men enlisting in the war effort, the work force quickly diminished allowing women to fill positions . The factory gates welcomed a flood of women willing to work and serve their country. Mothers, daughters, wives and even schoolgirls picked up the duties the men had left behind. Government sources continued to recruit women throughout the war, with articles and advertisements placed in magazines to get women 's attention. Slogans such as, “Women, you would hasten victory by working and save your man,". The Magazine War Guide recommended that all published magazines participate in the”Women at Work” cover promotion to emphasize not only defense and factory work, but all kinds of employment opportunities for women. One of the many slogans shouted, "The more women at work, the sooner we win." (American Women and the U.S. Armed Forces). The

World War II was influence by many powerful and evil men like Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin they were all men who were ambitious for power and did whatever it took to gain the power and achieve their goal. They all had a major influence in the way that this war started to develop. A war that impacted the world in the 1900s in which leaders from Germany, Italy and the soviet Union are well remembered but what about the women? What influence did they have in this war? They were many women who stayed home and were major contributors to holding together the labor force. As well their volunteering in society helped push their country through the War. By temporarily assuming non-traditional roles in the labor force and in society, women became an important part of the war effort from 1939-1945. (3)

Throughout American history, women have contributed greatly to the war effort and military support of our troops. It began as early as the Revolutionary War when women followed their husbands to war out of necessity. Many served in military camps as laundresses, cooks, and nurses but only with permission from the commanding officers and only if they proved they were helpful (“Timeline: Women in the U.S. Military”).

During WWII, the role of Canadian women in the labour force greatly amended the rise of women, in terms of their struggle to achieve equal status with men in society. The position of women in Canada had always been placed limitations on in order for them to fit with the female stereotypes of the time. When WWII came around, things began to change, and those changes caused differences in the lives of women. In Canada, many women took on nontraditional military positions, dared social stereotypes and turned down traditional roles after the war. This effectively demonstrates how the participation of Canadian women in WWII was one of many crucial steps towards the start of gender equality in Canada.

The expansion of the Second World War across Europe convinced the United States (U.S.) to mobilize the nation’s entire population in an effort to aid the Allies. Widespread male enlistment left gaping holes in the industrial labor force. The government alerted women to the nation’s need for them to work outside the home. Women felt the patriotic need to enter the workforce and made U.S. government and industry possible to expand dramatically to meet the wartime needs. Therefore, the Allies would not have defeated the Axis without the contribution of women to World War II, for women served in the military, expanded wartime production, and supported organizations that benefited their nation.

Women served an important role in WWII. They not only took the challenge and stepped up to take the places of the men off fighting in the war to work in factories, but they also fought side by side with those risking their lives and fighting for their country. They were needed everywhere during the war. There were an unbelievable amount of job opportunities for women during the war and many supported the brave acts of voluntary enlistment. “‘A woman’s place is in the home’ was an old adage, but it still held true at the start of World War II. Even though millions of women worked, home and family we considered the focus of their lives” says Brenda Ralf Lewis. Without the help of those women who were brave enough to