Women In Germany 1925-1940 Summary

The first text read for this study is a journal article that was inspired by the lack of scholarship in the field of women during the Third Reich that was released in two parts: part one in Spring 1976 and part two in Fall 1976; it is Tim Mason's "Women in Germany: 1925-1940: Family, Welfare, and Work. Mason argues that besides Clifford Kirpatrick's 1938 text Nazi Germany: its Women and Family Life and Jill Stephenson's thesis 'Women in German Society 1930-1940' that the scholarship on women and Nazi Germany was scarce and there was a need to add to the scholarship. Not only is Mason inspired by the lack of scholarship on the topic, but also the women's movements in Britain and the United States occurring during that time. Because this is …show more content…
He also presents two different types of women: those who worked in the home and those who worked outside of it. Because he chronologically begins his text in 1925, he is able to provide readers with a sense of the German world for women prior to the Nazi Regime, which ultimately reveals that many women who wished to be married, simply could not be because they were forced to work and provide for others because of the ramifications of the Great War. This is important because it allows readers to understand the mindset of women going into the Nazi regime as well as the status of women prior to the regime; i.e. while the regime was repressive towards women, many did not have far to fall. According to Mason, “the Nazi regime had a more clearly defined and more self-conscious attitude towards women than perhaps any other modern government.” Hitler believed that women were responsible for taking care of the “small world,” which consisted of her husband, her children, her family, and her home. Mason explores this conflicting German world where the focus was to have women to be the ultimate mothers and wives, but also have them contribute to war