6. Women in Nazi Germany

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the experience of women in Nazi Germany, with a particular focus on women in the family and women in the world of work. As we move through the module, we consider: (i) the measures put in place by the Nazi regime to incentivise marriage and childbirth, and the effectiveness of these measures; (ii) the measures put in place to disincentivise childlessness, including the banning of contraception, the closure of family planning centres and the criminalisation of abortion; (iii) the extent to which the Nazi regime's preoccupation with marriage and childbirth touch on their policies relating to women in the workplace; (iv) the effectiveness of Nazi measures to keep women out of (certain kinds of) work; (v) the discrepancy between political ideology (women at home) and practical reality (women needed in the workplace) from the late 1930s onwards; (vi) the extent to which all women in Nazi Germany were impacted equally (or otherwise) by these policies; and (vii) the historiography of the experience of women in the Nazi regime.

Course

In this course, Dr Lisa Pine (London South Bank University) explores several aspects of Nazi Germany. In the first module, we think about the rise of Nazism from the foundation of the DAP (later the NSDAP) in 1919 to Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in 1933. After that, we think about the impact of the Great Depression specifically on the rise of the Nazi Party, before turning in the third module to the question of what kind of people voted (and did not vote) for the Nazis. In the fourth module, we think about the importance of the propaganda and the 'Hitler myth' to the stability of the Nazi regime, before turning in the fifth module to consider the role of coercion and terror, focusing in particular on the role of Nazi secret police, the Gestapo, and the extensive concentration camp network that lasted between 1933-44. Finally, in the sixth module, we think about the experience of women in Nazi Germany.

Lecturer

Dr Lisa Pine is an Associate Professor in History. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics, where she obtained her first degree in Government and History and her MSc in International History with Distinction. She received her doctorate from the University of London in 1996.

She has taught extensively in modern and contemporary history and politics. She is a leading international expert on issues relating to the history of Nazi Germany. Dr Pine has written on a diverse range of topics including the family, women and education in the Third Reich and aspects of Holocaust history and memory. She has contributed to local, national and international media, as well as numerous international conferences and symposia.

Her research expertise is centred upon the history of Nazi Germany, 1933-1945. She is a social historian of the Third Reich, with a strong interest in the mechanisms of this dictatorial regime and its impact upon German society.

She is a widely published international expert in this field. Her main publications include: Life and Times in Nazi Germany (2016); Education in Nazi Germany (2010); Hitler's "National Community": Society and Culture in Nazi Germany (2007 and 2017); and Nazi Family Policy, 1933-1945 (1997).