Aims and results of policies: Hitler's domestic policies - social policies Notes

Youth and Education

1. The Nazis aimed to mould all young Germans into loyal members of the Volksgemeinschaft, with Hitler declaring in 1933, “Your child belongs to us already.”
2. Gleichschaltung of education under Bernhard Rust removed teachers unsympathetic to the regime or of Jewish origin, with all required to join the National Socialist Teachers’ League.
3. Curriculum changes prioritised sport, biology (racial theory, eugenics), history (glorifying Germany’s past, condemning Weimar), and Germanics (language and literature proving Aryan cultural superiority).
4. Adolf-Hitler-Schulen and Napolas selected students on racial and physical criteria for leadership roles, focusing on military discipline and ideological training.
5. By 1939, Hitler Youth and BDM membership was compulsory; activities ranged from hiking and sports to military drills for boys and domestic science for girls.
6. Parents’ influence weakened as free time was consumed by Nazi youth activities, shifting loyalty from family to party.

Women’s Policies

1. The Nazi ideal for women was summarised as Kinder, Küche, Kirche (children, kitchen, church), focusing on motherhood and family over careers or politics.
2. Pro-natalist measures included marriage loans, maternity benefits, closure of birth-control clinics, and awards such as the Mother’s Cross for large families.
3. From 1933–1936, married women were largely excluded from employment, with a significant drop in the percentage in work from 37% (1932) to 31% (1937).
4. Economic demands reversed some restrictions; by 1939, 7.14 million women were employed, though they remained excluded from the judiciary and political leadership.
5. Organisations like the NSF and DFW promoted Nazi-approved female roles but did not influence policy-making.