Women in Nazi Germany

by Jill Stephenson

From images of jubilant mothers offering the Nazi salute, to Eva Braun and Magda Goebbels, women in Hitler’s Germany and their role as supporters and guarantors of the Third Reich continue to exert a particular fascination. This account moves away from the stereotypes to provide a more complete picture of how they experienced Nazism in peacetime and at war. What was the status and role of women in pre-Nazi Germany and how did different groups of women respond to the Nazi project in practice? Jill Stephenson looks at the social, cultural and economic organisation of women’s lives under Nazism, and assesses opposing claims that German women were either victims or villains of National Socialism.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, 20th Century, War, School

212 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2001

Reviews

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

[Katherine Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, of course, out of date, but it is a good overview of how women were treated (and how they behaved) under the Nazis. I admit that I wanted something more in depth---so I will be looking for more books about women in Nazi Germany---but Stephenson covers a LOT of ground in a relatively short book.

She talks about women mostly on urban/rural and working class/middle class axes (upper class women are not mentioned at all), and she definitely is talking about sets of women with examples from individual women's experiences, rather than the book being ABOUT individual women's experiences. If that makes any sense.

[Last Chance Saloon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, with lots of detail, and written in essay format, but with a large number of documents to read towards the end. This would be suitable for those studying women in Germany for history at school or college.

[eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

for advanced history dissertation. lots of statistics.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent overview of gender issues in Nazi Germany.

[liv ʚɞ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes I read this in a day. It was fine however, like all books you’re forced to read for school, I would’ve preferred to read it at my own pace in my own time.

(I read this for my german women coursework for my a-level in history)

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

so so dry.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dry to read but the primary source section at the back was helpful.

Good for research but if you're looking for a casual read, skip it.

[Allison6876 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for paper for HIST 3729