Nazi Women of the Third Reich: Serving the Swastika

by Paul Roland (Contributor)

• Four months pregnant, Vera Wohlauf, wife of a serving SS officer, took sadistic pleasure in rounding up victims for Treblinka.

• Like creatures from a Grimms' fairytale, female members of a Nazi 'welfare' organization scoured the towns and villages of Poland and Slovenia, luring blond children out of hiding with bread and sweets. They were abducted to be raised as Germans by 'Aryan' families who told them their parents were dead.

• Test pilot Hanna Reitsch flew on a suicide mission to rescue Hitler from his bunker.

• Not even Hitler could resist the charms of Princess Stephanie, a femme fatale and Nazi agent who smoked cigars which she lit by striking a match on the heel of her shoes.

The Nazis had no doubts about a woman's place in the Third Reich. Hermann Goering urged every woman to 'take a pot, a dustpan and brush, and marry a man.' Many women welcomed the arrival of Hitler's regime with childlike enthusiasm believing that the dictatorship would make Germany master of Europe, but as the war dragged on, their blind faith in Hitler was betrayed.

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

Paperback

Published October 15, 2018

About the author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Roland

Reviews

[Katherine Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Capsule biographies of a variety of women in Hitler's Germany, some of them fanatical supporters, some of them fellow travelers some of them opposed to him. It's packaged as popular history, divided within each chapter into short sections, each with its own title, with pull-quotes every few pages and pictures scattered generously throughout, but I'd never heard of most of the women he discusses, so I learned a great deal.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read a book on the war that was factual. It was an interesting and thought provoking book. I didn’t realize how much brainwashing was taking place on a daily basis.

[Warren Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview

A good, general overview of Nazi Germany’s female persecutors and victims. Not detailed, but very informative, and an easy read.

[Blueberry_cake13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

W działaniach III Rzeszy swój udział miały również kobiety. Często nawet bardzo duży. Paul Roland w swojej książce przedstawia sylwetki kobiet, które w różnych dziedzinach miały swój wkład w rozprzestrzenianiu się ideologii nazistowskiej, a także ich działań w czasie II Wojny Światowej.


Kiedy przeczytałam pierwsze rozdziały tej książki, to pomyślałam, że będą przedstawiane tam kobiece postacie będące partnerkami i bliskimi znajomymi głównych dowodzących III Rzeszą. Jednak im dalej tym historii o niemieckich kobieta pojawiało się więcej. I to niezwiązanych z tymi postaciami. Najczęściej były to zbuntowane nastolatki lub po prostu “nakręcone” przez nowe władze dziewczyny. Pojawiają się też tam opowieści o ambitnych kobietach, które dosłownie po trupach do władzy chciały osiągnąć wszystko, czego pragną. Jednocześnie też pokazując swoją prawdziwą, sadystyczną naturę. A autor wszystkie te postacie przedstawia bardzo ciekawie, przez co z wielką ochotą czytałam kolejne rozdziały. Oprócz tego opowieści te zostały przedstawione dosyć skrupulatnie, poparte relacjami ich samych lub bliskich im osób. Przez to też książka jeszcze bardziej zyskuje na autentyczności. Jednocześnie czytelnik poznaje powódki tych pań co do swoich działań, w tym psychologiczną stronę.

“Hitler moja miłość. Kobiety w służbie swastyki” okazała się ciekawą książką pokazującą działania żeńskiej części społeczeństwa w szerzeniu ideologii III Rzeszy. Dla fanów książek historycznych lub nawet informacji związanych z II Wojną Światową może się okazać interesującą lekturą. A ode mnie otrzymuje ocenę 7/10.



Za egzemplarz recenzencki bardzo dziękuję Wydawnictwu RM!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and Horrifying

I am older and like many, learned of the horrors of the Holocaust in school. In some ways, it was pretty basic because we were children. We were told about Jewish people being targeted by Germans and the rise of the Nazi party. However, as I recall it, the perpetrators discussed were mostly German men who worked as leaders in the Nazi party or guards who acted brutally in the concentration camps.
This book tells the reader of the many injustices carried out by women, long considered more nurturing and compassionate than the men. We see quickly that is not necessarily the case and that many women employed by the Nazi party were capable in some cases of exceeding their male peers in ability to be cruel.
This book both breaks my heart and held my attention!

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of short biographies reaching across the spectrum of aristocracy to working class, from test pilots to SS wives, from the fanatical to the disillusioned.


The first two chapters focus on Hitler's sister and the sister of Eva Braun. The final chapter covers the child soldiers (aged 8+) that represented Hitler's last ditch attempt to stop the inevitable end of his regime.


Easy to read; arranged in a logical progression.

[Winter Slade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was OK, but I had to force myself through it almost entirely. The format feels just like a textbook and it is extremely boring. I did learn quite a few things but the majority of the book was just filler. The book couldve been half of its current length if the author could stop ever stop rambling.

[Olivia Grace Mclaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I've read this I found out new things that my history class didn't even touch upon and it was great to learn what woman went through and how that woman were supposed to be loving and caring and not power hungry and being abusive to the Jews while pregnant

[Jim Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm finding that I'm becoming more interested in reading non-fictional history books as I get older. People's real lives and how they shaped world history for better or worse through the years fascinates me.

[Sophie McMillan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of various ways in women participated in or worked against the Nazi regime. Not very in-depth but an easy read.

[Erica Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a few repetitive bits, but a lot of information I wasn’t already familiar with.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great, not terrible. A slightly shallow overview and a bit repetitive but some interesting info.