3D.+Status+of+Women,+treatment+of+religious+groups+and+minorities.

=Domestic policies & Impact:=

Status of women, treatment of religious groups and minorities.
Hitler and the Nazi Germany had a generally negative view of women and minorities, and treated them as outsiders which were not worthy of the German State.

These "outsiders" were divided into three categories:
 * Ideological:** those threatening the political unity of the nation, such as Communists.
 * Biological:** those whose genes posed a threat to a healthy, pure German race, such as Jews and people with hereditary illnesses.
 * Social:** those whose behavior conflicted with the norms of the national community, such as the work-shy. (Some Nazis would include some of these in the second category, arguing that such behavior was genetically determined)

As a result of Nazi policy,approximately,
 * 7 million non-Jewish Soviets were killed
 * 6 million Jews were killed
 * 2.5 non-Jewish Poles were killed
 * 500,000 gypsies were killed
 * 400,000 people were forcibly sterilized
 * 250,000 disabled people were killed
 * 15,000 homosexuals were sent to concentration camps
 * 10,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were sent to concentration camps.

The video below focuses mostly on the treatment of Gypsies, but also offers a general overview of the treatment of minorities:

media type="youtube" key="YIHU3OdWmT8" height="315" width="420"

=**Women**=

"They cannot think logically or reason objectively since they are ruled only by emotion"- German newspaper, 1937

"The mission of woman is to minister in the home and in her profession to the needs of life from the first to last moment of man's existence."- Gertrud Scholtz-Klink



'Ten Commandments for Choice of Spouse': advice for women >
 * 1) Remember that you are a German.
 * 1) If you are genetically healthy you should not remain unmarried.
 * 2) Keep your body pure.
 * 3) You should keep your mind and spirit pure.
 * 4) As a German, choose only a spouse of the same or Nordic blood.
 * 5) In choosing a spouse, ask about his ancestors.
 * 6) Health is also a precondition for physical beauty.
 * 7) Marry only for love.
 * 8) Don't look for a playmate but for a companion for marriage.
 * 9) You should want to have as many children as possible

Hitlers policies regarding women:
 * Primary roles are of a mother, wife, and homemaker
 * Should marry at a young age to a "racially pure" husband and produce many children
 * Women had the duty of producing "genetically pure" offspring to ensure German supremacy
 * In 1943, a law was discussed that would require all women, married or unmarried, to give birth to 4 children. Once a family had 4 children, the father would be "released" to father more children outside his marriage. (This law was never implemented)
 * Each year, on the birthday of Hitler's mother, women were awarded medals that corresponded with the number of children they had.
 * Having children out of wedlock wasn't a social problem, but encouraged.
 * "Lebensborn"s were created, where unmarried women could get impregnated by "racially pure" SS officers. These buildings were publicly displayed and advertised.
 * Wanted reverse the recent trend of emancipation: women were discouraged from working professionally
 * Considered emancipation of women to be an idea created by Jewish intellectuals
 * Married women doctors and civil servants were dismissed in 1934
 * Starting June 1936 women could no longer act as judges or public prosecutors, on the basis that they were too emotional for the job
 * Due to Hitler's anti-feminism, many women were driven to joining left-wing political parties. In October, 1933, the first women's concentration camp was opened at Moringen, but due to a lack of space was follwed with the creation of one in Lichtenburg and then in Ravensbruck.

Law of the Encouragement of Marriage
 * Law stating that all recently married couples will receive a 1000 mark loan (9 months average income)
 * The birth of one child would mean that 25% of the loan would have to be paid back, while two children meant that 50% would not have to be paid back etc.
 * Meant to encourage Germans to marry and have large families, creating a future generation and replacing men lost in war

Appearance:
 * Make-up, trousers and high heels were frowned upon
 * Perms and dyeing of hair was not allowed
 * Should be full in form, discouraged from dieting. This came from the idea that a fuller figure was better for childbearing
 * Discouraged from smoking (considered non-German)

=**Religious Groups**=

One of the most important things to remember about the treatment of Jews is that resentment to this particular group of people was already deeply-rooted in European society. Negative stereotypes were reinforced by the wealth that many people of Jewish origin had acquired over time, which made them scapegoats for whenever something wasn't going right. When the German economy was in trouble, Hitler largely blamed Jews and portrayed them as a "sub-human" species.

In his book //Mein Kampf,// Hitler portrayed Jews as lazy and said that they had contributed little to the world civilization. Jews were blamed for:
 * prostitution
 * modern art
 * pornography
 * Germany's loss in WW1
 * believed Jews were in a conspiracy with Communists to take over the world

The Nazi party slowly and systematically started depriving Jews of their freedoms:
 * Progressively Deteriorating Living Conditions**
 * 1933: A one-day boycott of Jewish shops took place, which was organized by the SS
 * Many shops started to deny Jewish customers, with signs such s "Jews not admitted" or "Jews enter this place at their own risk" appearing. In some parts of the country Jews were banned from public parks, swimming-pools and public transport.
 * 1933: many Jews were deprived of their shops and jobs
 * 1935: all Jews lost their German citizenship by the Nuremberg Laws on Citizenship and Race. Marriage between Jews and Aryans was made illegal.
 * 1938: //Kristallnacht//, a radical attack on Jews which symbolized the radicalization of German anti-semitism. Jewish shops and houses were attacked and looted during this one night, in a type of //Pogrom.// More that 7,500 shops were destroyed and about 400 synagogues were burnt down.
 * Before the outbreak of the war, Jews were encouraged to emigrate (mostly to the US) in order to make Germany "racially pure".
 * 1941: After the outbreak of the war, Jews were persecuted even more and were openly being killed By the winter of 1941, about 700,000 Jews had been killed, mostly through the use of unsystematic shootings.
 * 1942: At the Wannsee Conference, the "Final Solution" was adopted, with euthanasia as the program's model. This was the blue-print for gassing in concentration camps
 * 1945: By this time, some 5 million Jews had been gassed and otherwise systematically killed in concentration camps.

=**Ethnic minorities:**=


 * Gyps****ies:**

Gypsies, or the Roma (Rroma) people, were seen as a undesirable people and were treated as such Hostilities against gypsies had been present in general culture before the Nazis, due to their wandering lifestyle The Roma holocaust is known as O Porraimos (Porrajmos), which means the Great Devouring

Roma in Concentration Camps:
 * Estimated 500,000 were killed in concentration camps
 * Generally rounded into camps, and in 1942 were ordered to be transferred to a special gypsy camp in Auschwitz
 * In August 1944, on //Zigeunernacht// (or Gypsy Night), approximately 4,000 Roma were gassed in Auschwitz.

=Other minorities:=

Homosexuals:
Policy on Homosexuals
 * Mainly seen under the window of "racial purity" and racial theory and were deemed to be "unnatural"
 * Commonly drew on the fact that Germany lost over 2 million men in WW1, which created an imbalance in the reproductive sex ration in Germany
 * Hindered the furthering of the pure German race, since homosexuals did not procreate.
 * Rech Central Office for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion was created in 1936 to establish a register of homosexuals.

Treatment in Concentration Camps
 * About 10,000-15,000 homosexuals were arrested and sent to camps, where they wore pink triangles
 * Death rates were nearly 3-4 times higher than for other non-Jewish prisoners
 * Some were castrated or were favorites for becoming the subject of medical experiments
 * Generally small imprisoned in small numbers, but did not survive long.


 * Lesbians were not subjected to formal persecution as they were not seen as a threat to the nation*

**Disabled and mentally handicapped persons:**

 * Policies regarding the mentally/hereditarily ill:**
 * Considered to be "burdens on the community", "life without life, worthless life" and "unworthy of life"
 * 1993: The creation of a law that allowed and encouraged sterilization of hereditarily ill, in a nearly compulsory manner.
 * Done to stop such negative genes to be passed down to the new generation and so create a "pure race"
 * Over twelve years, about 350,000 people were forcefully sterilized. About 100 died as a result of this procedure.
 * By 1939, the policy of sterilization developed into one of "mercy killing" or euthanasia, which essentially was one of murdering anybody who was deemed to be racially unfit.
 * This policy of euthanasia became the basis of the "Final Solution" that was the direct cause of the gassing of millions of other "undesirables".


 * Hereditarily ill children:**
 * The government started registering disabled children and had a commission of three doctors, who marked each child's file on whether it was to die or to survive
 * Children were killed using starvation, lethal injections, or by gas in mobile vans ("killer boxes") or "shower" gas chambers.
 * This policy was also gradually extended to adults.
 * Relatives were informed of the child's (and later adult's) death by post, citing sudden illness such as measles or from "general weakness" as the causes of death. The urns of the victims were also sent to the families.



"Genetic illness within the German people." The top of this picture shows an increase in "genetically ill" persons in institutions, whereas the bottom shows how the number of "valuable" families will shrink in proportion to "inferior" families. In 300 years, the ratio is portrayed to become 4% to 96% respectively.

** Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring, July 1933: **
// 1. (ii) Anyone is hereditarily ill within the meaning of this law who suffers from one of the following illnesses: // // (a)Congenital feeblemindedness. // // (b) Schizofrenia. // // (c) Manic depression. // // (d) Hereditary epilepsy. // // (e) Huntington's chorea. // // (f) Hereditary blindness. // // (g) Hereditary deafness. // // (h) Serious physical deformities. // // (iii)In addtiion, anyone who suffers from chronic alcoholism can be sterilised. // // 12 If the (Hereditary Health) Court has decided finally in favor of sterilisation, the sterilisation must be carried out even against the wishes of the person to be sterilised...In so far as other measures prove insufficient the use of force is permissible. //


 * Asocials:**

"Asocial" is a very broad term used to describe anybody who did not fit into the traditional Nazi society, or //Volksgemeinschaft.//

Asocials consisted mostly of:
 * Vagabonds
 * Gypsies
 * Beggars
 * Prostitutes
 * Alcoholics
 * Eccentris
 * Workshy
 * Juvenile delinquents

Most commonly, asocials were pointed out by their unwillingness to work with society, which "gives offense to the community" Asocials were divided into orderly and disorderly. The orderly were given work, while the disorderly were rounded up into camps (they wore black triangles) Over the course of the war, and as unemployment disappeared, the pressure on the undesirables increased.


 * Religious Sects**

Minority Groups most Commonly Discriminated Against:
 * Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Christian Scientists
 * Seventh Day Adventists

Even though the Nazis were careful with the general Christian church, they were brutal regarding minority sects. Groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses had refused to join the army and to swear allegiance, which aggravated the regime. This led to the arrests of entire families and the death of nearly 1/3 of Germany's Jehovah's Witnesses in concentration camps.

Weblinks: http://www.fofweb.com/NuHistory/LowerFrame.asp?iPin=EEPII0140&InputText=women+nazi+treatment+germany&SearchStyle=Keyword&dTitle=Rroma&iRecordType=&TabRecordType=AllRecords&TribeName=&TribeCodeSearch=&dCultureArea=&AllCountPass=30&SubBioCountPass=29&BioCountPass=4&SubCountPass=25&DocCountPass=0&ImgCountPass=0&MapCountPass=1&RecPosition=14

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~baustin/homobg.html

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Women_Nazi_Germany.htm

http://www.historyonthenet.com/Nazi_Germany/women.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERwomen.htm

http://www.historyonthenet.com/Nazi_Germany/minority_groups.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERjews.htm