Growing Up Female in Nazi Germany

Conclusion

Conclusion The point of departure for this study was to try to grasp the attempt between 1933 and 1945 to forcibly organize girls within a National Socialist organization external to the schools. The general question was broken down into several aspects: To what extent were girls in fact encompassed in and by these structures ? What needs and motives underlay the desire of a girl to become a member of the League of German Girls? And for what reasons did she or her parents oppose her membership there? What impact did being in the league have on the respective social milieu of a member? I will try to address these questions in summary form based on the ‹ndings of the present investigation. Both in Minden and Wedding, the League of German Girls was insigni‹cant before 1933, though for different reasons. In Protestant Minden, the high turnout for the Nazis at the polls was hinged to the hope that National Socialism might help in trying to salvage the social milieu of Protestant life that had been unraveling since 1918. Among its main buttresses was the family, marked by a high degree of gender polarity. Central to its compass was the idea that a woman’s place (and thus girl’s place) was in the home. For that overriding reason, even in families that had supported the National Socialists by their vote, it was considered improper for girls and teenagers to become involved in activities external to the home. In Wedding before 1933, the league likewise had made few inroads among youth. The Hitler Youth there was established by high school pupils, which means it was recruited from social strata numerically in the decided minority in the Wedding district. The League of German Girls became a mass organization after the National Socialists acceded to state power in January 1933. The 247 National Socialist girls’ organization recruited from several sources. On the one hand, many young people had little choice but to switch to the National Socialist youth organization after the forcible destruction and Gleichschaltung of the youth organizations that had existed prior to 1933 and that they belonged to. On the other hand, young people were compelled to join the ranks of the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls by measures of the party and regime, culminating in the Hitler Youth Law of 1936 and the implementation decrees on this law of 1939. However, a sizable segment of the huge growth in membership in the league after 1933 can only be explained by the desire on the part of many girls to become an active member. Yet those who joined up were not necessarily dedicated National Socialists. Most entered the organization’s ranks because they felt attracted by the array of leisure-time activities it offered, ranging from sports to singing and handicrafts, and it was quite similar to the fare familiar to them from other youth organizations. This was complemented by the desire to be part of the action and integrated into the ranks of German youth. In comparison, “ideological schooling” was far less signi‹cant a motive in most girls’ minds. The fact that the league appealed to girls through the range of activities it offered—and not through a speci‹c ideology—helps explain the marked and broad power of attraction it enjoyed. On the other hand, this was likewise the reason why the organization’s in›uence was basically limited to those age groups where its pro‹le of activities resonated most strongly, namely, girls ages ten to fourteen. After they reached the age of fourteen , many girls lost interest in the league and were also able, based on their new vocational involvement, to increasingly withdraw from the ambit of the organization’s in›uence. The extent of its reach was by no means identical with the wish of the National Socialist state to have every Aryan German girl between the ages of ten and eighteen in the active ranks of the league. Though this policy was massively communicated to the young, a bureaucratic network was required to implement it in a comprehensive manner. Where that network was missing, the system relied on voluntary enlistment as a member. This is why the extent of its coverage remained dependent on the respective social milieu. Initially, both in Minden and Wedding, the schools provided a relatively simple channel for recruitment. Yet a comparison between these two localities indicates that pressure through the schools was not alone suf‹cient...