The Concept of Family in NS-Children Propaganda
The Concept of Family in NS-Children Propaganda: A Report from the Archive
Siobhan Chawk
Abstract
Following my archival visits at Miami University’s Special Collections, I investigated the relationship between family, work, and society in Nazi Germany. This essay features my research findings. In it, I focus on the early years of the Third Reich and examine the NS-publication, Hilf mit!, a children’s magazine created by the National Socialist Teachers League. Through an analysis focusing on the format and content of select issues of the periodical, this essay demonstrates how the regime re-emphasized traditional gender roles and, at the same time, reshaped the concept of family, ultimately turning it into a vessel of labour designed to support the national goals of Nazi leadership. Studying how the Nazi print culture engaged the topics of family, work, and society can help us better understand the broader fascist political life.
Introduction
This project began as an independent study in the Fall of 2023 with the unique opportunity to visit the Miami University Archives and analyze primary source documents from Nazi Germany. My initial research focused on propaganda and childhood. With the help of my advisor and the librarian at Miami University, I determined that the material I would be analyzing would all come from the Hilf mit! magazines. These magazines were created for children ages ten and older and distributed by the National Socialist Teachers League (NSLB).[1] Each monthly issue covered a range of topics such as history, sports, short stories, science, songs, games, etc. Almost all material was written in Frakturschrift, a German typeface that was used until the 1940s, so the first step in this research process was learning to read this font. I read numerous magazines and discussed selected excerpts with my advisor in weekly meetings throughout the fall to improve my close reading and analysis skills. The research began to take shape as I realized that family and society became frequent and consistent topics throughout Hilf mit!. I became interested in reading material prior to the start of World War II and the impact of early propaganda in NS society, thus the issues selected for this project were published between 1934 and 1936.
I aim to illustrate through selected quotes and examples how family and society were tied together in a complex relationship through the concept of labour. Specifically, I ask: What role did family play in Nazi ideology? How was the family framed for children and adolescents? What is the value of work for NS society? To answer these questions, I will demonstrate how, through deliberate language use, the NSLB writers articulated the superiority of state affairs when compared with family life. For the National Socialist movement, the family, I claim, served as a vessel to develop a positive attitude towards work that would ultimately benefit the national collective and serve the fascist political project overall.
Family, Work, and Society
During the Third Reich, the structure of the nuclear family was established as the parents provided examples to their children by fulfilling their ‘naturally assigned’ roles. Fathers were mostly responsible for matters outside of home life such as work, finances, politics, etc. A strong father figure to represent the family in the public sphere, created a balance with the mother in the private sphere (Meusel, 389). Yet, whenever fathers were discussed in the context of the intimate family space, a particular lens was used by the Nazi pedagogues and educators of the NSLB. This view was articulated through discussions of fatherly creativity and handiwork. What this looked like in Hilf mit! is explicitly legible in an article titled “Unsere Väter machen Spielzeug” (“Our Fathers Make Toys”). The anonymous author of the article notes, “In Deutschland gibt es nun viele Väter, denen es Freude macht, Spielzeug oder auch andere schöne Gegenstände selbst zu basteln. Man sollte es kaum glauben, wieviel solcher Väter es gibt” (“In Germany, there are many fathers who find joy in creating toys or other beautiful objects. It is hard to believe how many fathers are like that.”) (“Unsere Väter machen Spielzeug” 80). Work is highlighted in a positive manner as it “brings joy” to the father. This positive tone expects father figures to have developed a passion for work since the NS movement finds it to be a joyful task. If work is joyful, then it is not a chore, implying that all men are active participants. Otherwise, this is a call to action. Participation increases a sense of belonging and a more uniform society. Having a special, handmade present from your father would leave both a psychological and physical impression on a young child and subsequently encourage continuation of this tradition. The gifts can be inherited by each generation, linking the past to the present. Actions (in terms of labour) speak louder than words and the effort required to create a meaningful gift is a demonstration of love and commitment to the family. NS ideology was (among other things) based on the concept of labour, and, as the quote suggests, Nazi pedagogues sought to utilize the private and intimate setting of the family to pass on the joys of work to younger generations (Bugglen and Wildt, 96). The positive connotations associated with family and work established the precedent for children to emulate. Shaping the young reader into the Nazi citizen is part of creating a uniform society that aligns and supports the government’s goals. The overall focus and takeaway of this Hilf mit! article on toy making is not the object of the toy itself, rather the actions taken to complete a task and its larger impact for the nation.
For this reason, handiwork is discussed at lengths in Hilf mit! articles and equally targets young boys and girls but with different expectations. The tasks assigned to mothers and fathers are both important and consistently highlighted in various issues. According to the NS educators, parents are responsible for establishing these roles and introducing their children to the value of labour through handiwork. The anonymous author of an article titled “Nördliches Bauerntum” (“Northern Farmers”) notes the following: “Die Betten, Truhen, Tische, Stühle, die sie anfertigen, sind mit schönen Schnitzereien versehen; das lernt immer der Sohn vom Vater, und der hat es wieder von seinen Vorfahren. Die Mädchen weben aus handgesponnenem Garn haltbare Stoffe. Daraus machen sie dann schöne Decken und die Kleidung für Männer und Frauen” (“The beds, chests, tables, and chairs that they create are decorated with beautiful carvings; the sons always learn from their father and he had learned it from his ancestors. The girls weave durable fabric from hand spun yarn. They then use this to make beautiful blankets and clothing for men and women.”) (“Nördliches Bauerntum” 186). Sons learn skills from their fathers, as the father did with his father, and further on in the family lineage. The idea of inheritance and the theme of linking the present to the past through work is again emphasized. The male members of the family are responsible for woodwork which is physically demanding. As the focus transitions to the role of female family members, their duties are to create fabrics for blankets and clothes which are soft and warm. While both women and men are framed through their working contributions, the woman’s products specifically benefit “men and women.” This word choice immediately creates a barrier between the worker and their products since the goods are utilized in a broader setting to impact the German collective. Family has now been utilized for societal benefit, which aligns with the emphasis on labour by the NS German Workers’ Party (NSDAP). The woman’s role goes beyond the conventional responsibility of only raising children, although their working contribution to society still originates in the home. Women were expected to balance both the private and public spheres of life at full capacity; their job to raise children properly to enter society and contribute their energy for the state are of equal value to NSLB authors. Even the magazine title, Hilf mit!, is an imperative statement meaning “help” or “help out.” The skills young readers learn within the home require engagement and dedication to be prepared to support and impact society upon entering adulthood.
Learning by example from family members throughout home life interactions was a theme emphasized by the NSLB authors. The anonymous author of “Gestickte Trachten” (“Stitched Outfits”) notes, “Glücklicherweise gibt es in Deutschland noch manche Gegend, in denen die Töchter voll Stolz die schöne Tracht ihrer Mütter tragen, und am längsten haben sich die mit Handarbeit verzierten Trachten in unserem Volk gehalten. …schönen Verzierungen sein Name in Kreuzstich darauf, der Stickart, die in Deutschland mit ganz besonderer Liebe gearbeitet wird” (“Thankfully there are still areas of Germany where daughters proudly wear the beautiful costumes worn by their mothers that are hand decorated and have been preserved over time by society. …beautiful decorations with their names in cross stitch, a type of embroidery that is created with special love.”) (“Gestickte Trachten” 174). The daughter’s role in keeping traditions alive is just as important as the son’s. She has the responsibility to uphold what has been passed down over the course of many generations. Using the word “noch” has a weight associated with it in this scenario because it translates to the word “still.” There are still daughters who are proud to wear their mother’s clothes. It is the woman’s responsibility to keep her families’ memory alive by embracing the history behind tradition and to engage with work in a diligent manner. The authors utilize the word “work” twice in two different ways, once as “Handarbeit” referring specifically to handiwork and secondly as “mit ganz besonderer Liebe gearbeitet” which means crafted with special love. The second reference has an emotional value added to work which can lead to the implication that work is not a burden, rather a reward or a task that should be honored, a concept that was previously mentioned. Both work related statements stress that energy and effort is required to create a valuable product but also the notion that tradition lives on through labour.
Another strong word choice in “Gestrickte Trachten” is “glücklicherweise,” which works in two ways. First, there is a claim that this tradition is slowly fading away as each new generation is raised. To quickly counter this point there are thankfully mothers who work to keep this tradition alive for a hopeful future. It is their responsibility to pass on the duty to self and love of culture to the next generation of women. Without the words “glücklicherweise” and “noch,” the sentence would be a statement that girls in Germany honor their heritage by learning what their mother learned from her mother and so on and so forth. However, traditions require work and love to survive. Fathers and mothers have an equal responsibility to ensure that their children embrace the past and continue these traditions. Labour is required by the individual to make them an active participant and learn about their family heritage, as emphasized by the Hilf mit! authors. The final words in the quote are boastful (“die in Deutschland mit ganz besonderer Liebe gearbeitet wird”) and emphasize that work in Germany is done with a special type of love. This love drives work and participation in society which is a key element in being a good citizen—i.e., one serving society through work.
The motherly role, according to Nazi standards, aligned with traditional gender stereotypes. As Klaus P. Fischer notes for this context, the “primary role of women was to bear children and accept their roles as homemakers” (Fischer, 356). The Hilf mit! author of “Kind und Mutter” (“Child and Mother”) notes that women who embraced their role as mothers had a job that provided them with “das schönste und höchste Glück” (“the most beautiful and highest form of happiness”) (“Kind und Mutter” 278). This is not the only time these particular words are used to describe mothers. The expectation that all women willingly embrace their role as a mother with a sense of duty, honor, and joy is the narrative the Nazis wanted their young readers to embrace.
The motherly role is endlessly praised throughout Hilf mit! articles. For the writers of the magazine, only women can raise a new generation of Nazi citizens, for which they are placed upon a pedestal and celebrated. The motherly sphere of influence remains almost completely in the home. The Nazi’s perspective on gender roles was traditional and language like “the most beautiful and highest form of happiness” exemplifies how motherhood was discussed and viewed. Women were expected to embrace their “natural role” to become a mother and be content with their job to reproduce for the state. Their contributions were recognized and rewarded each year on August 12, the birthday of Hitler’s mother. The “Honor Cross” was given to fertile mothers who were divided into gold (8+ children), silver (6–8 children), or bronze (5 children) categories (Fischer, 354). Even unmarried women were encouraged to have children through the Lebensborn (Life Springs) program. This organization was established in 1935 and provided safe homes for all women, married or unmarried, who had children with SS men (Fischer, 653). In 1936, a decree was issued that all SS men were required to have at least four children either in or out of wedlock. The women who gave birth to children in Lebensborn homes were protected from the outside world while their offspring would receive basic support and assistance to find adoptive parents (Zentner and Bedürftig, 534). These remotely located homes allowed for almost 11,000 children to be born by 1944 (Fischer, 653). Women’s working contributions to NS society were highly valued and taken to an extreme as they physically went into labour to serve the state.
Mothers were expected to maintain control of the family and home life to provide their children with a proper space to grow up. Such ideas were introduced through games specifically to girls with the expectation outlined in Hilf mit! that mandated pleasant disposition among women: “Das Hausmütterchen ist immer fröhlich und immer fleißig…. Sie ist zwar erst zweieinhalb Jahr alt, aber der Körper muss früh geübt werden” (“The house mother is always happy and hardworking…. She is only two and a half years old, but the body must be trained early.”) (“Unsere Hausmütterchen” 156–57).[2] The positive associations of “immer fröhlich” meaning “always happy” was a feeling cultivated by the Nazis surrounding the motherly role. The second quote emphasizes that the little girl is “only two and half years old” to highlight that it is never too early to prepare for the motherly role. The young children train their bodies (“der Körper muss früh geübt werden”) to make the actions as natural as possible. The body is being conditioned to support motherly tasks to ultimately serve the state. The more they practice, the more prepared they will be to embrace their job as a mother. It provides an insight for their future so that female readers can begin thinking about what their life may be like when they are older. The small edit of adding -chen to the stem “Mutter” has a diminutive, but overall cutesy, effect which emphasizes and highlights the motherly role. It makes the job sound more enjoyable, encouraging females of all ages to take time to practice their skills.
This idea is present throughout the Hilf mit! magazines to demonstrate the role of women in the home and family life. The consistent repetition of the word “Hausmütterchen” serves to familiarize young girls with the domestic chores of a housewife. In another article, for instance, the author notes the following: “Es macht ihr sogar Spaß, Hausmütterchen zu spielen, aufzuschreiben, wenn Salz, Zucker, Mehl und alle anderen notwendigen Sachen zur Neige gehen” (“It brings her joy to play house mother and write down when salt, sugar, flour, and other staples are running low”) (“Hilfst du deiner Mutter im Haushalt?” 270). This frames the motherly role as a simple game to play since even small children enjoy these tasks. The expectation for every woman to fulfill the highest role possible in life was prioritized by the Nazi government. Literature distributed by the NSLB, like the Hilf Mit! issues discussing the family, helped set the standard for children to understand how their actions, too, will one day impact society. The home was meant to be an environment where children practice, or to view it in a more tactical manner, train, before expanding their skill set to benefit the collective.
Hilf mit! outlines this trajectory from home to society for its young readers. The author of the article titled “Hilfst du deiner Mutter im Haushalt?” (“Do You Help Your Mother with Chores?”) notes, “Jetzt ist Ilse schon längst ein blondzöpfiges Hitlermädchen, sie kann sogar schon auf Fahrt das Mittagbrot kochen; Heinz hat neulich seinen ersten Ausmarsch beim Jungvolk gemacht, seine Füße taten ihm ja sehr weh, aber ein deutscher Junge weint nicht…” (“Now Ilse is already a blond Hitler girl, and she can already cook lunch on trips; Heinz recently completed his first Jungvolk trip, his feet were hurting a lot, but a German boy doesn’t cry…”) (“Hilfst du deiner Mutter im Haushalt?” 270). The children would outgrow the nuclear family to dedicate their time to the larger Nazi family. Joining the appropriate Hitler youth organization, in Ilse’s case the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) or League of German Girls, was expected for all children in the transition towards adulthood. Involvement in these organizations was meant as an obligation to the state; this allowed the Nazi government to shape future generations. The state established a security measure through these organizations to ensure that the larger needs of the collective would be addressed once children were able to expand their skills beyond the home. A key feature of Nazi ideology was undertaking any burden necessary in order to promote the wellbeing of the collective. Even going so far as saying “diesen Armen und Ärmsten unter unseren Volksgenossinnen, die dem Staat und dem Volk Kinder geschenkt und damit die höchste und schönste Pflicht erfüllt haben, Frieden und Freude ins Leben bringen” (“the poor and poorest of comrades who have gifted their children to the state, which is a fulfillment of the highest and most beautiful duty, have brought peace and joy into life”) (“Kind und Mutter” 278). All women are able to participate in their motherly roles to positively impact society, regardless of social status. They can give their children to the state as a gift and therefore fulfill their duty, as reiterated through the Lebensborn program. The nuclear family has been utilized as a vessel for procreation to directly serve the state, as children are presented in a gift-like fashion. Service to the state supersedes personal desires and the collective is responsible for stepping in to help when needed. The social construct of family as an intimate realm, however, has been suspended. The process of women having children has become a contract between the woman and the state, not woman and man. State matters are dissolving the private sphere of the nuclear family to emphasize the importance of duty to the collective. The shift from the family to the state can even be seen on a syntactical level: “Wir leben nicht nur für uns, sondern wir leben für Familie, Gemeinschaft, die Zukunftsentwicklung unseres Volkes” (“We don’t only live for ourselves, rather we live for the family, community, and the future development of our society”) (“Was du deinem Volke schuldig bist” 332). The focus changes as the sentence progresses from the once private and intimate setting of “we” and the family into the abstract realm of an entire society.
Conclusion
The concept of family put forward in the Hilf mit! magazines are a direct reflection of the Nazi party and their understanding of gender roles. While there is a constant reinforcement of traditional norms, this “family” serves a larger purpose to draw the child out of the home (private sphere) and into society (public sphere). Family is the vehicle to introduce labour and work to a child in an intimate setting. The NSDAP is rooted in labour, whether it is handiwork, a typical job, or bearing children. All actions are done out of love and with joy which eliminates the sense of a burden since it serves society. The act of work blurs the lines of the family since it is a public aspect of life, and then completely disintegrates the family entirely. Children are raised to ultimately leave the family and serve the state. The once safe space of the private sphere is no longer at the core of the family in the Third Reich. Rather, the family is a training space to prepare children for the larger collective and the fascist political program as a whole. The language used to describe the family condition readers to look outwards towards society and tailor their lives to support the state’s goals. Society was driven by work, and was dependent upon the individual. The emphasis on labour included men, women, and children, all contributing their specific roles to support the NS vision of society.
Notes
[1] The Nationalsozialistische Lehrerbund (NSLB) or National Socialist Teachers’ League was initially established in 1927 as an affiliated organization of the NSDAP (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or National Socialist German Workers Party) and became mainstream by 1933 (Kühnel, 245). Hans Schemm is recognized as the founder of this group (Zentner and Bedürftig, 635). Schemm was an elementary school teacher who became a local group leader in Bayreuth and eventually the Bavarian minister for instruction and worship in 1933 (Zentner and Bedürftig, 834). Teachers were required to join this organization since it was created to monitor education across the country. There were mandatory eight- to fourteen-day courses held for indoctrination and emphasized the duties teachers were responsible for under the NS government (Fischer, 347). Educators were viewed as “soldiers who serve(s) the aims of National Socialism on the cultural-political front” (Fischer, 349).
[2] “Sie” refers to the young girl who is the focus of this article named Lore.
Works Cited
Buggeln, Marc, and Michael Wildt, eds. Arbeit Im Nationalsozialismus. de Gruyter, 2014.
Fischer, Klaus P. Nazi Germany: A New History. Continuum, 1995.
“Gestickte Trachten,” Hilf mit!, nr. 6, März 1935, p. 174.
“Hilfst du deiner Mutter im Haushalt?,” Hilf mit!, nr. 9, Juni 1934, pp. 269–270.
“Kind und Mutter - Eine Plauderei zum Hilfswerk ‘Mutter und Kind’,” Hilf mit!, nr. 9, Juni 1934, pp. 278–279.
Kühnel, Franz. Hans Schemm: Gauleiter und Kulturminister (1891-1935). vol. 37. Schriftenreihe des Stadtarchivs Nürnberg. 1985.
Meusel, Alfred. “National Socialism and the Family.” Sociological Review (1908-1952), vol. a28, no. 4, Oct. 1936, pp. 389–411.
“Nördliches Bauerntum,” Hilf mit!, nr. 6, März 1935, pp. 186–187.
“Unsere Väter machen Spielzeug,” Hilf mit!, nr. 3, Dezember 1935, pp. 80–81.
“Unsere Hausmütterchen," Hilf mit!, nr. 5, Februar 1936, pp. 156–57.
“Was du deinem Volke schuldig bist,” Hilf mit!, nr. 11, August 1935, p. 332.
Zentner, Christian and Friedemann Bedürftig. “Lebensborn.” The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. Transl. by Amy Hackett. vol. 1. Macmillan, 1991, p. 534.
Zentner, Christian and Friedemann Bedürftig. “National Socialist Teachers’ League.” The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. Transl. by Amy Hackett. vol. 2. Macmillan, 1991, pp. 635–36.
Zentner, Christian and Friedemann Bedürftig. “Schemm, Hans.” The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. Transl. by Amy Hackett. vol. 2. Macmillan, 1991, p. 834.
Siobhan Chawk is an undergraduate student at the University of Dayton studying Biochemistry and German. She began her love of German language after attending a German Gymnasium from 2012-2014. Her passion continues to grow as she was awarded with an English Teaching Assistant position through the Fulbright program and will live in Germany for the 2024-2025 school year.
Picture: “Nazi campaign poster.” Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/. Distributed under a CC0 2.0 license. No changes have been made.
