Throughout history, the roles of women have always been fluid. During World War II in America and Britain, there were aggressive campaigns to have women come to work in all fields left vacant by men. In contrast, Hitler had a vision of women as homemakers. Mothers were lauded by being awarded annual awards for how many children they have birthed in their lifetime. The woman who had birthed the most living children throughout her lifetime was awarded The Motherhood Cross Award (on Hitler’s own mother’s birthday of August 12.) This was to cast motherhood in a positive light and set the tone for acceptable sexual behavior of women.
What is more interesting is the development of this dialogue throughout the evolution of the Reich. Hitler was determined to have a generation of “pure” children and strongly encouraged all fertile young women (whether they were married or not) to have as many children fathered by SS members as possible. During this time, it’s important to note that abortion was also almost wholly illegal due to Hitler’s dream of a booming population. Abortion performed on an “Aryan” mother was considered to be a capital offense.