Women of the Third Reich

by Anna Maria Sigmund

Book Overview

This groundbreaking work examines the official Nazi portrayal of women in the Third Reich as well as the real lives of eight women who were a part of the Nazi regime or played a role in its... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1553211057
• ISBN13: 9781553211051
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: NDE Publishing
• Length: 236 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A Look at the Distaff Side of Hitler's Germany

I recently purchased this as a stand-alone volume because in the steadily growing fascination with the Third Reich there has been very little attention given to the female half of the population, concentration instead being on matters military and political. Austrian Anna Maria Sigmund's slim volume goes a ways toward correcting the imbalance by providing glimpses into the lives of some of the more notable female members of the Nazi hierarchy. In her introductory chapter we are reminded that the National Socialist view of women and their role in society was almost exclusively as domestic partners, housefrau, and mothers. Therefore, the subjects here must be regarded as atypical role models for the society at large. Most of the eight women featured here led lives far removed from that experienced by the average woman of the era, often as the consort of one of the leaders. They include the two successive wives of Reichmarshall Hermann Goering, Carin and Emmy; Magda, wife of Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels; Henriette, wife of Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach; and the two most prominent women in the life of Adolf Hitler, his niece Geli Raubal and his long-time mistress Eva Braun. Rounding out the group are two who serve as a study in contrasts: German Women's League head and spokeswoman, the rather colorless and severe Gertrud Scholtz-Klink; and the flamboyant sportswoman/actress/movie director Leni Riefenstahl. My only regret in the selection is the relegation of my own personal favorite, the aviatrix Hanna Reitsch, to a brief paragraph in the introduction. I was especially glad to learn more about "Nordic cult figure" Carin Goering, who died well before the war; actress Emmy Sonnemann who followed her as wife of the Luftwaffe chief; and the sometimes-tempestous Magda. ( I was surprised to learn that both Magda and her spouse Josef had had love affairs with persons of Jewish descent. ) Unfortunately, Hitler's supposed attraction to his niece Geli remains as uncertain as ever; though evidence seems to show he weathered her suicide better than has sometimes been presented. One of her more revealing subjects/sources is Henriette von Schirach, who as daughter of Hitler's personal photographer Henrich Hoffmann, was in a position to see most of the Nazi hierarchy "up close and personal". Henriette was a close friend of both Hitler's niece Geli, as well as her father's employee, Eva Braun. Without totally condemning the frequently-cited "Putzi" Hanfstaengl as a source for the private lives of the top Nazis, Sigmund shows just how unreliable his testemony can be. In several places she utilizes sources she obviously regards as suspect in order to demonstrate the distortions that have overtaken some of her subjects in subsequent years. Those who survived the downfall of the Reich went into hiding like Scholtz-Klink; or faced imprisonment and persecution for their part in supporting or participating in events of the regime. Emmy Goer