Foreign Labor in Nazi Germany

by Homze, Edward L (2015)

Abstract

During World War II, Germany recruited over eight million foreign laborers from her allies, the neutral countries, and the occupied territories. This book describes the inception, organization, and administration of the Nazi foreign labor program and its relationship to the over-all economy and government.Originally published in 1967.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Key Passage

Of all the early Nazi labor actions, none had as serious aftereffects as the campaign to remove women from all gainful employment. Soon after the Nazis assumed power, they launched an intensive propaganda campaign to release women from industry. The virtues of motherhood were extolled. Women were constantly being told that their proper role was in the home. Monetary incentives like the marriage loans were enacted. Generous allowances were later granted to soldiers' wives; as a result, many women refused to work. Klein noted that these measures were only too successful in inculcating the idea that women should remain in the home, "for their effects persisted into the period when labor became scarce."18 Naturally, the campaign to remove women from industry cannot be explained exclusively in economic terms. The Nazi philosophy, imbued with the concept of racial supremacy, dictated that every effort should be made to increase the population. The German birth rate had been steadily declining since the 1870's, as it had in all of western Europe, and the Nazis wanted to arrest this decline. They were extremely successful not only in arresting the decline, but also in rapidly increasing the birth rate by the end of the 1930's. (p.8)

Links to Reference

• https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=axTWCgAAQBAJ
• https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=axTWCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=%22Labor%22+%26+%22Nazi%22&ots=E1cfHD1YJx&sig=FglaLht0zhMWK9OLy1AN17hnJ3s

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