"Germany Grows through Strong Mothers and Healthy Children": Propaganda Poster by the Mother and Child Relief Agency (1935)
In National Socialist propaganda about women and families, men and women were portrayed as having equal importance in the German national community [Volksgemeinschaft]. But because women’s “natural” tasks – motherhood and housekeeping – were indispensable to the continued existence of the Aryan race, women were expected to concentrate on those tasks alone. The ideological enhancement and glorification of women's role in the national community was manifested, for instance, in the militaristic language used in Nazi propaganda. Women were assigned to the "child-bearing front" or were called upon to take part in the "birthrate battle." In this way, their contribution to the ongoing war among the races was placed on an equal footing with that of male soldiers. This propaganda poster by the Mother and Child Relief Agency proclaims, "Germany Grows through Strong Mothers and Healthy Children."
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