HITLER'S HOUSEWIVES book review

HITLER'S HOUSEWIVES: German Women on the Home Front
by Tim Heath

The meteoric rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party cowed the masses into a sense of false utopia. During Hitler's 1932 election campaign over half those who voted for Hitler were women. Germany's women had witnessed the anarchy of the post-First World War years, and the chaos brought about by the rival political gangs brawling on their streets. When Hitler came to power there was at last a ray of hope that this man of the people would restore not only political stability to Germany but prosperity to its people.

As reforms were set in place, Hitler encouraged women to step aside from their jobs and allow men to take their place. As the guardian of the home, the women of Hitler's Germany were pinned as the very foundation for a future thousand-year Reich. Not every female in Nazi Germany readily embraced the principle of living in a society where two distinct worlds existed, however with the outbreak of the Second World War, Germany's women would soon find themselves on the frontline.

Ultimately Hitler's housewives experienced mixed fortunes throughout the years of the Second World War. Those whose loved ones went off to war never to return; those who lost children not only to the influences of the Hitler Youth but the Allied bombing; those who sought comfort in the arms of other young men and those who would serve above and beyond of exemplary on the German home front. Their stories form intimate and intricately woven tales of life, love, joy, fear and death. Hitler's Housewives: German Women on the Home Front is not only an essential document towards better understanding one of the twentieth century's greatest tragedies where the women became an inextricable link, but also the role played by Germany's women on the home front which ultimately became blurred within the horrors of total war.

This is their story, in their own words, told for the first time.

MY BOOK REVIEW:
5 Stars: 5/5 Star Rating Scale
         These women and young girl's voices reach across time and space to share with us the horrors, joys, sorrows, laughter, hopes and fears of Hitler's reign of terror.  Heath interviewed women and used journals, photographs, and the like to put together a very real look at what life was like for the average housewife and young girl in Nazi Germany.  I never realized that the women wanted Hitler in office.  They voted him in !   He promised prosperity and they wanted it!  He encouraged them to quit their jobs and give them to men; stay home and have babies; grow little Nazi children for him, and THEY DID!  Gladly!  Well, some didn't go along so willingly but a large majority did.   He wanted the children and youth to be part of his youth organizations and the parents went along with it.  The children enjoyed it.  They had fun!  They liked the uniforms, much as a Girl Scout in America does.  They seemed to be brainwashed to me even though they would say they weren't.  They loved the new wealth and health that Hitler brought to Germany after WWI until WWII began to go wrong, so very very wrong, and then reality hit.  The rationing began.  They were hungry.   The women had to grow vegetables and give up meat.  They had to cook one-pot stews with the vegetables and the young children did not like them for the most part.  The Germans heard rumors of what was going on in the camps but if they asked too many questions, they would disappear too. So they shut up.  They knew families would be taken away by the Nazi police but again, they knew that they had to be quiet or they could be next.  It was unbelievable and fascinating to read, all at the same time.  I could feel for these women and girls as they lost fathers, husbands, homes.....even while they seemed to close their eyes to the horrors around them.  
               I highly recommend this book.   There are some references to sex and some sexual scenes so fair warning.  
             I received a digital ARC of this book from netgalley and Pen and Sword History.  All opinions expressed are my own.

About the Author:


Born in to a military family, Tim Heath’s interest in history led him to research the air war of the Second World War, focussing on the German Luftwaffe and writing extensively for The Armourer Magazine. During the course of his research he has worked closely with the German War Graves Commission at Kassel, Germany, and met with German families and veterans alike. Born out of this work, Hitler's Girls is his first book. He lives in Evesham, Worcestershire, with his partner Paula.