Women in Service for the Fatherland

Century, Rachel

doi:10.1057/978-1-137-54893-1_2

Rachel Century⁵

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide ((PSHG))

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Abstract

Century examines two groups of women who volunteered or were conscripted as auxiliaries for the Nazis in administrative roles: SS-Helferinnen, who supported the SS, and Nachrichtenhelferinnen who supported the army. Century explores the roots of each group, outlining the recruitment processes and the expectations placed upon the recruits. In doing so, she identifies important differences between the two groups, reflected in the way the two groups were perceived and received by the general public. Drawing on a variety of case studies, Century is able to determine why women chose – where such a choice existed – to volunteer as either an SS-Helferin or a Nachrichtenhelferin.

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Notes

1.
Franz W. Seidler, Frauen zu den Waffen (Koblenz/Bonn: Wehr&Wissen, 1978), p.43, taken from Hitler’s speech, reprinted in Ellen Semmelroth and Renate von Stieda, eds., N.S Frauenbuch (Munich: Lehmann, 1934), p.11.
2.
See Seidler, Frauen, p.59 and Franz W. Seidler, Blitzmädchen (Koblenz/Bonn: Wehr&Wissen, 1979), p.12.
3.
‘Nachrichten’ can be translated as communication, intelligence, news, and messages; since those working in ‘Nachrichtendienst’ were tasked as telephone, radio and telegraph operators, the chosen translation here is ‘communication’.
4.
Adam Tooze, The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy (London: Allen Lane, 2006), p.513.
5.
Tooze, Wages, pp.513–515.
6.
Ursula von Gersdorff, Frauen im Kriegsdienst (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1969), p.31.
7.
Jeff M. Tuten, ‘Germany and the World Wars’ in Nancy Loring Goldman, ed., Female Soldiers – combatants or noncombatants. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1982), p.49.
8.
Rosemarie Killius, Frauen für die Front. Gespräche mit Wehrmachtshelferinnen (Leipzig: Militzke Verlag, 2003), p.17.
9.
Jutta Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps. Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949 (Hamburg: Hamburger Edition, 2011), p.42.
10.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, pp.61, 63.
11.
Gesamtbericht: Mutschler, Reichsschule-SS, 15 September 1944, Bundesarchiv Berlin (BArch), NS 19/3334.
12.
The term ‘Nachrichtenhelferinnen’ will be used to refer to those women working in this position for the Army; those working in this position for the SS will be referred to as ‘SS-Helferinnen’. Although this term includes their colleagues who performed other tasks, in this context it will denote those Nachrichtenhelferinnen in the SS-Helferinnenkorps to differentiate them from the Nachrichtenhelferinnen of the Army.
13.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Ursula R.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front p.46. All names marked with one star (*) are pseudonyms allocated in the given sources.
14.
This term was given to the Nachrichtenhelferinnen, as their uniform featured a blitz – lightening – symbol; interview with Marinehelferin Elisabeth M.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front p.133.
15.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Ursula R.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front p.46.
16.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Ruth A.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front p.165.
17.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Karola M.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front p.173.
18.
The relationships between German soldiers and Nachrichtenhelferinnen will be explored in the following chapter.
19.
Udo Pini, Leibeskult und Liebeskitsch: Erotik im Dritten Reich (Munich: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1992), p.328.
20.
Erlaß des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht, reprinted in von Gersdorff, Frauen, pp.61–62.
21.
von Gersdorff, Frauen, pp.61–62.
22.
Ina Seidel and Hanns Grosser, eds., Dienende Herzen Kriegsbriefe von Nachrichtenhelferinnen des Heeres (Berlin: Wilhelm Limpert-Verlag, 1942), pp.77–78. It is likely that the term was considered derogatory as the women were portrayed as ‘unladylike’.
23.
Letter, 2 July 1944, personnel file of Sofie E., U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. (NARA), A 3343-SF-A0017-1516–1690.
24.
For details of the criteria for SS brides, and for the marriage application procedure, see chapter 5.
25.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, p.272.
26.
Seidler, Frauen, p.179.
27.
Bundesarchiv Koblenz Plakatsammlung, Autumn 1944, reprinted in von Gersdorff, Frauen, pp.438–439.
28.
von Gersdorff, Frauen, pp.438–439.
29.
See Antony Beevor, Stalingrad (London: Penguin Books, 1998) and Christer Bergström, Black Cross, Red Star: Air War Over the Eastern Front: Everything For Stalingrad, Volume 3 (Royston, Hertfordshire: Eagle Editions, 2006).
30.
Franka Maubach, Die Stellung halten (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009), and von Gersdorff, Frauen, pp.60–62.
31.
Seidler, Frauen, pp.59–60.
32.
Erika Schulemann, Als Nachrichtenhelferin in Frankreich (Berlin: Junge Generation Verlag, 1943). Also appeared as a serial novel in the BDM magazine, ‘Mädel – eure Welt’.
33.
Seidel and Grosser, Dienende Herzen.
34.
Seidel and Grosser, Dienende Herzen, pp.13, 22, 23.
35.
Seidel and Grosser, Dienende Herzen, p.145.
36.
Seidel and Grosser, Dienende Herzen, p.146.
37.
Königsberger Allgemeine Zeitung, 4 September 1942, reprinted in an advertisement for the book, placed at the back of Edith Müller-Beeck, Mein kleines, großes Tagebuch. Aufzeichnungen einer Nachrichtenhelferin (Chemnitz: Pickenhahn & Sohn, 1944).
38.
Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, 17 August 1942, reprinted in an advertisement for the book, placed at the back of Müller-Beeck, Tagebuch.
39.
Müller-Beeck Tagebuch, p.8.
40.
Confidential Information for the Press concerning the communication auxiliaries, 1 July 1941, Bundesarchiv Koblenz Slg. Oberheitmann vom 1.7-31.7.1941 ZSg 109/16, reprinted in von Gersdorff, Frauen, p.335.
41.
Letter from the Reichsarbeitminister, 5 December 1941 Bundesarchiv Koblenz R 41/162 Bd II, reprinted in von Gersdorff, Frauen, pp.354–355.
42.
von Gersdorff, Frauen, pp.337–338.
43.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, p.62.
44.
SS Frauen (file Edith Beher) published in Henry Friedlander and Sybil Milton, eds., Berlin Document Center (New York; London: Garland, 1992), p.396.
45.
Friedlander and Milton, Berlin Document Center, p.396
46.
Personnel file of Anneliese R., BArch SF B0024.
47.
See Luise H.’s application, for example, personnel file of Luise H., BArch SF A0037.
48.
Assessment of Gertrud S., Gertrud S.’s personnel file, 6 March 1944, BArch SF B0026.
49.
Peter Longerich, Heinrich Himmler: A life (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), pp.329, 334–335.
50.
Letter written by the SS-Helferin school doctor, detailing why certain women were unsuitable for the position of Nachrichtenhelferin, BArch SF B0025.
51.
Longerich, Heinrich Himmler, pp.126, 302, 353, for example.
52.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, p.122.
53.
See official requirements, printed in Seelower Tageblatt, No.97, 1943; 27 April 1943, p.4, available online: http://tinyurl.com/7z92624 and Die Grenz-Zeitung (Stolp), No.34, 1943; 4 February 1943 p.6.
54.
Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.129.
55.
8 March 1945, available online: http://www.wien.gv.at/rk/historisch/1945/maerz.html This advertisement also appeared in the Viennese weekly ‘Deutsches Volksblatt’, 3 March 1945.
56.
Baacke was classified by the Nazis as a Mischlinge (part-Jewish, part-Aryan person) of the second degree, as her mother’s mother was Jewish; therefore she was considered ¼ Jewish. Ironically, under Jewish Halacha (law), she would have been considered fully Jewish.
57.
Margaret Baacke, Tainted Blood? Memoirs of a Part-Jewish Girl in the Third Reich 1933–1945 (Bloomington, Indiana and Milton Keynes, UK: AuthorHouse, 2007), pp.340–342.
58.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps p.238.
59.
Personnel file of Anna F., BArch SF A0021.
60.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, p.68.
61.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Isolde Springer* in Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.323.
62.
This was the youth branch of the Young German Order, a para-military organisation, which had been banned by the Nazis in 1933.
63.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Pauline Ihle* in Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.59.
64.
Undated letter, Seidel and Grosser, Dienende Herzen, p.37.
65.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Leni Ullmann* in Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.324.
66.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Pauline Ihle* in Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.321.
67.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Ursula R.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front, p.40.
68.
See the introduction for an outline of the Year of Duty.
69.
August Schalkhaeuser, Hellmuth Reinhardt, and H. Heitmann, Personnel and Administration Project 2b, Part VI: German Women in War Service During World War II (Headquarters, European Command, Historical Division: 1949), pp.134–135.
70.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Sigrid Meißner* in Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.322.
71.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Käthe Minges* in Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.322.
72.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Ute Raven* in Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.323.
73.
Marriage application of Nelli F., BArch SF A0021.
74.
Herta J.’s personnel file, BArch SF A0039.
75.
Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich. The Princes von Hessen in Nazi Germany (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp.380–389, p.261, pp.264–265.
76.
The command for Margarethe zu Waldeck, 18 January 1944, BArch SF B0043.
77.
The call-up of Princess Alexandra of Waldeck and Pyrmont, 20 November 1943, BArch SF B0042.
78.
Princess Alexandra’s entrance exam, BArch SF B0042.
79.
Report written 5 January 1944, BArch SF B0042.
80.
Sometimes Princess Ingeborg was known as Princess Stephan of Schaumburg-Lippe, her husband’s name, as was tradition in Germany.
81.
Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, p.268.
82.
Letter written by the commander of the School, 19 January 1944, BArch SF B0026.
83.
Call-up letter of Princess Ingeborg Alix zu Schaumburg-Lippe, 7 February 1944, BArch SF B0026.
84.
Letter to Princess Ingeborg Alix, written by Sachs, 19 February 1944, BArch SF B0026.
85.
Telegram sent to the SS-Chef des Fernmeldewesen Berlin, from the Reichsschule für SS-Helferinnen, 4 August 1944, BArch SF B0026.
86.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, p.65.
87.
Letter written by Edmund M., 14 May 1943, BArch SF B0005.
88.
Letter written by Edmund M., 15 September 1943 BArch SF B0005.
89.
Letter written by Princess Stefan von Schaumburg-Lippe to the commander of the Helferinnen school, 26 March 1945, BArch SF A0045.
90.
Letter written by Karl Mutschler, the Commander of the SS-Helferinnen school, 30 March 1945, BArch SF A0045.
91.
Clare Varner-Rassmann, ‘Briefe an Franzl’ in Jürgen Kleindienst, ed., Täglich Krieg Deutschland 1939–1945 (Berlin: JKL Publications, 2000) Reihe ZEITGUT, Band 9, p.180.
92.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Pauline Ihle* in Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.103.
93.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Isolde Springer* in Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.79.
94.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Ilse H.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front, p.21.
95.
Müller-Beeck, Tagebuch, pp.11–12.
96.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Ursula R.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front, pp.40, 42.
97.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Karola M.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front, p.167.
98.
Baacke, Tainted Blood?, p.209.
99.
Irene Gunther, Nazi Chic? Fashioning Women in the Third Reich (Oxford, New York: Berg, 2004), pp.30, 119, 121.
100.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Elfie R.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front, p.141.
101.
Report by Nachrichtenhelferin Elisabeth L.* in Szepansky, Blitzmädel, p.92.
102.
Staff order, 30 January 1943, BArch NS 32 II/56.
103.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, pp.230–231.
104.
Daily command, 9 December 1943, BArch NS 32 II/56.
105.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Ursula R.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front, pp.42–43.
106.
Trudi Pätz, ‘Flucht aus dem Inferno’ in Kleindienst, ed., Täglich Krieg, p.89. The uniform of the Organisation Todt Nachrichtenhelferinnen was embroidered with eagles, so it is likely that Trudi Pätz worked for the organisation.
107.
Gunther, Nazi Chic?, p.126.
108.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Pauline Ihle* in Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.123.
109.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Ursula R.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front, p.54.
110.
Müller-Beeck, Tagebuch, p.90.
111.
Letters concerning the silver buckle, 20 July 1944 and 31 July 1944, BArch NS 19/1887.
112.
Dienstordnung für die SS-Helferinnen, in BArch NS 32 II/7.
113.
Kurt Gerhard Klietmann, Auszeichnungen des Deutschen Reiches 1936–1945: eine Dokumentation ziviler und militarischer Verdienst- und Ehrenzeichen (Stuttart: Motorbuch, 1981), p.193.
114.
Institut für Zeitgeschichte München MA 144/3, Führernotiz, 1942 (no exact date is given), reprinted in von Gersdorff, Frauen, p.356.
115.
von Gersdorff, Frauen, p.356.
116.
Brian L. Davies, German Army Uniforms and Insignia, 1933–1945 (London: Brockhampton Press, 2000), p.9.
117.
These were women tasked with general office work and administration; similar to Nachrichtenhelferinnen they released men so they could fight at the front.
118.
Gordon Williamson, World War II German Womens Auxiliary Services (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2012), p.9.
119.
Müller-Beeck, Tagebuch, p.13.
120.
Müller-Beeck, Tagebuch. p.27.
121.
Staff Command, 15 December 1942, BArch NS 32 II/56.
122.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, p.237.
123.
Der Reichsführer-SS, Reichsminister des Innern, [und] Der Chef des Fernmeldewesens, Vorläufige Einsatzordung für SS-Helferinnen (Berlin: 1944), p.3, available in the Bundesarchiv, BArch NS 32 II/7.
124.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Elfie R.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front, pp.139–140, p.147.
125.
Werner Niehaus, Die Nachrichtentruppe 1914 bis heute, Entstehung und Einsatz (Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag, 1980), p.286.
126.
Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.94.
127.
Georg Tessin, Verbände und Truppen der deutschten Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS, Vol.2: Die Landstreitkräfte 1–5 (Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag, 1973, 2^nd edition).
128.
See, for example, interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Helga Th.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front, pp.150–151.
129.
Schulemann, Als Nachrichtenhelferin in Frankreich, p.9.
130.
Gisela Miller-Kipp, ‘Auch Du gehörst dem Führer’. Die Geschichte des Bundes Deutscher Mädel (BDM) in Quellen und Dokumenten (Weinheim: Juventa-Verlag, 2002, 2nd edition), p.230.
131.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Ursula R.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front, p.42.
132.
See, for example, Staff Orders, 20 December 1943, and 10 January 1944, BArch NS 32 II 59; Rules and Procedures, 2 June 1943, BArch 32 II 62; and Weekly and Daily Schedules 20 March 1945, BArch NS 32 II 71; and 9 February 1945, BArch NS 32 II 75.
133.
See, for example, a blank test, 6 April 1944, BArch SF B0025, and the exam taken by Luise H., BArch SF A0037, or the exam taken by Princess Alexandra, BArch SF B0042.
134.
Der Reichsführer-SS, Vorläufige Einsatzordung, p.3.
135.
Training course instructions, BArch NS 32 II 15.
136.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, pp.218–223.
137.
Der Reichsführer-SS, Vorläufige Einsatzordung, p.8.
138.
Personnel file of Lieselotte C., BArch SF A0011.
139.
Irene K.’s oath, BArch SF A0047.
140.
See Friedlander and Milton, eds., Berlin Document Center, p.398.
141.
Personnel file of Elisabeth S., 19 January 1945, BArch SF B0028.
142.
Maubach, Die Stellung halten, p.189.
143.
Dienstordnung für Nachrichtenhelferinnen des Heeres vom 1 April 1942, in: HVBl. 1942 B Ziff. 285, §8 [Pflichten], Abs.2, reprinted in Maubach, Die Stellung halten, pp.189–190.
144.
Report by Nachrichtenhelferin Elisabeth L.* in Szepansky, Blitzmädel, pp.95–96.
145.
Interview with Nachrichtenhelferin Karola M.* in Killius, Frauen für die Front, p.171.
146.
The call-up order of Princess Alexandra of Waldeck and Pyrmont, 20 November 1943, BArch SF B0042, for example.
147.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, p.239.
148.
Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps p.246.
149.
Käthe S.’s CV, undated, BArch SF B0034.
150.
Personnel file Irmgard B., 3 September 1943, BArch SF A0005.
151.
This is according to Mühlenberg’s statistical analysis of dismissals from the SS school. Of the 388 women who were dismissed from basic training, six girls were dismissed for theft. Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, pp.239, 246.
152.
Personnel file of Charlotte G., BArch SF A0025.
153.
Please note, this is not the same Edith whose diary was published (Edith Müller-Beeck), nor is she the same Edith whose father wrote requesting her dismissal.
154.
Personnel file of Charlotte K., letter 31 August 1943, BArch SF B0010.
155.
Letter 14 September 1943, BArch SF B0010.
156.
155 women were dismissed from duty; of these, 6 were dismissed for theft. Mühlenberg, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps, pp.246, p.315.
157.
Personnel file of Gerda W., NARA, A 3343-SF-B0043-2410-2568.
158.
Enforcement ruling, personnel file of Anny H., 19 October1943, NARA, A 3343-SF-A0031-2052-2292.
159.
Personnel file of Ilse S., letter 21 March 1944, BArch SF A0001.
160.
Letters 17 and 21 March 1944 in BArch SF A0001.
161.
Personnel file of Else F., NARA, A 3343-SF-A0018-1394-1972, and Meldebogen, procedural file of Else F., 21 May 1946, Staatsarchiv Ludwigsburg (StAL), EL 902/15 Spruchkammer 30 Ludwigsburg, bundle 5136.
162.
Personnel file of Margarete S., letters 20, 21 and 27 September 1943, BArch SF B0024.
163.
Letter written by the SS-Obersturmbahnführer and Kommandeur, 26 July 1944, BArch SF B0047.
164.
Letter, 15 May 1944, Lore G.’s personnel file, BArch SF A0026.
165.
Personnel file of Ingelore R., BArch SF B0022.
166.
Letter, 21 May 1944, personnel file of Ruth E., BArch SF A0016.
167.
Lotti A.’s personnel file, letters 3, 9, 13 and 23 January 1945, BArch SF A0002.
168.
Personnel file of Elizabeth G., BArch SF A0026.
169.
Letter 12 May 1943, personnel file of Erika H., BArch SF A0036.
170.
Ruth P.’s personnel file, letter 22 November 1943, BArch SF B0017.
171.
Edith M.’s personnel file, letters 19 June 1943, 23 August 1943, and 13 September 1943, BArch SF B0010.

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Century, R. (2017). Women in Service for the Fatherland. In: Female Administrators of the Third Reich. Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54893-1_2

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54893-1_2
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