Children in Nazi Germany were told that women were radically different from men. The fight for equal rights for men and women that had become a part of democratic struggles everywhere was wrong and it would destroy the society. While boys were taught to be aggressive, masculine and steel-hearted, girls were told that they had to become good mothers and rear pure-blooded Aryan children. Girls had to maintain the purity of the race, distance themselves from Jews, look after the home, and teach their children Nazi values. They had to be the bearers of the Aryan culture and race.

In Nazi Germany all mothers were not treated equally. Women who bore racially undesirable children were punished and those who produced racially desirable children were awarded. They were given favored treatment in hospitals and were also entitled to concessions in shops and on theatre tickets and railway fares. To encourage women to produce many children, Honor crosses were awarded. A bronze cross was given for four children, silver for six and gold for eight or more.

All ‘Aryan’ women who deviated from the prescribed code of conduct were publicly condemned and severely punished.