Aryan

The Nazis wanted to increase a birth rate that had fallen by the early 1930s, creating future workers and soldiers. They also wanted more children whom they classified as ‘Aryan’. Motherhood was therefore presented as a duty to the nation, but only for women the regime judged racially and hereditarily suitable.

Annual births had fallen to around one million by 1933, and the Nazis wanted more children who would become future workers and soldiers. However, this was not encouragement for every family equally: Nazi racial beliefs prioritised children they classified as ‘Aryan’. This category rested on racist ideas, not a genuine biological hierarchy.

The regime wanted more children to strengthen Germany, especially children it classified as ‘Aryan’. Women's reproductive choices were therefore tied to Nazi population and racial aims.