The title of this book is largely misleading as the women whose testimonies are featured are wives yet are part- or full-time employed. They are working in small shops, bakeries and employed in secretarial work that once the manpower is short, do adapt for working on production lines.
Besides the testimonies and some basic historic research the author is using no archives and other published works on the topic. Therefore, from an academic perspective, the testimonies do have a limited impact.
However, after a well-deserved filter of too much irrelevant information for the topic - including about the everyday marital interactions - the book can be used as part of a wider research about the role and social function of women during the 1939-1945 Nazi Germany. It starts from the membership into various girls´ organisations whose membership was based, among others, on the proof of ancestry, and the highly political/propaganda whose educational chore was to project an ideal of womanhood which was ´fit, healthy and beautiful´. The young women were supposed to help the ´survival of the nation´ through childbearing and intensive homecare activities.
Interestingly, the testimonies are offering insights not only into the daily lives of women, but equally proves the rift between the generations and the slow wearing away of the social fabric during the last years of Nazi regime.
It is an informative read but should be understood within the limits of the choice of testimonies themselves.
Rating: 3 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
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