From Nurturing the Nation to Purifying the Volk: Weimar and Nazi Family Policy, 1918-1945

Michelle Mouton's study of family policy in the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany is based upon an impressive range of archival source material, as well as interviews. Her book is the first on the subject to treat both the Weimar and Nazi eras. Weimar policymakers tried to strike a balance between upholding traditional values and adapting to the changes engendered by modernity. Mouton shows that both Weimar and Nazi policymakers used legislation directed at families to increase the birth rate and improve public health. However, the Nazi regime brought about a drastic change to family policy, with its racial ideology and its attempts to directly intervene in family life. The Weimar Republic was characterized by a plethora of organizations and associations—not only state organizations, but also charitable, church and private organizations—that provided assistance and advice to families. In contrast, the Nazi regime used a monolithic, racially based family policy and more forceful measures. Nazi family policy, Mouton argues, represented a radical departure from that of the Weimar Republic.