Women as Medical Instruments: The Nazis' Pursuit of Racial Hygiene

The research presented in this poster seeks to explain the role of Nazi racial hygiene and eugenics in the lives of German women living under the Third Reich by building off of works by Robert Proctor, Claudia Koonz, Gisela Bock, and many others. This paper argues that women could either fill the role of loyal wife and mother or be subject to experimental compulsory sterilization. The role of wife and mother laid heavily on the German woman as she was seen as the foundation of a strong race of Aryan men who would fight to win back Germany’s dignity in the impending war. Women who did not fulfill that role or were of an inferior race were subjected to painful, often fatal sterilization procedures. These procedures combined with harsh anti-abortion and anti-contraception bans were the Nazis’ attempt to recover from the loss of life in World War I. In an environment filled with much discussion of bodily autonomy, this research serves as a warning of what can happen under dictatorial climates and allows observers to draw parallels between the oppressive nature of Nazi actions and the directions that the American government are taking toward the stripping of rights, especially those concerning women.

This poster would lay out this information through sections of research combined with propaganda images, notable quotes from supporting and foundational authors, as well as a timeline illustrating the span of the research. Because of the nature of propaganda-based eugenics, a poster would allow a very vivid illustration of the argument laid out above.