Female Auxiliaries: The "Official View"

[Vikki]

National Socialist ideology was generally against German women working in the public sector, at least in the early days of the Party. That platform changed with the beginning of the war and the realization that women's work would be needed to replace male labor on the homefront, to free up men for the military.

What was the "official view" of women serving as Signals and other auxiliary roles in the military? References to female auxiliaries in manuals and General Orders, as well as period military and popular newspaper and magazine articles on them (because of the heavy control of the press by the government), may give us an idea.

The first article below on Army Signals Helferinnen is from the 11.9.40 edition of Die Wehrmacht magazine.


(Note: Though marking even a now-rare published work with the owner's watermark would be intellectually dishonest, this magazine and others I post on the Forum, as noted, are in my personal collection. With these photos and others posted on the internet in general, if they are reused elsewhere, recognition of the original collector's time, effort, and expense by citing their source--whether from a website or from a personal collection--is not only honest and ethical, but also standard academic practice.)

Best,
~Vikki

[Vikki]

Closeups of the other photos and captions:

[Vikki]

Equal time to Luftwaffe Signals Helferinnen: Helfs at work with a Nachtjagddivision, detecting and locating Allied night bombers. From the 18.1.44 issue of Der Adler magazine (also in my personal collection).

[Vikki]

Similar duties, as shown in a 1943 edition of the civilian magazine Kölnische Illustrierte Zeitung (also in my personal collection):

[Heimatschuss]

Hello Vikki,

great idea to collect contemporary press footage to follow the propaganda effort. I've found a 1941 copy of Luftwaffe magazine 'Der Adler' here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/41928545/-04-18-02 which contains an article on the female plane spottters (pp. 12-13).

Best regards
Torsten

[Matt Gibbs]

the Heereschule photos are lovely!!

[Heimatschuss]

Hello,

here are two pages from a 1943 edition of the picture magazine 'Wiener Illustrierte' dealing with the spare time activities of the Army signals auxiliaries (N.N., 1943, pp.10). After the enormous losses in manpower Wehrmacht had suffered in winter 1942/1943 rear area units had to be combed out to fill the frontline units again. Whereever possible soldiers had to be replaced by females. So it's not surprising that beginning in spring 1943 you suddenly start finding job ads in the newspapers looking for signals auxiliaries (http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 1#p1846761). A way of recruitment that until then had hardly ever been tried. Reports like this here obviously had a supporting role, depicting the work/life of a female signals auxiliary as positively as possible.

Translation:
German girl - your effort too strengthens the frontline.

[Heimatschuss]

Caption translation:
Soon work will be over. The last connections are arranged with the ususal precision - then spare time begins.

Caption translation:
Left: Those wanting to relax with a good book after the demanding work and enjoy a masterpiece of German literature find a well-stacked library available.

Caption translation:
Right: While having breakfast together with the female comrades there's opportunity a merry chat outside service hours.

Caption translation:
Below: Music and laughter fill the home of the signals auxiliaries from time to time. How else could it be when it houses so much fresh and vivid youth.

[Heimatschuss]

Caption translation:
Having lunch together unites anybody around the large, nicely laid table.

Translation:
After three to four weeks the future signals auxiliary has completed training, has received last instructions at the Army School and is now ready for deployment. This of course also means leaving behind many old habits and customs. But she knows that the work she carries out with calm seriousness relieves a man and frees him to serve in armed combat. Besides the great feeling to help in the large struggle for our future the young signals auxiliary also gets to experience the high value of comradeship as it may formerly have been known only to the soldier. And this spirit of comradeship not only pervades her work but also puts its stamp on the leisure time activities of the female auxiliaries, turning them into a beautiful and inspiring community experience where each of the girls quartered together in an accommodation home contributes her share so nobody feels lonely or lost and they all gather new strength and joy for their work from the hours of recreation.

Caption translation:
Above and left: In the quiet hour before going to bed it's time to answer still some letters. At home they really would like to know how the signals auxiliary does. And if there's nothing to write about on occasions the young women that are so busy during the day find something else to do. Wasting time and thoughtlessly staring holes into the air is not their style. Photos: E. Zillich

References:

N.N.
Freizeitbesuch bei den Nachrichtenhelferinnen des Heeres.
Wiener Illustrierte of Mar. 17th, 1943; 62. Jahrgang; Nr.11; pp.10
http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno? ... =1&zoom=17
http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno? ... 10&zoom=17
http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno? ... 11&zoom=17

Best regards
Torsten

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more........................................

Field hospital!

Source: Münchner Illustrierte Presse, 18. Jahrgang/Nr. 13, 27. March 1941,

Cheers. Raul M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more........................................

Helferinnen!

Source: https://www.emedals.com/a-rare-iron-cro ... =1&slide=4

Cheers. Raul M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more........................................

Field hospital!

Source: https://www.aboutww2militaria.com/es/el ... cerlo.html

Cheers. Raul M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more.........................

Richtungshörer.

Sources: http://www.guntherprienmilitaria.com.mx ... guerra.php

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more.........................

Richtungshörer.

Training of female auxiliaries of the anti-aircraft weapon (Flakwaffen) in the listening device (Horchgerät)...

Sources: https://lomax-militaria.de/original-mil ... .juni-1944

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more.........................

Training of auxiliary women of the anti-aircraft branch (Flakwaffen)!

Source: Münchner Illustrierter Presse. June 22, 1944.

Cheers. Raúl M .