Women of the Third Reich [Hardcover]

Anna Maria Sigmund (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000

This groundbreaking work examines the official Nazi portrayal of women in the Third Reich as well as the real lives of eight women who were a part of the Nazi regime or played a role in its ascendancy. Many women in German high society were fascinated by Adolf Hitler and helped him to achieve political power, while women like filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl were fueling Hitler's propaganda machine. The private lives of Hitler's assistants' wives are also explored-revealing Magda Goebbels's complicity in the murder of her six children in 1945, Carin and Emmy Gring's relations with their morphine-addicted husbands, and the knowledge that Margaret Himmler had of her husband's actions as leader of the SS.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...it brings the lives of the Nazi women into focus and offers a look at Hitler himself from their perspective -- Jeannie Marshall, National Post, October 18, 2000

Sigmund shows herself to be a competent historian and a restrained writer -- Jared Rosenfelt, The Lethbridge Herald, March 24, 2001

This is an in-depth look at the wives and lovers of the Nazi elite who almost destroyed the world -- Jerry Gladman, Sun Media Ltd., March 31, 2001

About the Author

Anna Maria Sigmund is a member of the Institute for Austrian History Research.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Nde Pub; 1St Edition edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1553211057
• ISBN-13: 978-1553211051
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,126,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre, but with some insight, July 3, 2003

By 

Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women of the Third Reich (Hardcover)

I have read this book in the original German, and much of the problem with this version is the translation. The translator doesn't inject the book with as much verve and spark as was present in the original German-language version. The best part of this book is the chapter on Eva Braun, where Sigmund correctly dispels the myth that Hitler's sexuality was in any way perverted, or that he forced a life of celibacy onto Eva Braun. Eva's diary alone dispels that nonsense, and the diary is quoted from liberally here.

The chapter on Magda Goebbels is also interesting and reveals that Magda married her husband solely to be near Hitler, the man she really loved. What a tangled web these Nazi ladies wove!

This is part of a three-volume set and the weakness is that Sigmund throws in quite peripheral Nazi ladies, such as Sister Pia and even some actresses who scarcely knew Hitler. She should stick to stalwarts like Eva, Leni Riefenstahl, Mimi Reiter and others who were close to Hitler, either personally or professionally.

To sum up, not a bad introduction to the women of Hitler's Germany, but poorly translated and too much filler.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Look at the Distaff Side of Hitler's Germany, May 25, 2009

By 

James F. Neel "Jemcollector" (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women of the Third Reich (Hardcover)

I recently purchased this as a stand-alone volume because in the steadily growing fascination with the Third Reich there has been very little attention given to the female half of the population, concentration instead being on matters military and political. Austrian Anna Maria Sigmund's slim volume goes a ways toward correcting the imbalance by providing glimpses into the lives of some of the more notable female members of the Nazi hierarchy. In her introductory chapter we are reminded that the National Socialist view of women and their role in society was almost exclusively as domestic partners, housefrau, and mothers. Therefore, the subjects here must be regarded as atypical role models for the society at large.

Most of the eight women featured here led lives far removed from that experienced by the average woman of the era, often as the consort of one of the leaders. They include the two successive wives of Reichmarshall Hermann Goering, Carin and Emmy; Magda, wife of Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels; Henriette, wife of Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach; and the two most prominent women in the life of Adolf Hitler, his niece Geli Raubal and his long-time mistress Eva Braun. Rounding out the group are two who serve as a study in contrasts: German Women's League head and spokeswoman, the rather colorless and severe Gertrud Scholtz-Klink; and the flamboyant sportswoman/actress/movie director Leni Riefenstahl. My only regret in the selection is the relegation of my own personal favorite, the aviatrix Hanna Reitsch, to a brief paragraph in the introduction.

I was especially glad to learn more about "Nordic cult figure" Carin Goering, who died well before the war; actress Emmy Sonnemann who followed her as wife of the Luftwaffe chief; and the sometimes-tempestous Magda. ( I was surprised to learn that both Magda and her spouse Josef had had love affairs with persons of Jewish descent. ) Unfortunately, Hitler's supposed attraction to his niece Geli remains as uncertain as ever; though evidence seems to show he weathered her suicide better than has sometimes been presented. One of her more revealing subjects/sources is Henriette von Schirach, who as daughter of Hitler's personal photographer Henrich Hoffmann, was in a position to see most of the Nazi hierarchy "up close and personal". Henriette was a close friend of both Hitler's niece Geli, as well as her father's employee, Eva Braun. Without totally condemning the frequently-cited "Putzi" Hanfstaengl as a source for the private lives of the top Nazis, Sigmund shows just how unreliable his testemony can be. In several places she utilizes sources she obviously regards as suspect in order to demonstrate the distortions that have overtaken some of her subjects in subsequent years.

Those who survived the downfall of the Reich went into hiding like Scholtz-Klink; or faced imprisonment and persecution for their part in supporting or participating in events of the regime. Emmy Goering and her daughter Edda suffered further, in addition to incarceration, the torment of dread over the fate of husband and father Hermann, sentenced to death by the Nuremberg tribunal. Leni Riefenstahl was able to restart her remarkable career, but only by minimalizing her part in glorifying the regeme through her immortal masterpieces Olympia and Triumph of the Will; others like Scholtz-Klink and Henriette von Schirach remained unapologetic and unrepentant Nazis.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Research, Sloppy Translation, January 10, 2003

By 

Lit Lady (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women of the Third Reich (Hardcover)

I'd already read quite a bit about the women this book is about, and still discovered some new information. The book is nicely footnoted (I'm the kind who always wants to know what a historian's source was). There are problems with the translation, however. The translator wasn't aware of traditionally accepted translations and says things like "Time of Battle" instead of "Time of Struggle." Every now and then, something seems a little off, and I'm sure that's a translation problem.