Reflections on Teaching Projects: Researching Local Women’s History During National Socialism with Students
Reflections on Teaching Projects: Researching Local Women’s History During National Socialism with Students

Author(s): Randi Becker
Subject(s): History, Fascism, Nazism and WW II, History of the Holocaust
Published by: Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju
Keywords: Political Education; Women's History; National Socialism; Women in National Socialism
Summary/Abstract: In the summer semester of 2020, having recently completed my master’s degree, I began teaching as a visiting lecturer at the University of Giessen. One of my initial seminar concepts was part of the module, “Introduction to Political Education” in the summer semester of 2020, which was designed for prospective teachers of all subjects. I delivered a seminar on “Women in National Socialism,” where there were at least three key takeaways that have remained with me: 1) The students reported that they had never encountered the topic throughout their schooling. For them, focusing on women in the national socialism era was a novel approach, and they consequently lacked any prior knowledge, aside from what they had observed in films. 2) The participants demonstrated a noteworthy interest and dedication to the topic. The focus on women appeared to challenge the common perception among German students that they already possessed comprehensive knowledge about national socialism and were thus disinclined to engage with the topic further. The emphasis on women seemed to offer new avenues for exploring the history of national socialism in general. The participants subsequently produced excellent term papers, which, however, did not reach any further readership after being read for grading. 3) Furthermore, the students expressed interest in learning about local women during the Nazi era. During the seminar, we addressed the topic of women during national socialism in a general manner. We covered the gendered images of Nazi anti-Semitism and antigypsyism, the concept of an “Aryan” woman, and the actions of women as perpetrators. This was an insightful topic, but in retrospect, it would have been beneficial to include local references. However, upon conducting further research, it became evident that there was a dearth of introductory literature pertaining to the subject of women in national socialism within the context of the city of Giessen. A number of articles have been published on individual women or individual places that have some relevance to women, but there are no texts that focus specifically on women in Giessen during the Nazi era. I then posed the following question to myself: How might I address the experiences of local women during the Nazi era in my seminars, thereby contributing to the ongoing process of contextualization within the city and the region?

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