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F'RAGMENTS OF A PRISONER'S DIARY
German women practised the prescribed virtues of the “hausfrau", the Kaiser could count upon a plentiful supply of soldiers.
The situation changed after the war. The social emancipation and cultural development of the post-war generation of German women were amazing. There was a revolution in the outlook also of the menfolk, particularly of the intellectual and professional classes. The mass murder of the millions of young men could not but shock feminine sensitiveness. Motherhood is a doubtful glory if its function is to supply the political slaughterhouse. All these social and psychological factors contributed to the decline of the birth-rate in Germany.
Nazi militarism is frantically trying to overcome the handicap by forcing the woman back into a sort of modern zenani, and depressing the cultural level of the entire people. It may succeed for a time ; it may not do even that inuch. Ultimately, the policy is bound to fail. The Germans are too cultured to breed like pigs. Even the backward peasants are educated cnough to realise the uncertainties of the economic situation, and conscquently have the sense of responsibility for the well-being of the coming generation.
Driven out of gainful employments, young women have no choice. They must return to the kitchen ; but in the short period between the downfall of the Kaiser and the advent of Hitler, 104
