Wehrmachthelferin on:
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was the name for girls and young women who served during the
was the name for girls and young women who served during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
with the German Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
as auxiliaries
Auxiliaries are support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as garrison troops, ...
.
History
In the beginning, women in Nazi Germany were not involved in the Wehrmacht, as Hitler ideologically opposed conscription for women, stating that Germany would "''not form any section of women grenade throwers or any corps of women elite snipers.''" However, with many men going to the front, women were placed in auxiliary positions within the Wehrmacht, called Wehrmachtshelferinnen (), participating in tasks such as: * telephone, telegraph and transmission operators, * administrative clerks, typists and messengers, * operators of listening equipment, in anti-aircraft defense, operating projectors for anti-aircraft defense, employees withinmeteorology
Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...
services, and auxiliary civil defense personnel
* volunteer nurses in military health service (similar to the role of women working with the German Red Cross
The German Red Cross (german: Deutsches Rotes Kreuz ; DRK) is the national Red Cross Society in Germany.
With 4 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services withi ...
or other voluntary organizations).
They were placed under the same authority as Hiwis
Hiwi (), the German abbreviation of the word ''Hilfswilliger'' or, in English, auxiliary volunteer, designated, during World War II, a member of different kinds of voluntary auxiliary forces made up of recruits indigenous to the territories of Ea ...
, auxiliary personnel of the army (german: Behelfspersonal) and they were assigned to duties within the Reich, and to a lesser extent, in the occupied territories, for example in the general government of occupied Poland, in France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, and later in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, in Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
and in Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
.
By 1945, 500,000 women were serving as , half of whom were volunteers, while the other half performed obligatory services connected to the war effort ().
In the media
*1958 ', directed byWerner Klingler
Karl Adolf Kurt Werner Klingler (23 October 1903 – 23 June 1972) was a German film director and actor. He directed 29 films between 1936 and 1968. He was born in Stuttgart and died in Berlin, Germany.
Early life
Klingler acquired his fi ...
.
See also
* Ranks and insignia of the German Women’s Auxiliary ServicesReferences
{{reflist Military units and formations of Germany in World War II Women in Nazi Germany Society of Nazi Germany Women in the military Auxiliary military units