A propaganda film urging American women to join the war effort featured a scene where a Nazi described them as ‘flirts’ and ‘pleasure lovers.’
The clip is part of a Department of Defence film called The Hidden Army and was produced in 1944 in the midst of the Second World War.
It compared the hedonistic behavior of American women with the useful contribution German women were making for their country.
At the start of the clip, the Nazi describes France as ‘confused and helpless in the hands of fascist leaders’, England as ‘weak’ and ‘frightened’ and mocks the United States for having ‘no army, navy or air force’.
A propaganda film urging American women to join the war effort featured a scene where a Nazi described them as ‘flirts’ and ‘pleasure lovers’
Later, when another man asks if he would consider using American women for labor, the Nazi laughs sarcastically and declares them the ‘the most decadent women on the face of the Earth.’
He then cites statistics on how American women have degraded the country.
‘Last year, 1938, they spent more for cosmetics than the United States Navy did for ships, more for silk stockings, than the United States Air Force spent for planes,’ he says.
‘Flirts, cocktail drinkers, pleasure lovers, loafers, a race of playgirls; pampered and spoilt by their sentimental American men.’
The Nazi declares American women the ‘the most decadent women on the face of the Earth’
In the clip, the Nazi says American women spent more on silk stockings than the United States Air Force spent for planes
He goes to state how different they are from the women of Germany, who ‘trained like soldiers, who bred babies to wage this war and are now producing the goods for our grown soldiers and the fighting fronts.
‘And all of this without lipstick. American women, pah.’
A second reel of the film went on to redeem the negative views on the contributions of women during the war.
‘Flirts, cocktail drinkers, pleasure lovers, loafers, a race of playgirls; pampered and spoilt by their sentimental American men,’ he adds
In comparison, German women are described as hard-working and making a contribution to their country’s war effort
It featured some members of the ‘hidden army’ of American women, who worked as nurses, drove trucks, fixed airplanes, and performed clerical work to free up men for combat.
In the United States, approximately 350,000 American women joined the military during the Second World War.
In Germany, it was only during the Second World War that the Nazis changed their policy to allow women to join the army.
While women in Nazi Germany were not given combat unit tasks during the war, they were considered as auxiliary military personnel; in charge of logistical and administrative duties in understaffed areas.
At the start of the clip, the Nazi describes mocks the United States for having ‘no army, navy or air force’