Familie und Krieg. Erfahrung, Fürsorge und Leitbilder von der Antike bis in die Gegenwart (Family and War. Experience, Welfare and Ideas from Antiquity to Present Time)

Politische Akademie Tutzing

5.-7. November 2021

u. a. Prof. Dr. Rolf-Ulrich Kunze

5.11.2021, 19.30

Rolf-Ulrich Kunze

Family Policy under National Socialism and its Interpretation by the History of the Family Era

The first edition of the Encyclopedia of National Socialism, published in 1997 and edited by Wolfgang Benz, Hermann Graml and Hermann Weiß,[1] shows the dilemma of family history in a particularly graphic way. One looks in vain there for a separate contribution on Nazi family policy. The topic of the family is scattered among the main articles Propaganda (Winfried Ranke), Social Policy (Marie-Luise Recker), Youth (Rolf Schörken), Women (Ute Frevert) and the entries on the relevant Nazi organizations such as the NSV in the lexical section. The explicit thematic separation of everyday life and family history from the history of family politics also characterizes the social-historical Kröner lexicon Geschichte der Familie, ed. by Andreas Gestrich, Jens-Uwe Krause and Michael Mitterauer. Here, National Socialism is mentioned three times in the index. In Gestrich's EDG history of the family in the 19th and 20th centuries it does not appear as an entry at all.[2] This is all the more regrettable because the critical potential of the history of the family as part of a history of private life, as Philippe Ariès and Georges Duby conceived it,[3] since the refutation of völkisch retroutopias of the 'ideal' pre-industrial family of the whole house around 1900, lies in the deconstruction of political-ideological images of the family.[4] Contemporary political history is regularly interested only to a limited extent in basic family sociological findings on roles and forms of social change. Edgar Wolfrum's 20th century history consistently treats the family as part of the history of emancipation and gender.[5] Outreach family contemporary history oral history and work with family lore is small-scale, lengthy, and often frustrating. As a result, entire source genres, such as the most important and largest of the 20th century for the global West and North, private photographs, are far from systematically indexed and largely left to exploitation by the histotainment media.[6] The popular debunking history of Nazi family propaganda history ebbed away by the early 1980s and proved unable to continue.[7]

Using an exemplary overview of the history of Nazi family policy, this lecture will discuss, among other things, the depth of its domination and the strategies of its undermining, the consequences of the parallel management of everyday and social versus political history in family history, the historiographical alternatives to this,[8] and why, in view of the sources, a German central office for the collection of family history is lacking. One starting thesis is the astonishing resilience of families as embodiment of the tension between biological and social order, realities and constructions, which can be observed again and again.[9] This ambivalence is possibly the reason for its low attractiveness for those parts of political historiography that would like to use family history as a historical (de)legitimation resource for whatever concepts of family and family politics.

Rolf-Ulrich Kunze

Family policy in National Socialism and its interpretation in contemparary history

The first edition of the Encyclopedia of National Socialism, published in 1997, ed. by Wolfgang Benz, Hermann Graml and Hermann Weiß, shows the dilemma of family history in a particularly vivid way. One looks in vain for one's own contribution to Nazi family policy. The family topic is based on the main articles Propaganda (Winfried Ranke), Social Policy (Marie-Luise Recker), Youth (Rolf Schörken), Women (Ute Frevert) and the entries on the relevant NS branches such as the NSV scattered in the lexical part. The topical separation of everyday and family history from the history of family politics also characterizes the socio-historical Kröner Lexicon History of the Family, ed. by Andreas Gestrich, Jens-Uwe Krause and Michael Mitterauer. Here National Socialism makes three entries in the register. It does not appear as an entry in Gestrich's family history in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is all the more regrettable as the critical potential of the history of the family as part of a history of private life, as Philippe Ariès and Georges Duby have conceived it, lies in the deconstruction of political-ideological family images since, first proven in the refutation of folkish retro-utopias of the 'healthy' pre-industrial in contrast to the industrial family around 1900. Contemporary political history is regularly only partially interested in the basic sociological concepts of the roles and forms of social change. Edgar Wolfrum's history of the 20th century consistently treats the family as part of the history of emancipation and gender. The outreaching oral history of the family and work with family tradition is fragmented, tedious and often frustrating. As a result, entire genres of sources such as the most important and largest of the 20th century for the global West and North, private photos, are far removed from systematic cataloging and are largely left to the exploitation of the histotainment media. The popular unmasking story of the Nazi family propaganda story ebbed again in the early 1980s and proved to be incapable of continuing.

The talk provides an exemplary overview of the history of Nazi family policy, among other things. It intends to stimulate discussion on the depth of domination and the strategies of their undermining, what consequences the parallel running of everyday and social versus politics has in family history, what historiographical alternatives there are and why, with a view to the sources, a Central point for the collection of family-time historical tradition is missing. One starting thesis is the amazing resilience of families that can be observed again and again as the embodiment of the tension between biological and social order, realities and constructions. This ambivalence may be the reason for its low attractiveness for those parts of political historio-graphy that use family history to develop a historical (de)legitimation resource for whatever concepts of family and family policy.

References quoted:

Enzyklopädie des Nationalsozialismus, ed. by Wolfgang Benz, Hermann Graml, Hermann Weiß, Stuttgart 1997 u. ö.

Andreas Gestrich, Geschichte der Familie im 20. Jahrhundert, Munich 32013.

Philippe Ariés, Georges Duby (eds.), Geschichte des privaten Lebens, vol. 5: Vom Ersten Weltkrieg bis zur Gegenwart, ed. by Antoine Prost, Gérard Vincent, Frankfurt am Main 1993 (Histoire de la vie privée, Paris 1987).

Rolf-Ulrich Kunze, Lehrbuch Familiengeschichte. A resource of contemporary history, Stuttgart 2018, p. 15-34.

Edgar Wolfrum, World in Conflict. Another History of the 20th Century, Stuttgart 2017, pp. 223-241.

Rolf-Ulrich Kunze, Familienfotoalben als zeitgeschichtliche Quelle, in R.-U. K., Reflexionen zur Zeitgeschichte. Essays on Subject and Methodology, Stuttgart 2020, p. 137-160.

Harald Focke, Uwe Reimer, Alltag unterm Hakenkreuz. How the Nazis Changed the Lives of Germans. Ein aufklärendes Lesebuch, Reinbek 1979, p. 121-132.

Paul Ginsborg, The Managed Family. Das Private in Revolution und Diktatur, 1900-1950, Hamburg 2014 (Family politics. Domestic life, devastation and survival, 1900 - 1950, YUP 2013).

Rolf-Ulrich Kunze, Elternschaft und Familie historisch, https://www.goethe.de/ins/se/de/kul/sup/fml/21867474.html [11.05.2021].

[1] Encyclopedia of National Socialism, ed. by Wolfgang Benz, Hermann Graml, Hermann Weiß, Stuttgart 1997 et al.

[2] Andreas Gestrich, Geschichte der Familie im 20. Jahrhundert, Munich 32013.

[3] Philippe Ariés, Georges Duby (eds.), Geschichte des privaten Lebens, vol. 5: Vom Ersten Weltkrieg bis zur Gegenwart, ed. by Antoine Prost, Gérard Vincent, Frankfurt am Main 1993 (first published as Histoire de la vie privée, Paris 1987).

[4] Cf. Rolf-Ulrich Kunze, Lehrbuch Familiengeschichte. Eine Ressource der Zeitgeschichte, Stuttgart 2018, pp. 15-34.

[5] Edgar Wolfrum, World in Conflict. Another History of the 20th Century, Stuttgart 2017, pp. 223-241.

[6] Cf. Rolf-Ulrich Kunze, Familienfotoalben als zeitgeschichtliche Quelle, in: ders, Reflexionen zur Zeitgeschichte. Essays on Subject and Methodology, Stuttgart 2020, pp. 137-160.

[7] E.g. Harald Focke, Uwe Reimer, Alltag unterm Hakenkreuz. How the Nazis Changed the Lives of Germans. Ein aufklärendes Lesebuch, Reinbek 1979, pp. 121-132.

[8] E.g. Paul Ginsborg, Die geführte Familie. Das Private in Revolution und Diktatur, 1900-1950, Hamburg 2014 (first published under the title Family politics. Domestic life, devastation and survival, 1900 - 1950, YUP 2013).

[9] Cf. Rolf-Ulrich Kunze, Elternschaft und Familie historisch, https://www.goethe.de/ins/se/de/kul/sup/fml/21867474.html [11.05.2021].

2021