Evening star., 1941-11-02
Nazis Pay Bonuses for Babies
By Edwin A. Shanks.

BY Edwin A. Shanks.
BERLIN.-The Nazis plan to spend
billion reichsmarks Is4O, 900 OOO) this year
to subsidize marriages and babies.
As part of the program to increase
population, the German government long
has been granting marriage loans" to
encourage poor couples to wed. To en-
courage births, part of the loan is written
of as a sort of bonus for each child born
to loan family.
At present, two motives are given for
the steady Nazi campaign to increase
the birth rate:
War takes its toll among the healthiest
and best men of. the nation, it destroys
potential fathers.
The expanding Germany Of today
needs more sons and daughters to fill
the newly conquered territories.
1--WE need more of our best, and only
mothers will be able to supply these
best" said Das Schwarze Korps, publi-
cation of Heinrich Himmler's S. S. Elite
Troops. It declares that every German
woman should bear a war child because
Greater Germany has become larger
and "in the east wide spaces are waiting
to be filled with German life.
Colonies which we are wrestling from
British moneybags call for youthful pio-
neer spirit" the publication adds.
NaZi authorities are keeping an anx-
ious eye on disturbing influences Of
war on marriage and birth figures. War;
on the basis of statistics for Greater Ger
many, brought an abrupt drop in mar
riages and subsequently slowed down the
birth rate, which was virtually at stand
still in 1910. This was attributed to the
vast disposition of troops on both the
west and east lines Of battle throughout
the year.
Before the war, under the prodding of
q steady Nazi campaign there were early
marriages and more babies. The rise was
steady; in 1892 (before Hitler) there were
$4,000 marriages and 971 900 births;
while in 1889 there were 772 900 marriages
and 1407,000 births for the same "old
Germany" areas. When analy7ed, this
shows that in 1882 the average number
Of births per 1000 people was 147, but
in 1889 this rose to 20.3 per thousand.
However, statistics from D.NB., the Ger
man official news agency, disclosed quite
q drop in the year 1910.
Population Policies
This same trend occurred in Germany
during the World War. There were
100000 fewer babies born In 1914-19l9
than in the five years previous.
However, the Reich statistical Office
has reported picking up in marriages
and birth rates for the first half Of 1941.
This upward trend is credited to the
Nazi population policies, statistical Office
reports said, and shows that "the vigor
Of the German nation hasn't been
broken in any way by present conditions
and later healing of the inevitable war
damage is certainly to be expected"
Whether children are born in or out
Of wedlock is not considered important
by Nazi officials. The important thing,
they say, Is that the children are racially
pure- Rudolph Hess, now interned in
England, and Heinrich Himmler put tho
of1cial Nazi stamp Of approval on illegit-
macy, and it is an open secret that
number Of the cloisters and monasteries
!confscated by the Gestapo are now used
to house unwed mothers.
Das Schwarz Korps praised the Mayor
Of Wattenscheid, in Prussia, when he
set up program in his city to induce
unmarried women over % years of age
to bear children as "a sacrifice for the
nation" 1t also expressed disapproval
Of "the moral shifting of stuffy, narrow
minded persons and nationally hostile
chatter Of the churchly guardians Of the
confessional, who wanted to condemn a
whole generation of German women to
unproductivity. Das Schwarze Korps
expressed hope this city's plan would
spread throughout Germany.
For Working Glass
The centerpiece of the German policy
IN increasing marriages and births is the
marriage loan. It is designed to set up
In housekeeping young couples who nor
mally couldn't afford 1t. The working
class principally takes advantage Of
these loans, which are financed by an
extra income tax imposed on bachelors
and spinsters. This extra tax for not
being married averages about 600 marks
($240) year.
Conditions for this loan are that the
couple must be healthy and politically
unobjectionable. For eligibility, the
annual income of the father may not
exceed 5000 marks ($3,200).
The average loan is 600 marks ($240)
made in the form of certificates to buy
household furnishings, linens, cooking
utensils and the like. For each child
born, the couples debt is reduced one
fourth. Ten marks are paid out monthly
for each third and fourth child and 20
marks for each fifth and every additional
child thereafter
These marriage loans haYe very easy
terms. They bear no interest, and are
paid off at the rate of l per cent
monthly, which is deducted from pay
checks.
When this marriage loan originally
vas introduced In August. 1899. the