The Third German Reich is historically well known for decorating its people with fine articles and awards to commemorate a particular type of achievement. More than anything else, it has been understood that this was done as a means of encouragement to achieve a particular cause that was collectively seen in the benefit for the German people. One of these fine awards was the German Mothers Cross of Honour, which was a commemoration award for birthing a certain number of German children in service of the German people. The award was introduced in 1938, but ceremonially provided on Mother’s Day in 1939.
The award was given out in three different class grades:
• 3rd Class Bronze Cross: eligible to women with four or five children.
• 2nd Class Silver Cross: eligible to women with six or seven children.
• 1st Class Gold Cross: eligible to women with eight or more children.
A special class of Mothers Cross has also been awarded once before too which was a diamond-encrusted Swastika on a gold cross for a woman who birthed 16 children (see the book Political and Civil Awards of the Third Reich) and in the German-American Bund, a red version of the award was given in the United States. The award itself also came with a certificate signatured by Adolf Hitler and Otto Meissner, though these were done by a secretary.
There were also special types of criteria that had to be met in order to be able to receive one of these awards and all three rulings had to be met with no exceptions:
• Both parents must be of German blood and genetically fit.
• The mother has been recommended and is deemed worthy of the award.
• The children have to be live and not still births.
From this criterion stemmed rules applicable to the foundational requirements which I would recommend studying independently. One fascinating part I would like to point out though is that if the mother has been found neglecting or abusing her children, the award could be stripped from her by the rights of the Reich Interior and she could even have her children taken from her, depending on the severity.
Mothers who earned the Mothers Cross were also quite well-recognised in the public eye and they were treated well with special luxuries for their services. People looked and treated these women with a feeling almost like royalty – an interesting take on the view of the people, of whom clearly valued and understood the contributions and sacrifices that these women made.
Two other countries may also gain recognition for providing a similar type of award and they are the French Republic, which had the French Family Medal and the Soviet Union, which had the Order of Maternal Glory.
