Women in Hitlerjunge Quex

In Hitlerjunge Quex, Communist and National Socialist women are presented differently. The portrayal of the Communist woman seems designed to arouse indignation at her flouting of gender norms, while the portrayal of the ideal Nazi woman seems intended to tell the viewer how a woman should act. The Communist woman, embodied in the character Gerda, fulfills the sterotype of the “loose” woman. She drinks, smokes, and revels with men. This was something that many Germans at the time would have found uncomfortable, or even downright repulsive. Additionally, the Communists use Gerda’s hyper-sexuality to trick a Hitler Youth and get him to betray Heini. In this way the film goes beyond using Gerda’s sexuality to show the viewer who the antagonist is. It portrays the Communist woman, or more broadly a sexually liberated woman, as dangerous to German youth. Ulla, on the other hand, represents the National Socialist ideal woman. She dresses more conservatively than Gerda, cooks for her brother, and cares for the wounded Hitler Youth. In short, she fulfills the gender role of a quiet and obedient auxiliary to the action of her male counterparts. She is not completely desexualized, as is shown when she and Heini kiss, but their interaction falls well within the norms for acceptable activity. Most scholars agree that indeed the main purpose of the Hitler Youth’s equivalent, the League of German Girls, was to instruct young women that their place in society was to be like Ulla: support the men, get married, and raise children.