Hitler's Handmaidens: Season 1, Episode 3

1 - 3: Cougars and Fantasists

This episode explores the fanatical women who took Hitler under their wing and, through love and devotion, trained him in the methods of high society to launch him to power, only to be left behind once he achieved it.

In September 1934, Hitler addresses the NS-Frauenschaft, the main political organisation for Nazi women. He says,‘the national socialist movement has from the very beginnings of its existence not only seen but also found women to be its most loyal followers'. This episode frames the series and lifts the veil on the role women played in the Third Reich. It will focus on the women who turned Hitler from a rabble-rouser to a politician, the women who pioneered the Nazi Party, and the women who voted him in. This episode will look at the work women did in bringing Hitler to power.