Anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany
The Nazi reproductive policies were an important factor behind their anti-tobacco campaign. Women who smoked were considered to be more likely to age prematurely, and lose physical attractiveness; they were viewed as unsuitable to be wives and mothers in a German family. Werner Huttig of the Nazi Party's Rassenpolitisches Amt (Office of Racial Politics) claimed smoking mothers' breast milk contained nicotine. Martin Staemmler, an important doctor during the Third Reich, said that smoking by pregnant women resulted in a higher rate of stillbirths and miscarriages. This was supported by the well-known female racial hygienist Agnes Bluhm, in her book published in 1936. The Nazi leadership was concerned about this because they wanted German women to give birth. An article published in a German gynecology journal in 1943 stated that women smoking three or more cigarettes per day were more likely to remain childless compared to nonsmoking women.