engineering

Reich Labour Service

Reich Labour Service is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Reich Labour Service rather than just read about it. In short: The Reich Labour Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst; RAD) was a major paramilitary organization established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with Nazi ideology. It was the official state labour service, divided into separate sections for men and women.

Key takeaways

Reich Labour Service belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Reich Labour Service to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Reich Labour Service from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Reich Labour Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst; RAD) was a major paramilitary organization established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with Nazi ideology. It was the official state labour service, divided into separate sections for men and women. From June 1935 onward, men aged between 18 and 25 may have served six months before their military service. During World War II, compulsory service also included young women, and the RAD developed to an auxiliary formation which provided support for the Wehrmacht armed forces.

Foundation In the course of the Great Depression, the German government of the Weimar Republic under Chancellor Heinrich Brüning by emergency decree established the Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst ('Voluntary Labour Service', FAD), on 5 June 1931, two years before the Nazi Party (NSDAP) ascended to national power. The state-sponsored employment organisation provided services to civic and land improvement projects. From 16 July 1932 it was headed by Friedrich Syrup in the official rank of a Reichskommissar. As the name stated, participation was voluntary. The concept was adopted by Adolf Hitler, who upon the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 appointed Konstantin Hierl state secretary in the Reich Ministry of Labour, responsible for FAD matters. Hierl was already a high-ranking member of the NSDAP and head of the party's labour organisation, the Nationalsozialistischer Arbeitsdienst or NSAD. Hierl developed the concept of a state labour service organisation similar to the Reichswehr army, with a view to implementing a compulsory service. Meant as an evasion of the regulations set by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, voluntariness initially was maintained after protests by the Geneva World Disarmament Conference. Hierl's rivalry with Labour Minister Franz Seldte led to the affiliation of his office as a FAD Reichskommissar with the Interior Ministry under his party fellow Wilhelm Frick. On 11 July 1934, the NSAD was renamed Reichsarbeitsdienst or RAD with Hierl as its director until the end of World War II. By law issued on 26 June 1935, the RAD was re-established as an amalgamation of the many prior labour organisations formed in Germany during the Weimar Republic, with Hierl appointed as Reich Labour Leader (Reichsarbeitsführer) according to the Führerprinzip. With massive financial support by the German government, RAD members were to provide service for civic and agricultural construction projects. Per Reich Labor Service Act of June 26, 1935: § 1. (1) The Reich Labor Service is honorary service to the German people. (2) All young Germans of both sexes are obliged to serve their people in the Reich Labor Service. (3) The Reich Labor Service is intended to educate German youth in the spirit of National Socialism in national community and in the true concept of work, above all in the due respect for manual work. (4) The Reich Labor Service is intended to carry out charitable work. § 2. (1) The Reich Labor Service is subordinate to the Reich Minister of the Interior. Under him, the Reich Labor Leader exercises command over the Reich Labor Service. (2) The Reich Labor Leader stands at the head of the Reich leadership of the Labor Service; he determines the organization, regulates the work assignment and directs training and education.

Organization

The RAD was divided into two major sections, one for men (Reichsarbeitsdienst Männer – RAD/M) and the voluntary, from 1939 compulsory, section for young women (Reichsarbeitsdienst der weiblichen Jugend – RAD/wJ). The RAD was composed of 33 districts each called an Arbeitsgau (lit. 'Work District') similar to the Gaue subdivisions of the Nazi Party. Each of these districts was headed by an Arbeitsgauführer officer with headquarters staff and a Wachkompanie (Guard Company). Under each district were between six and eight Arbeitsgruppen (Work Groups), battalion-sized formations of 1200–1800 men. These groups were divided into six company-sized RAD-Abteilung units. Conscripted personnel had to move into labour barracks. Each rank and file RAD man was supplied with a spade and a bicycle. A paramilitary uniform was implemented in 1934; beside the swastika brassard, the RAD symbol, an arm badge in the shape of an upward pointing shovel blade, was displayed on the upper left shoulder of all uniforms and great-coats worn by all personnel. Men and women had to work up to 76 hours a week.

Arbeitsdank ("Labor Thanks") A health- and life-insurance program for NSAD members (from November 1933 to June 1935) and RAD workers (from June 1935 to 1945) in case they became ill or were injured or killed while on the job. The pre-war organization would also provide funding for education or training for poor members so they could learn a trade or get a university degree. Members had to carry a Mitgliedskarte ("membership card") that gave personal information (name, birthdate, and birthplace) and identified which Arbeitsgau and Mitgliedschaft ("membership group") they were assigned to, kind of like a soldier's Soldbuch ("military identification booklet"). Workers who benefited from the Arbeitsdank program were encouraged to pay back into it with donations. Donors received an enameled Erinnerungsnadel ("commemorative pin") that used the oval NSAD or RAD symbol with the text Arbeits / Dank added in the colored border. Officials and employees of the organization wore a larger version of the pin to indicate their status.

War

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Reich Labour Service

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Reich Labour Service claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Reich Labour Service before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Reich Labour Service ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Reich Labour Service

In research: Reich Labour Service appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Reich Labour Service in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Reich Labour Service is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1934 establishments in Germany, Economy of Nazi Germany, German words and phrases, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Reich Labour Service outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Reich Labour Service in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Reich Labour Service means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Reich Labour Service out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Reich Labour Service in simple terms?

Why does Reich Labour Service matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Reich Labour Service?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Reich Labour Service.