Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst

FAD flag from 1931 to 1933

FAD female department flag from 1933 to 1935

The Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst (English: Voluntary Labor Service or Voluntary Work Service; FAD) was a publicly funded employment program introduced in 1931 by the Reich Institute for Employment and Unemployment Insurance of the Weimar Republic. Young, unemployed people were to come together voluntarily in a labor camp in order to pursue a job for a limited period of time that was of benefit to the general public and gave those affected the feeling of being needed.

On 16 July 1932, the Privy Councilor and President of the Reich Institute for Employment and Unemployment Insurance, graduate engineer (Dipl.-Ing.) Dr. phil. Friedrich Heinrich Karl Syrup, was appointed Reich Commissioner for Voluntary Labor Service. The legal basis for this was created by the emergency decree of 5 June 1931 in Section 139a of the Law on Employment Placement and Unemployment Insurance. According to Article 1 of the implementing decree of 3 August 1931, the FAD could only be used for additional community service work. After 1933, it was also known as Nationalsozialistischer Arbeitsdienst (National Socialist Labour Service; NSAD).

History

"Labor service marches on."

FAD armband 1933 to 1935

Initially viewed with skepticism by the conservative Stahlhelmbund, the FAD was soon supported by the veterans organization but also by the Sturmabteilung and the NSDAP.

Michael Wittmann serving in the FAD, 1934

The Voluntary Labor Service (FAD), which was established in 1931, was an employment program of the Reich government for the unemployed. Several parties, including the NSDAP, had repeatedly called for compulsory labor service since the beginning of the economic crisis; the FAD was thus not least a concession to economic hardship.

The FAD was able to support charitable and additional work that could not be provided through emergency labor – another employment program. The focus was therefore on work that served to improve the soil, prepare residential and allotment land, improve local transport and improve public health. The work could only be carried out by public corporations and associations or foundations that pursue charitable goals. "The voluntary labor service," according to a decree dated 16 July 1932, "gives young Germans the opportunity to do serious work voluntarily for the benefit of the community and at the same time to improve their physical and mental health."

Although the labor service was one of the few state offers for the unemployed in 1931, it initially got off to a slow start. At the end of 1931, the organization only had 7,000 members. By mid-1932, however, the number had risen to 97,000 volunteers. The facility was now open to all Germans of both sexes between the ages of 18 and 25. In November 1932, the facility reached a peak of 285,000 people, only to drop to 241,000 in December and 175,000 in January 1933. Until the FAD was reorganized in mid-1933, around half of those employed there were younger than 21 years old; the duration of employment for most of the people receiving support was less than 10 weeks.

Despite all the initial difficulties, the FAD had developed into by far the largest of the publicly funded employment programs. In December 1932, around 415,000 unemployed people received support – of these, around 52,000 were in emergency jobs, 46,000 as welfare workers, almost 75,000 as compulsory laborers and more than 241,000 as volunteers in the FAD.

Since the National Socialist government saw the labor service as a partial answer to the economic crisis, it did not dissolve the FAD after taking power, but redesigned it according to its own ideas. The aim from the outset was to introduce compulsory labor service. The fact that this did not happen in 1933 was due to foreign policy considerations, since the expected conscription through compulsory service would have been of a magnitude that could also have been used for military purposes. This led to the intervention of the Disarmament Conference meeting in Geneva, which was initially taken into account by the German side.

The decisive turning point for the future role of the service was made on 4 April 1933, when Hitler himself emphasized that compulsory labor service should not be viewed primarily from an economic perspective. He saw the service above all as an instrument that was ideally suited to consciously educating people to become part of the "Volksgemeinschaft." In future, it must be "the honorary duty of every young German to take on this service," which Hitler saw as a "melting pot" from which "the German community will emerge."

The first months of the FAD, up until 1934, were turbulent and marked by financing problems and conflicts over power and influence. It was only in the course of 1934, especially after the elimination of SA supreme leader Ernst Röhm on 30 June, that a certain degree of consolidation occurred. This was due to the fact that the labor service was increasingly separated from the Reich Institute for Employment Placement and Unemployment Insurance and thus came under greater National Socialist influence. From December 1933, therefore, it was no longer the employment offices but specially established registration offices that were responsible for recruiting volunteers; on 1 April 1934, the male labor service was finally completely separated from the Reich Institute.

In the late summer of 1933, the Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst also adopted a uniform, just as the development of its own symbolism had become increasingly important since then. The service's appearance at the Reich Party Congress (Reichsparteitag) in September 1934, which was attended by 52,000 "workmen" alone, was of considerable importance. As the "Völkischer Beobachter" noted, the Labor Service had thus "won itself a place in the sun" in the structure of the "Third Reich."

Since compulsory labor service failed in 1933 due to the intervention of the victorious powers at Versailles, compulsory service was introduced for groups as a preliminary step. This included high school graduates with Abitur who wanted to study and students for whom completing a labor service of at least ten weeks was a prerequisite for starting or continuing their studies. In 1935, propaganda efforts for the labor service were significantly increased, with particular attention being paid to a propaganda film for the service. In early summer, a veritable press campaign began to prepare the population for the impending introduction of compulsory labor service. All Germans of both sexes were to undergo labor service in the future, which meant that for young men, the RAD was immediately prior to mandatory military service.

Women

Women had already existed since mid-1932, the so-called female department of the Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst. The Reich Labor Service for Female Youth (RADwJ) was legally introduced in June 1935 as the successor to the "female department" of the FAD. Both organizations were voluntary, the RADwJ becoming compulsory at the beginning of WWI.

Uniform

Official uniform regulations were first introduced on 1 October 1933, with modifications made in July 1934. The earliest uniforms were a not entirely successful attempt at standardisation. They gave way to a second wave of FAD uniforms that, when the RAD was established, experienced no significant changes. Belt Buckles for the FAD were introduced in July 1932. They were worn by all ranks. Officers were distinguished by wearing a brown leather cross strap with a silvered and pebbled rectangular adjusting buckle.

Austria

In Austria, a FAD also existed, following the example of Germany. The labor camps were mainly run by paramilitary organizations (e.g. the Heimwehr or Ostmärkische Sturmscharen) and the Christian unions. In 1936, it was renamed the State Labor Service (SAD), the camps were nationalized, and admission ("access based on need") was regulated by the employment offices.

RAD

RAD work districts (1937)

The Reich Labor Service Act of 26 June 1935 finally created the Reich Labor Service (German: Reichsarbeitsdienst), which was initially only compulsory for male youths between the ages of 18 and 25, and with the beginning of the Second World War also for young German women.

The female RAD (RADwJ) was used to replace the lack of male workers in agriculture and as a so-called war auxiliary service (KHD) in offices and offices, in armaments production and in public transport. For this purpose, the period of work service was extended by half a year. From 1944, RAD "work maids" (Arbeitsmaiden) were also used to man anti-aircraft searchlight batteries for the Flak and to lead night fighter units of the Luftwaffe. In 1945, when the Red Army invaded East and Central Germany, many thousands of girls and women of the RADwJ were raped, murdered, and some brutally slaughtered.

With the beginning of the Western Campaign, around 60 percent of the RAD's regular personnel were transferred to the Wehrmacht. Towards the end of the war, units of the male RAD were also to be deployed as part of the Volkssturm. Konstantin Hierl prevented this and tried to form independent RAD combat groups. Three RAD infantry divisions were known to have been deployed in the final Battle for Berlin, but due to high losses in the deployment area and very poor armament, they were unable to have any significant influence on the events around Berlin. The Reich Labor Service was banned and dissolved by Control Council Law No. 2 (Dissolution and Liquidation of Nazi Organizations) on 10 October 1945, and its assets were confiscated.

RAD ranks (and comparable Wehrmacht ranks)

Rank insignia (collar tabs and shoulder boards); see list (left)

1. Reichsarbeitsführer (Generalfeldmarschall)
... Generaloberstfeldmeister (Generaloberst)
- collar tabs and shoulder boards like #2, but with three stars
... Generalfeldmeister (General der Waffengattung)
- collar tabs and shoulder boards like #2, but with two stars
2. Obergeneralarbeitsführer (Lieutenant General)
3. Generalarbeitsführer (Major General)
4. Oberstarbeitsführer / Female: Maidenhauptstabsführerin (Colonel)
5. Oberarbeitsführer / Female: Maidenoberstabsführerin (Lieutenant Colonel)
6. Arbeitsführer / Female: Maidenstabsführerin (Major)
7. Oberstfeldmeister / Female: Maidenhauptführerin (Captain / Rittmeister)
8. Oberfeldmeister / Female: Maidenoberführerin (1st Lieutenant)
9. Feldmeister / Female: Maidenführerin (2nd Lieutenant)
10. Unterfeldmeister / Female: Maidenunterführerin (Oberfeldwebel / Stabsfeldwebel)
11. Obertruppführer / Female: Jungführerin (Feldwebel)
12. Truppführer / Female: Kameradschaftsführerin/-älteste (Unteroffizier; NCO)
13. Untertruppführer (Stabsgefreiter)
- In terms of rank, the RAD-Untertruppführer differed from the RAD-Hauptvormann only in his ten-year commitment as a leader in the RAD. While the Hauptvormann was dismissed after his compulsory six-month period of service, the Untertruppführer remained in the camp as an instructor.
13. Hauptvormann (Stabsgefreiter)
14. Obervormann (Obergefreiter)
15. Vormann (Gefreiter)
16. Arbeitsmann / Female: Arbeitsmaid (Soldat)