Description
The Reich Labour Service Brief History
The Reich Labour Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst, or RAD) developed from Germany’s voluntary labour programmes of the early 1930s and became a compulsory state organisation in 1935. Young men typically completed six months’ service on agricultural, land-reclamation and construction projects, while also receiving paramilitary training and National Socialist ideological instruction. During the Second World War, the RAD increasingly supported the German armed forces through construction, transport, anti-aircraft and other auxiliary duties; compulsory service was also extended to young women. The organisation was dissolved following Germany’s defeat in 1945.
