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The Insignia of the
German Labor Front
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German Labor
Front |
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In order to control
trade unions and hence the stability of the economic workforce, the
National Socialist Party created the German Labor Front (Deutsches
Arbeitsfront-DAF) in 1933. The purpose of the German Labor Front was
to ensure the political stability of the German labor unions by
converting them into a centrally controlled organization lead by
National Socialists. The German Labor Front adopted a paramilitary
structure similar to that of the National Socialist German Workers
Party. While membership was voluntary, essentially every German
worker was required to be a member. This was particularly true of
those workers associated with prime industries such as transportation,
utilities, textile trades, armament manufacturing, legal services,
agriculture, and the like. The organization was divided into two
parts including the National Socialist Factory Organization (Nationalsozialistische
Betriebsorganization-NSBO) and the National Socialist Trade and
Industry Organization (Nationalsozialistische Handels und
Gewerbeorganization-NSHAGO).
Members of the German
Labor Front were required to own and wear uniforms that denoted their
status within the structure of the organization. Following the
outbreak of war, members were often required to serve as factory
guards or to volunteer for membership in associations like the
National Air Protection League (Reichsluftschutzbund) and other Air
Protection (Luftschutz) groups. In this capacity, it was their job to
help protect industrial facilities as well as to coordinate with
outside organizations that helped to ensure the safe operation of
factory facilities. Many members of the German Labor Front also
served as official members of the Factory Police (Werksschutzpolizei-WSP).
By 1942, the German Labor Front also organized independent and locally
trained members who volunteered to operate anti-aircraft flak
batteries to protect individual factories from Allied bombs. While a
noble gesture, the effectiveness of these ad-hoc units is unknown. |
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Overview
Each section of German-Helmets.com
is divided into separate Information Tracks that outline important
details, facts, and historical notes pertaining to steel helmets used by
the German Armed Forces during World War II.
Information Tracks are organized
by subject matter and their content is directly related to the service arm
or organization to which each topic is related. Topic areas that
bridge one subject matter to another are cross linked within each Information Track.
This Information Track provides historical
facts pertaining to helmets of the German Labor Front from 1933-1945. Individual links related to this subject are
outlined below.
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