Reich Labour Service

Reich Labour Service
Reichsarbeitsdienst – RAD
House flag with RAD symbol

An RAD squad in 1940
Agency overview
Formed26 June 1935
Preceding agencies
  • Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst (FAD)
  • Nationalsozialistischer
    Arbeitsdienst (NSAD)
Dissolved8 May 1945
TypeLabour Army
JurisdictionNazi Germany Nazi Germany
Occupied Europe
HeadquartersBerlinGrunewald
52°29′31″N 13°17′6″E / 52.49194°N 13.28500°E / 52.49194; 13.28500
Employees200,000 (1935)
350,000 (October 1939)
Agency executives
Parent agency

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.[vague] 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.

RAD members working in the field, East Prussia, 1938
  1. ^ Nominally.