RAD Reichsarbeitsdienst WWII German cap badge (2853)

WW2 German RAD enameled Cap Badge, stamped GES.GESCH on the rear and with pins intact.

The Reich Labor Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst; RAD) was a major organization established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarize the workforce and indoctrinate it with Nazi ideology. It was the official state labor 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.

The Reich Labor Service ( RAD ) was an organization in the National Socialist German Empire . The law for the Reich Labor Service was passed on June 26, 1935. read: All young Germans of both sexes are obliged to serve their people in the Reich Labor Service. The Führer and Reich Chancellor determines the number of conscripts to be called up annually and sets the length of service . Initially, young men (before their military service ) were called up for labor service for six months. From the beginning of the Second World War, the Reich Labor Service was extended to include female youth.

The Reich Labor Service was part of the economy in National Socialist Germany and part of education under National Socialism. After the assassination attempt on July 20, 1944 and the command of the reserve army was subsequently handed over to the Waffen-SS , the RAD was given 6 weeks of basic military rifle training in order to shorten the training time for the troops. The seat of the Reich leadership of the Reich Labor Service was Berlin – Grunewald .