SS HELFERIN breast runes junior rank badge patch

SS HELFERIN BREAST RUNES JUNIOR RANK BADGE

More than half a million women were military assistants for a shorter or longer period. Over half of them volunteered, the others were required to do emergency service or to serve in the military service. Like the prisoners of war willing to help (Helpers), they counted among the so-called temporary staff.

The women were not only deployed in the German Reich , but also to a small extent in occupied areas, such as in the General Government , France , the Reich Commissioner Ostland , later also in Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy and in the allied Romania , as staff assistants. They provided military aid, were subordinate to military superiors and worked under the provisions of military law.

Above all, they worked

as operators, teleprinters, radio operators, typists , office assistants and messengers, as Flak helper on listening devices,
in the Reich Air Defense in listening service, air traffic control service, flight registration service, weather service , fighter service and air defense service
in air defense on anti-aircraft guns (anti-aircraft gun) or as auxiliary gunners on anti-aircraft equipment and
in the military medical service (so-called voluntary nursing of the German Red Cross and other charitable organizations).
The Wehrmacht helpers often took over the jobs of soldiers who were assigned to the front. Some military units were almost exclusively women at the end of the war. Their training lasted a maximum of 12 weeks.