The paramount military purpose of the NSFK is clearly indi-

[Page 344]

cated in the following admission by Geeralleutnant Friedrich Christiansen, Korpsfuehrer of the NSFK:

"Schooled in character, trained physically as a flier, and as a soldier, the member-to-be of the Luftwaffe leaves the NSFK." (2813-PS)

(6) The Reichsarbeitdienst (RAD) (The Reich Labor Service). The Reich Labor Service was also subverted to military purposes by the Nazi conspirators.

Membership in the RAD was made compulsory for both young men and women on 26 June 1935.

"All young Germans of either sex between 18-25 years of age are obligated to serve their people in the Reich Labor Service. As the schooling of the Nation, it has as its object this education of the German Youth to National Socialist Ideology.

"The Reich Labor Service for men is, thanks to its military nature, closely-knit units, and its particular education and training an ever-ready, powerful tool of the National Socialist Reich." (2805-PS)

The tens of thousands of members of the RAD were militarily trained and ready for action when Germany launched her campaigns of aggression. Actual military use of the men of the RAD is clearly shown in the 1 June 1943 edition of "Fuehren und Erzehen" (Leadership and Education), the official magazine of the Reich Labor Service. A photograph depicts a Labor Service man repairing a bridge at the front, across which four infantrymen are proceeding, and is titled as follows:

"The young crews who have gone through the educational institutions of the Reich Labor Service today represent the most active nucleus of our Army. *** Our photograph shows labor men who in the East are preparing the way for infantry shock troops by repairing a bridge. Thus also the men of the Reich Labor Service are today one of the examples of eternal German soldierdom." (2806-PS)

The military uses of the RAD are further described in the following letter written by Goering to Reich Labor Service Leader Konstantin Hierl:

"After the victorious termination of the campaign in Poland, l cannot but convey to you my sincere thanks for and unreserved recognition of the help rendered by the Reich Labor Service in the carrying out of the operations of the Luftwaffe. In guarding Army airfields, in clearing and quickly repairing former enemy airports, in road construction and

[Page 345]

in bringing up supplies, everywhere your men have done a real job and have thus contributed considerably to the successes of the German Luftwaffe." (2807-PS) (7) The TODT Organization (OT). The TODT Organization, or OT, was another NSDAP affiliate used to further the militaristic aims of the Nazi conspirators. The OT, originally an offshoot of the RAD, was created as a separate entity in June 1938 when Dr. Fritz Todt was charged with the construction of the Siegfried Line or West Wall. The military employment of the OT is clearly shown in the following passage from "Maenner der OT", which was published by the Photographic Office of the Reich Propaganda Office:

"No sooner had the greatest and most modern fortifications of the world, the West Wall, been completed by the workers of the OT, when these very same workers were called upon by the Fuehrer to prove their worth also in direct front service *** and they thus helped *** to achieve the greatest victory in history. When the great offensive in the west began, the brown workers' columns of the TODT organization followed immediately behind them.

After the armistice with France had been signed, an entirely new situation developed for the TODT organization. Its columns had pushed deep into enemy country. Not seldom did they have direct contact with the enemy -- their losses in dead and wounded and the Iron Cross awards are heroic proof of that. While, as the foremost construction workers of the German Reich, they had already proved their worth when building the West Wall, they were now able to perfect what they had learned in the fight against the British world enemy. From the Channel coast to the Atlantic Ocean, the front technicians and front workers of the OT now proceeded to create the prerequisites for a successful fight against England." (2808-PS)

Though the OT was in its origin technically a civilian organization, it subsequently became a para-military body which, before and during the war, cooperated fully with the German Army. On 2 July 1940, a directive was issued from the German High Command appointing a liaison officer.

"*** to establish the closest liaison and cooperation of the respective military offices with the main construction work of the TODT Organization." (2812-PS)

his militarization of the OT is further shown in the following passage from "Nationalsozialistische Monatschefte" for 1942:

"From the Autobahn workers was developed the 'Organization TODT' a body of hundreds of thousands of workers who

[Page 346]

help the Wehrmacht everywhere in eliminating obstacles, building bridges and erecting fortifications and shelters. The front soldier and the front worker stand side by side. Together they have shed their blood in this war and together they have won victories. Long-range guns on the Channel coast, U-boat bases on the Atlantic, and now the East will render the 'OT' immortal for all times to come." (2809-PS)

A letter from Fritz Sauckel to Hitler, dated 17 May 1943, states that the OT had supplied 248,200 workers by March 1943 for the completion of the Atlantic Wall, and praises the OT for its excellent work in this regard. (407-VIII-PS)

By 1938, all phases of German life had been mobilized for the accomplishment of militant aims.

Hitler declared to the Reichstag on 20 February 1938:

"Only now we have succeeded in setting before us the great tasks and in possessing the material things which are the prerequisites for the realization of great creative plans in all fields of our national existence. Thus, National Socialism has made up within a few years for what centuries before it had omitted. ***

"National Socialism has given the German people that leadership which as party not- only mobilizes the nation but also organizes it, so that on the basis of the natural principle of selection, the continuance of a stable political leadership is safeguarded forever *** National Socialism *** possesses Germany entirely and completely since the day when, five years ago, I left the house in Wilhelmplatz as Reich Chancellor. There is no institution in this state which is not National Socialist. Above all, however, the National Socialist Party in these five years not only has made the nation National Socialist, but also has given itself that perfect organizational structure which guarantees its permanence for all future. The greatest guarantee of the National Socialist revolution lies in the complete domination of the Reich and all its institutions and organizations, internally and externally, by the National Socialist Party. Its protection against the world abroad, however, lies in its new National Socialist armed forces. * *

"In this Reich, anybody who has a responsible position is a National Socialist. *** Every institution of this Reich is under the orders of the supreme political leadership. *** The party leads the Reich politically, the armed forces defend it militarily. *** There is nobody in any responsible position in this state who. doubts that I am the authorized leader of this Reich." (2715-PS)

The original plaintext version of part one or part two of this file is available via ftp.

[ Previous | Index | Next ]

Home ·  Site Map ·  What's New? ·  Search Nizkor