Original Item: Only One Available. The DAF (Deutsche Arbeitsfront or German Labor Front) was a National Socialist trade union that supplanted independent unions once the NSDAP had come to power in Germany. As with all NSDAP organizations, many awards and other such things were given to ensure that people were loyal and happy. Here we have a small table medal award, issued by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in the city of Reichenberg, which was part of the so-called "Sudetenland" that Germany annexed from Czechoslovakia in 1938. Today it is known as Liberec.

The front of the medal shows a worker, with factories in the rear left, over an NSDAP Reichsadler Eagle. To the right side is the name of the maker / designer F.MÄNERT. The reverse of the medal shows the mountains of the area, with more factories in the lower left, and the following text in German "Black-letter" font:

Die Induſtrie-und
Handelskammer
in Reichenberg
für
langjährige
treue
Mitarbeit.

This roughly translates to "The Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Reichenberg for many years of loyal cooperation." We assume these were given to workers in recognition of long service under the terms of their restrictive contracts to keep them happy.

The medal is in very good condition, looking to originally have been silver / aluminum washed. This is well retained on the reverse, however the obverse shows a good amount of wear on the raised areas.

An interesting piece of German WWII memorabilia, ready to display!

With the dissolution of all Free Trade Unions in Germany in May 1933 the Deutsche Arbeitsfront, (German Labor Front), was established to replace the unions and to educate the workers in industry and commerce for smooth and efficient operation of all labor in the Third Reich. In October 1934 the DAF was given official status as a sub-section of the NSDAP and in March 1936 it was recognized as an independent NSDAP affiliated association and granted control of its own monetary budget. With this money it was able to procure its own signs and other insignia.

Theoretically, DAF existed to act as a medium through which workers and owners could mutually represent their interests. Wages were set by the 12 DAF trustees. The employees were given relatively high set wages and security of employment, and dismissal was increasingly made difficult. Social security and leisure programs were started, canteens, breaks, and regular working times were established, and German workers were generally satisfied by what the DAF gave them in repayment for their absolute loyalty. Employment contracts created under the Weimar Republic were abolished and renewed under new circumstances in the DAF. Employers could demand more of their workers, while at the same time workers were given increased security of work and increasingly enrolled into social security programs for workers. The organization, by its own definition, combated capitalism and liberalism, but also revolution against the factory owners and the National Socialist state. The DAF, however, did openly prefer to have large companies nationalized by the German state, instead of privately owned companies.