Item:
ONSV21WS12

Original German WWII RAD Women's Reich Labor Service Large Pennant Flag - 80" x 44"

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent condition German WWII Young Women's Reich Labor Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst der weiblichen Jugend - RAD/wJ) Large Pennant Flag. It measures an impressive 80" by 44", and has the usual slightly hooked shape, which is correct for this type of flag. The flag is in very good condition, with vibrant colors, and just a bit of age toning and light staining. The flag body is single piece construction, with a dyed RAD/wJ logo. The white canvas flag header is unmarked, and still retains the original rope hanging loops on the ends of the header. These are quite rare, and this is only the second example we have had!

The basis of the RAD, Reichsarbeitsdienst, (National Labor Service), dates back, at least, to 1929 with the formation of the AAD (Anhalt Arbeitsdienst) and the FAD-B (Freiwillingen Arbeitsdienst-Bayern).  Shortly after AH’s appointment as Chancellor in Jan 1933, the NSDAP consolidated all labor organizations into the NSAD (Nationalsozialist Arbeitsdienst), a national labor service. It served as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarize the workforce and indoctrinate it with NSDAP ideology. It was the official state labor service, divided into separate sections for men and women.

On June 26 1935 the NSAD was officially re-designated RAD, and from then 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 RAD was divided into two major sections, one for men (Reichsarbeitsdienst Männer - RAD/M) and the voluntary, from 1939 compulsory, section for young women (Reichsarbeitsdienst der weiblichen Jugend - RAD/wJ).

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