File:Organisationsbuc00nati orig 0564 ORGANISATIONSBUCH DER NSDAP 1936 Tafel 65 Reichsarbeitsdienst RAD Uniform Arbeitsführer Arbeitsmann No known copyright restrictions cropped.jpg

English: Illustration from the official Nazi Party handbook 1936, showing flags, emblems, signs, badges, ranks, insignia, uniforms, etc.:

• Reich Labour Service Arbeitsführer ("work leader", comparable to a Major in the Wehrmacht Heer) and Arbeitsmann (the basic RAD rank, roughly comparable to a Schütze)
  • Cloth cap with RAD emblem (RAD Tuchmütze, "Arsch mit Griff"). The distinctive service cap, symbolizing the traditional farmer's work cap, had a spade and corn-sheaves badge. The officer's cap had a silver flap and peak piping (gold for general officers).
  • Tunic (Waffenrock): single-breasted service jacket, with front closure, turned-down collar, two side pockets, two box-pleated patch breast pockets, exposed pocket buttons. The service dress for all ranks consisted of an earth-brown tunic with dark, or chocolate brown, collar (facing and piping), both colours having an obvious association with earth and soil.
  • Shoulder strap (epaulette) with cords etc. as rank insignia
  • Collar patches/tabs (Kragenspiegel) denoting class of rank. The system of rank insignia developed from the Volunteer Labour Service's (FAD) use of simple silver om black collar patches and shoulder straps, through the introduction in 1936 of the red and white design on black collar patches to the use in 1940 of new insignia; the shoulder straps remaining the same. (By 1940 and again in 1943 this rank insignia had undergone another change. The appearance of the shoulder straps was more military, the collar patches were modified, and new branch colours were made use of, notably dark bottle green for RAD Administration personnel and cornflower blue for Medical troops.)
  • RAD arm or sleeve shield with RAD 'spade head' and letters and numbers indicating the Arbeitsgau number, abteilungen and area. Worn on left upper arm. The universal use of the spadeshaped arm patch on the left sleeve with battalion and company numbers, first introduced whe the RAD was founded, continued in use right up to the end.
  • Nazi Party swastika armband/brassard (Hakenkreuzarmbinde, Kampfbinde) fitted around the left arm and tacked on with thread
  • Leather belts with RAD emblem buckle (spade head and swastika)
  • Leader's hewer/officer's dagger) with scabbard and hanger. RAD motto Arbeit adelt ("Work Ennobles") inscription on blade.
  • Calf-length breeches, riding pants with extra width in the thigh area (Breecheshosen, Reit- bzw. Stiefelhosen)
  • Black knee-high jackboots/riding boots (Schaftstiefeln)
  • Dagger or hewer (Haumesser) for RAD leaders. The RAD motto Arbeit adelt ("Work ennobles") was inscribed onto the blade of RAD officers' daggers. See RAD hewer (dagger) with scabbard and hanger (Deutsches RAD-Führer-Haumesser mit Scheide) and Nazi Germany Dagger Indetification Guide at www.germandaggers.com.

etc.

The Reich Labour Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst; RAD) was a major organisation established in Nazi Germany to reduce unemployment, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with Nazi ideology. It was the official state labour service, divided into separate sections for men (RAD/M) and women (RAD/wJ). 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 supported the Wehrmacht armed forces.

A paramilitary RAD uniform was implemented in 1934; beside the swastika brassard, the RAD symbol, an arm badge in the shape of an upward pointing shovel blade, was displayed on the upper left shoulder of all uniforms and great-coats worn by all personnel. The women’s symbol also had wheat sheaths, but with a swastika instead of a spade.

Cropped page from Organisationsbuch der NSDAP issued by the Nazi Party's national organizational leader (Reichsorganisationsleiter) Robert Ley for the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei, Reichsorganisationsamt; published in 1936 by Zentralverlag der NSDAP, Franz Eher Nachf., München; circa 550 pages, 71 pages of plates; German language; letters in Fraktur style typefaces.

The National Socialist German Workers' Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, NSDAP) was a far-right, nationalist, antisemitic and anti-Marxist political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. The Nazi Party command structure was divided into the general membership (Parteimitglieder), the political leadership corps (Politische Leiter), the upper command levels encompassed by the Gauleiter and Reichsleiter, and the position of Führer held by Adolf Hitler as supreme leader. Ranks of the Nazi Party were paramilitary titles. All political leaders wore official uniforms, while regular party members wore civilian clothing with a standard party badge. The uniforms, ranks and insignia of the Nazi party and its sub-organizations – Sturmabteilung (SA), SS, Gestapo, Hitler Youth, etc. – underwent several changes.