Figure 1.-- |
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The NAZis began planning a massive rearmament program as soom as they seized power. The Versailles Treaty prohibited Germany from having an air force. Concerned about Allied intervention, Hitler took many secret steps as well as a a number of disguised strps. Reich Marshall Herman Göring was put in charge of a new Ministry of Air Travel (early 1933). This was in fact the beginning of a mew German German airforce. Part of the ministry's portfolio was air protection (civil defense) air defense programs. After Göring announced the creation of the Luftwaffe in violation of the Versailles Treaty (March 1935), the new Air Ministry assumed responsibility for civil defense, but other agencies were involved. The Air Ministry and the Luftwaffe High Command assumed responsibility for air defense policy and national policy directives, but several other agencies played an important role. . The Order Police (part of the Interior Ministry) was responsible for local services. The RLB organized and trained wardens and fire workers and trained the general public. Participation in the RLB was made compulsory (June 1935). Membership invreased to 12.6 million (1938) and after the War began to 12.6 million (1942). Other agencies were involved. The State Group for Industry (Ministry of Economics) addressed the problem of protecting industrial sites and workers. State transport amd communication agencies (post office, railyways, inland waterways, highways) also developed programs.
The Germans during World War I created an air arm during World War I (1914-18). The airplane was first used in any significant way in World war I. It played a useful, but marginal role. The Allies were able to outproduce the Germans, but both side made important technological strides. The German air ace the Red Baron (von Rictoff) was the most famous pilot of the War. When he was killed, Herman Göring took over command of the the Flying Circus. The German air forces were dissolved after the War, as required by the Treaty of Versailles. Even so the German military continued to develop technology through secret arrangements with foreign countries. German companies built planes in other countries, especially the Netherlands. Glider clubs throughout Germany provided training for future pilots. The operations were expanded when the NAZIs seized control (1933). The NAZis began planning a massive rearmament program as soom as they seized power. The Versailles Treaty prohibited Germany from having an air force. Concerned about Allied intervention, Hitler took many secret steps as well as a a number of disguised strps. Reich Marshall Herman Göring was put in charge of a new Ministry of Air Travel (early 1933). This was in fact the beginning of a mew German German airforce. Part of the ministry's portfolio was air protection (civil defense) air defense programs. Adolf Hiter ordered Göring to formally establish thevLuftwaffe (February 26, 1935). The Versailles Treaty was still in force.
The new Air Ministry assumed responsibility for civil defense, but other agencies were involved. The Air Ministry and the Luftwaffe High Command assumed responsibility for air defense policy and national policy directives, but several other agencies played an important role. . The Order Police (part of the Interior Ministry) was responsible for local services. The RLB organized and trained wardens and fire workers and trained the general public. Participation in the RLB was made compulsory (June 1935). Membership invreased to 12.6 million (1938) and after the War began to 12.6 million (1942). Other agencies were involved. The State Group for Industry (Ministry of Economics) addressed the problem of protecting industrial sites and workers. State transport amd communication agencies (post office, railyways, inland waterways, highways) also developed programs.
The new Air Ministry assumed responsibility for civil defense, but other agencies were involved. The Air Ministry and the Luftwaffe High Command assumed responsibility for air defense policy and national policy directives. The Air Ministry and Luftwaffe High Command controlled civil defense operarion at both the national and refgional levels. Thry cotrollef the civil defense mobile reserve (mptorized SHD units), the Air Protection Warning Service (LSW), shelter policy, and lighting restrictions (black out regulations).
The Order Police (part of the Interior Ministry) was responsible for local services. This inclused SHD services (fire fighting, rescuefirst aid, vedternarian services, and anti-gas preparations. Germany like other countries assumed when the War broke out that cities would be subjected to aerial poison gas attacks. The local efforts were subject too the policies developed by Göring amd the Air Ministry.
The RLB organized and trained wardens and fire workers and trained the general public. Participation in the RLB was made compulsory (June 1935). Membership increased to 12.6 million (1938) and after the War began to 12.6 million (1942). Each major Germasn city developed had a complicated LS hierarchy with clearly defined missions. There were several different opperational units within the RLB.
The primary RLB unit was Sicherheits- und Hilfsdienst (SHD, Recue and Repair Service). The SHD was subdivided into several functionzal units. The Sicherheitsdienst (S-Dienst) served to maintain security and fulfilled police functions furing air raids.
The Feuerlöschdienst (F-Dienst) was the actual firefighting crews.
The Instandsetsungsdienst (I-Dienst) was responsible for technical and emergency repairs. This included the very dangerous bomb disposal duties. They also helped rescue the bombing victims.
The Sanitatdienst (San-Dienst) assisted the Red Cross and the municipal health authorities with problems connected with health, emergency care, and hygiene resulting from bomb raids. The NAZI Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (NSV) also assisted with emergency care such as setting up soup kitchens.
In addition a RLB unit was responsibe for veterinary care, both draft animals and pets. [Schramm, p. 143.]
Draft animals were still extensively used in German cities and towns. Ironically for a country waging a far-flung mechanized war, neither the Wehrmacht or the Germany ecinomy was fully mdchanized.
The Entgiftungsdienst (E-Dienst) was the Decontamination Service. They commonly worked with the firefighters. In Nuremberg they were even amalgamated with the firefighters (1940). As a result the gas protection function of the E-Dienst became an auxiliary. [Schramm, p.77.] The E-Dienst was generally thought to be a central part of the Civil Defense effort. As a result of World War I, it was widely believed that chemical weapons (poison gas) would be widely used in World War II, inclusing air raids on cities. All the major combatants had stockpiles of chemical weapons. Gas masks were a ubiquitous site in the first year of the War.
The State Group for Industry (Ministry of Economics) addressed the problem of protecting industrial sites and workers.
The NAZI Party was gicen esponsibility for organizing any evacuations and welfare assistance after the raids.
Other agencies were involved. State transport amd communication agencies (post office, railyways, inland waterways, highways) also developed programs.
Schramm, Georg Wolfgang. Der zivile Luftschutz in Nürnberg, 1933-1945 (Nürnberg: 1983).
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