Ebook: Wehrmacht Auxiliary Forces

In 1938 Adolf Hitler directed two paramilitary labour organisations – the Reichsarbeitsdienst, recruits undergoing pre-military training; and Organisation Todt, a unique mobilisation of private construction firms – to support the armed forces (Wehrmacht) in their duties. Hard-pressed transport and supply units were further aided by the NSKK, the Nazi motoring organisation, and, from 1944, with military defeat looming, all manpower with any military potential was drafted into the Deutscher Volkssturm. The total strength of these organisations peaked in 1944 at about 3,800,000. Although units were generally inferior to their armed forces equivalents, their contribution to the war-effort was far from negligible.