FOUND. WHAT IS IT?

[Jmann69]

Found in my Grandpa's dresser. He was in WWII. What do you think it is?

John

 

[ncsuwolf]

Going to go out on a limb and say it’s German…….

 

[UnderMiner]

This is a World War II German Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) membership badge. The RAD translates to "National Labor Service" and was a state labor organization in Nazi Germany. It was issued to individuals who had completed their mandatory six months of work service.

 

[BAW]

It is a WWII era badge of membership in the German Reichsarbeitdienst, a group that started out as something akin to the US CCC but soon turned into a non-voluntary labor corp into which young men too young for the army were conscripted to harvest crops, repair bomb damage, build military facilities etc. Towards the end of the war they were assigned duties as flak gunners and even as combat riflemen. Originally it was intended that members should be 17 or 18 years old, but by 1945 some members were as young as 12.

 

[villagenut]

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

It was very common for US Soldiers to bring back souvenirs from the war.

 

[Gare]

Very neat find !!!
congrats

 

[Chilli]

Found in my Grandpa's dresser. He was in WWII. What do you think it is?

John

Cool find.
I personally have zero issues with what you found. I hate the Nazis and what they did though.
Im not in any way knocking your find or showing it here, its something historical, but this is what happens now in OZ.
If I found something like that and posted it on an Aussie site id be getting a knock on my door from the Police and would end up in court and fined for publicly online displaying a Nazi symbol.
Everything Nazi being displayed here is banned! In any way shape and form, including gestures.
A couple of weeks ago a guy was seen at a beach side bar wearing shorts and on his leg he had an SS tattoo.
Another guy there took a photo of it and showed it to the Police. They found out who he was and went to his home and arrested him and charged him for displaying it in public with him then awaiting a court appearance where he will be fined possibly thousands of dollars for doing it. This means anyone with a tattoo must keep them covered at all times in public and never in any form anywhere display any form of Nazi symbolism. The maximum fine is $11,000 and possible jail time.

 

[Gare]

Good posting Chilli , Please stay safe down there.

 

[Red-Coat]

Very cool find. Note that the initials on the back are actually ‘RADJ’ rather than ‘RAD’, with the ‘J’ standing for ‘jugend’ (youth). When the ReichsArbeitsDienst was formed on 11 July 1934 by renaming of the former NationalSozialistischer ArbeitDienst (NSAD), there were two major sections. One for men: (Reichsarbeitsdienst Männer – RAD/M); and one for young women (weiblichen Jugend – RAD/wJ). The latter was initially voluntary, and then compulsory from 1939 onwards.

I don’t know if there were separate insignia pins for boys in the Hitler Youth movement, but my understanding is that when the ‘RAD’ is appended with either ‘wJ’ or just ‘J’, it relates to the female youth section weiblichen Jugend.

There were several makers of these pins, and the M.O.S. initials are for Matthias Oeschsler & Sohn of Ansbach in Germany.

 

[oofda]

Found in my Grandpa's dresser. He was in WWII. What do you think it is?

John

hmm. it looks german. not sure why…

 

[Digger RJ]

Found in my Grandpa's dresser. He was in WWII. What do you think it is?

John

Very Cool!!! Congrats!!!