The Reichsbund der Deutschen Beamten (RDB), meaning "Reich Federation of German Civil Servants", also known as NS-Beamtenbund (National Socialist Civil Servants Federation), was the

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

for German State Officials during the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. The RDB was established as an organization affiliated to the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

in October 1933. Its leader was Herman Neef. Neef had been previously leading the RDB's predecessor organisation, Deutscher Beamtenbund

German Civil Service Federation The German Civil Service Association (dbb beamtenbund und tarifunion) is a national trade union center in Germany. It has a membership of 1,250,000, and is affiliated with the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions The European C ...

, which had been founded in December 1918. Although it was not compulsory for RDB members to be Nazi party members, most of them chose to be. In addition to the training and development of its members, the RDB ensured that German Civil Servants toed the line of the Nazi Party.Reichsbund der Deutschen Beamten: Copy circular
/ref> Following Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II, the American Military Government issued a special law outlawing the Nazi party and all of its branches. Known as "Law number five", this

denazification Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...

decree disbanded the National Socialist Civil Servants Federation, like all other organizations linked to the Nazi Party. In the postwar years, it was reestablished as the

in the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

Notes and references

Trade unions established in 1933 1933 establishments in Germany Organizations disestablished in 1945 Nazi Party organizations Defunct trade unions of Germany Fascist trade unions {{nazi-stub

See also

Notes and references