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The Reichsluftschutzbund (RLB; "
In 1939 the RLB had about 15 million members, 820,000 volunteer functionaries (of which 280,000
The Reichsluftschutzbund (RLB; "Reich
''Reich'' (; ) is a German language, German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emp ...
Air Protection League") was an organization in Nazi Germany in charge of air raid precautions
Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s an ...
in residential areas and among smaller businesses.
Purpose
The RLB was organized byHermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
in 1933 as a voluntary association
A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteering, volunteers, to form a body (or organ ...
. Existing volunteer air raid precaution associations were forced to merge with RLB. In 1939 the RLB became a ''Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts'' ( quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization), while in 1944 it became an affiliated organization of 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 ...
. RLB was dissolved by the Allied Powers after the end of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Its successor 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 ...
was the Bundesverband für den Selbstschutz.
The RLB was in charge of educating and training ordinary German men and women in civil defence procedures necessary for the basic level of local self-help of the civil population against air raids. The local level was formed around air raid wardens and operated in small first intervention squads. The training include fire fighting
Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter.
Firefighters typicall ...
, protection against chemical weapons
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized Ammunition, munition that uses chemicals chemical engineering, formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be an ...
, communication procedures and preparation of houses and apartments against air raids.
Organization
In 1939 the RLB had about 15 million members, 820,000 volunteer functionaries (of which 280,000 women
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...
) and 75,000 local units. The membership was trained at 3,800 civil defence schools with 28,000 instructors.
* RLB was led by a ''Präsidium'', whose president, and vice president and chief of staff, were active duty general officers of the Luftwaffe. The presidium was in itself a department immediately subordinated to the Ministry of Aviation
The Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply.
...
.
* Coterminous with each ''Luftgaukommando'' (air district command) was a ''RLB-Gruppe'' (RLB-group) under a leader aided by 46 full-time staff members.
* For each Regierungsbezirk
A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts.
Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...
, there was a ''RLB-Bezirksgruppe'' (regional group).
* The basic organization was the ''RLB-Revier'', one for each police precinct
In the United States, a police precinct or ward is a geographical area patrolled by a police force. The term "precinct" may also refer to the main police station for such a geographical area.
Practices and cultures of policing often vary conside ...
in the cities, or the ''RLB-Gemeinde-Gruppe'', one for each urban or rural municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
for the rest of the country. In the case of a city with several precincts, the citywide organization was called an ''RLB-Ortsgruppe'' (local group). Several municipal groups formed an ''RLB-Ortskreisgruppe'', one for each Landkreis
In all German states, except for the three city states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a '' Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the (official term in all but two states) or (official term in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia ...
. Each ''Ortsgruppe'' and ''Ortskreisgruppe'' had a leader and a staff of nine members, of which five where full-time salaried employees.
* The basic organizations had a varied number of ''Untergruppen'' (sub-groups) divided into ''Blocke'' (blocks) under ''Blockwarte'' (block wardens) which controlled and liaised with a number of ''Luftschutzgemeinschafte'' (air raid protection communities) under ''Luftschutzwarte'' (air raid wardens). Each community consisted of an apartment building or several smaller buildings, although a large apartment complex could have several communities. In addition to the warden, the community should have an assistant warden, house fire fighters, helpers and messengers as a first intervention squad. Duty in these squads were compulsory ''(Notdienstpflicht)'' for the civilian population.
See also
*Ranks and insignia of the Reichsluftschutzbund
Ranks and insignia of Reichsluftschutzbund were paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country' ...
References
* Erich Hampe (1963), ''Der Zivile Luftschutz im Zweiten Weltkrieg'', Frankfurt am Main: Bernard & Graefe, pp. 430–451. {{Authority control Society of Nazi Germany Organizations established in 1933 Civil defense