3rd Reich Volkssozialistische Selbsthilfe Mitgliedsabzeichen

In a very good condition a People's Socialist Self-Help Member Badge

Frontside: Emblem of the VS

Backside: Maker marked F.Mannheim from Kaiserslautern

Background information:

People's Socialist Self-Help Rheinpfalz, 1933/34

The most important socio-political project of the Palatinate Gauleiter Josef Bürckel (1895-1944), initiated in the summer of 1933. The People's Socialist Self-Help obligated every Palatine resident to donate a fixed monthly sum of money for state measures on the labor market, in housing construction, for the needy, etc.

In large circles of the farming population, however, the "People's Socialist Self-Help" met with considerable resistance. Many farmers feared that the funds would only benefit the urban population. Since Bürckel's program also massively interfered with state, municipal and private sector responsibilities, the government offices in Munich and Berlin also rejected it from the start. For example, on September 19, 1933, the Bavarian State Ministry of Justice forbade all Palatinate judicial officials and notaries to participate in the People's Socialist Self-Help - a decree that Bürckel overruled one day later.
The attempt by the Bavarian Prime Minister Ludwig Siebert (1874-1942) to persuade the Palatinate Gauleiter to end his socio-political solo efforts was also unsuccessful. Although Bürckel agreed to the incorporation of self-help into the "Winter Relief Organization" in late autumn 1933, he left no doubt that he would resume his project in the spring. Bürckel only gave in when Hitler issued a general ban on collections in the summer of 1934, thereby removing the basis for the People's Socialist self-help. With effect from April 1, 1935, the People's Socialist Self-Help was finally incorporated into the Office for People's Welfare.

Code: 53291