Literally: War Help Service. From 1941, this was created as
a half year extension to the Reichsarbetsdienst taken on by young German women.
There was a similar programme for men until the war broke out but their war
work was considered to be the conscription into the SA.
The German girls write much about this in the letters – in
the actual ones and the ones I’ve fictionalised in the story. In the real
letters the girls are writing from March 1942 to November 1944. Most of them
complete their Reichsarbeitsdiesnt in that time and many of them are in their
Kriegshilfsdienst. What they describe is actually what we might consider to be
war work for any young woman: helping with the field post, manning the local
telephone exchange, helping on farms, working in laboratories, air traffic
control and helping look after children on the Kinderlandvershickung.
They talk a lot about duty in the letters.
Is it right and fair to expect young people to do their duty
during war time?
Should they also do duty during peace time?
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