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Ein halbes Jahr im Arbeitsgau XXIX Bayern-Ostmark is a hardcover Nazi Erinnerungsbuch or remembrance book published by the 29th (of 32) Nazi Labor District of the Reichsarbeitsdient (RAD or National Labor Service), with a foreword by its Leader, Generalarbeitsführer Carl Laur. The six months labor service was called “honorable service to the German nation” and a time in which young people got to know their home land and contributed to its renewal and growth. The German Gau the Nazis called Bayern-Ostmark was that region of Bavaria in the east along the Czech border composed of Lower Bavaria, Upper Palatinate, and Upper Franconia and included cities such as Passau, Regensburg, and Weiden of porcelain fame.

The book has quotes by Adolf Hitler from his speech at the 1938 Reichsparteitag, the head of the RAD Reichsarbeitsdienstführer Konstantin Hierl, Dietrich Eckart and others. After two pages of background history on the RAD, the book is filled with glossy photo pages showing the men of the Nazi Labor Service in action - building dams and irrigation systems, working on the Reichsautobahn, harvesting crops, as well as marching in uniform, their education, barracks life, endurance training, etc. There are photos of historical sights in Arbeitsgau XXIX Bayern-Ostmark and even one of a group of young, uniformed RAD men listening to Hitler speak on a Volksempfänger radio.

Published in 1939 by Verlag Erich Klinghammer of Berlin, this 6-7/8 x 9-1/2 inch fine looking hardcover book has 78 pages. The personal Erinnerungsblatt where the Arbeitsmann who purchased this commemorative book after his labor service was over, is not filled out. The original owner of this book may very well have been drafted into the Wehrmacht and never came home again to fill in the blank pages.

This 81 year old example of Ein halbes Jahr im Arbeitsgau XXIX Bayern-Ostmark looks great except for some damage to the back side of the spine, and please note that page 7/8 is missing, possibly torn out to remove personal information. Otherwise it is in fine condition with no odor.

In the back there are 14 blank pages, space to write down memories or for pasting in photographs. None of the pages were filled out by the original owner of this example of Ein halbes Jahr im Arbeitsgau XXIX Bayern-Ostmark. The sources of pictures in this book are mentioned on page 64 and are by the Tourist Office of Nürnberg, Scherl, Weltbild, various newspapers and private pictures.