Der Reichsautozug Deutschland

For those that are truly serious about our hobby, historical accuracy is of the utmost concern. Regulations, design, purpose and wear of the accouterments of the Third Reich are constantly being researched and redefined.

In the infancy of the hobby, any information that was gleaned from books, personalities, or even rumor, was eventually (or sooner) taken for gospel... not to be disputed, forever after,
amen! Now, as we have reached a more sophisticated level, we question what may be
accurate, misstated, or just plain wrong.

Ten years ago, I had occasion to view on overseas cap, armband and cufftitle. All were named to the "REICHSAUTOZUG DEUTSCHLAND", with the addition of the cap having "NSDAP" above the eagle on the patch. In John Angolia’s book, "CLOTH INSIGNIA OF THE SS", page 133, the armband is pictured and captioned underneath attributed to the "NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE COMPETITION GERMANY". The armband is described as being a machine embroidered national emblem with black embroidered title on yellow. In "THE SA - A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE" by Jill Halcomb, there are pictures of SA officers with the R.A.Z. (D.) insignia on their collar tabs. These pictures are of limited use, since they do not show any more significant insignia in wear. Also, on page 135, is the information that the R.A.Z.D. "served as transportation for the SA and other formations during Nazi Party events and rallies. It was also employed during emergencies? Also pictured is the patch worn on the overseas cap.

The items pictured with this article recently came into my possession. Along with these I was given some papers that my friend Robert Ehrlinger had received from the Bundesarchives in Germany. Included is a copy of three pages out of the "ORGANISATIONSBUCH DER NSDAP - 1943". It states that there is a staff leader directly under the Reichspropagandaleiter. Directly under the staff leader and responsible to him only are five sub-departments, one of which
is the R.A.Z..D. (See chart shown from page 297 of the "ORGANISATIONSBUCH" shown here.) On page 298 of the "ORGANISATIONSBUCH" is a one paragraph description of the R.A.Z.D.’s functions. It states:

The Reichsautozug Deutschland has the function to supply all meaningful political rallies of the Party, their divisions, and related units with the most necessary modern technical equipment. In addition, the R.A.Z.D. will take care of those rallies which are of a non-political nature.

That last sentence, "rallies of a non-political nature" has lead to a misconception that they were nothing but race car drivers of the ’30’s that happened to have membership in and the support of the Nazi party. There WAS NOTHING of a non-political nature in those days!

Let’s examine the words “Reichautozug Deutschland". Reichs is National; auto means auto; zug is a train; Deutschland is Germany. So, we have National auto train Germany. This is a literal translation and might mean more to an American as an official government auto procession. Everything at that time was an opportunity for National Socialism and an exercise in propaganda as orchestrated by the Reichspropaganda Ministry. The R.A.Z.D., under the aegis of the Ministry, planned the motorcades to the Party rallies and visits by Party and foreign dignitaries to various sites around Germany. It follows that, being in charge of the motorcade, they would have to be in charge ofsecurity for it and also for the rally to which they were driving, much in the same way that the U.S. Secret Service is in charge of and approves of arrangements for the Prcsident’s motorcade and security measures, when he or important personages, are scheduled to attend important public events or are in transit by automobile.

Nothing in the NSDAP manual makes any reference to the SA or SS having a foothold in the Propaganda Ministry vis-a-vis the R.A.Z.D. My belief is that both the SA and the SS staffed this particular office, with the inevitable infighting that was common between these two entities. With the SS in ascendance after June 30, 1934, they became masters of the office, responsible for security and R.A.Z.D. propaganda. The SA became mere chauffeurs, giving rides to the bourgeoisie and intelligentsia of the NSDAP going to Party rallies, and their officers nothing but fancy uniforms with no role in the running of the office other than to be front men and errand boys for the SS.

I am neither criticizing or disputing what John Angolia or Jill Halcomb state in their references. I’m sure that the SS and SA had multiple members participate in European road races. The point that I am trying to make is that the R.A.Z.D. was much more important and myriad in its aspects than either of the two authors depict in the amount of space the organization rated in their books.

Tim Alexander, "Der Reichsautozug Deutschland", Der Gauleiter, 1993