Arbeitsbuch (National Socialism)

Arbeitsbuch (English: work book) was a compulsory employment record document used in Nazi Germany to register workers and control labour mobility. Introduced by the Nazi government through the Law on the Introduction of a Work Book of 26 February 1935, it became an important instrument of state labour administration and social control.[1][2]

The document recorded a worker's personal information, qualifications and employment history and was used by labour offices and employers to regulate employment. Possession of a valid Arbeitsbuch became a legal prerequisite for employment in many sectors, meaning that individuals covered by the system could not take up a job without presenting one.[3]

History

The work-book system was introduced as part of the Nazi regime's effort to organise and control the labour market. The law establishing the Arbeitsbuch was enacted on 26 February 1935, and the requirement was gradually expanded to cover larger segments of the workforce.[2][1]

Initially applied to selected occupational groups, the system was broadened during the late 1930s. By the mid-1930s, the work book had become a key administrative instrument of the Reich Labour Administration (Reichsarbeitsverwaltung). The information collected through the documents and the corresponding labour-office files enabled authorities to monitor qualifications and employment histories and to direct workers into sectors considered essential to the regime's economic and military priorities.[4]

Function

The Arbeitsbuch contained information about a worker's personal data, vocational training, and employment history.[2] It was issued by local labour offices and was linked to a parallel work book card kept by labour authorities, allowing them to maintain a centralised record of employment information.[1][2]

Employers normally kept the work book for the duration of employment. When a worker changed jobs, the document was transferred to the new employer, who entered details about the employment relationship.[1] Because employers held the document, workers could not easily leave their jobs without official permission.

In many sectors, individuals were legally required to present a valid work book before they could be hired. As a result, a person without an Arbeitsbuch was effectively barred from taking up regular employment.[3] This made the system an important mechanism for restricting labour mobility and enforcing state control over employment.

Role in labour control and repression

Beyond administrative functions, the work-book system also played a role in the Nazi regime's broader system of social control. The information collected by labour offices allowed authorities to identify individuals considered unwilling to work or insufficiently integrated into the labour system.

In 1938 the regime carried out the campaign known as the Aktion Arbeitsscheu Reich ("Operation Work-Shy Reich"), in which thousands of men labelled as "work-shy" (arbeitsscheu) or "asocial" were arrested and deported to Nazi concentration camps.[5][6]

Labour-administration records, including employment documentation such as work books and labour-office files, formed part of the bureaucratic infrastructure that enabled authorities to classify and monitor workers. Individuals who repeatedly changed jobs, lacked stable employment records or were registered as unemployed could be targeted by police and labour authorities during such campaigns.[6]

Use with forced labour

During the Second World War, the work-book system was extended to foreign civilian labourers who had been deported or recruited for labour in Germany.[1][2] Initially these workers received the same type of document as German workers, but from 1 May 1943 a special Arbeitsbuch für Ausländer ("work book for foreigners") was introduced by Fritz Sauckel, the General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment.[1]

Employers applied for these documents and kept them during the employment period, ensuring that labour authorities remained informed about every change of employment and preventing workers from changing jobs without official approval.[1]

Forced labourers held in concentration camps or prisoners of war were generally not issued work books; the requirement applied primarily to civilian labourers under the labour-deployment system.[1]

Significance

The Arbeitsbuch became one of the central administrative tools through which the Nazi state regulated labour. By linking individual employment records with labour-office databases, authorities were able to monitor the workforce, limit labour mobility and direct workers into sectors essential for rearmament and wartime production.[4][3]

Historians therefore consider the work-book system an important element of the broader Nazi system of labour deployment (Arbeitseinsatz), which combined bureaucratic administration with coercive measures to mobilise labour for the regime's economic and military objectives.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Work book". Arolsen Archives. Retrieved 2026-03-14.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Administrative documents: work book and work book card for civilian forced labourers". Documentation Centre on Nazi Forced Labour. Retrieved 2026-03-14.
  3. ^ a b c d Herbert, Ulrich (1997). Hitler's Foreign Workers: Enforced Foreign Labor in Germany under the Third Reich. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521470001.
  4. ^ a b Mason, Tim W. (1993). Social Policy in the Third Reich: The Working Class and the 'National Community'. Routledge. ISBN 9780856647093.
  5. ^ Wagner, Patrick (1996). Volksgemeinschaft ohne Verbrecher: Konzeptionen und Praxis der Kriminalpolizei in der Zeit der Weimarer Republik und des Nationalsozialismus. Hamburger Edition.
  6. ^ a b Gellately, Robert (2001). Backing Hitler: Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192802910.
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