Background

The Landjahr, (Country Service Year), idea was originally a concept by a Hans Holfeder who had formed an organization, (Bund der Artamanen), in 1924 in an attempt to provide assistance to farmers in rural areas in a response to the industrialization of the time that was resulting in a large number of rural people moving to urban areas. The industrialization of Germany was primarily in the west leaving some of the eastern regions with insufficient populations for agricultural development. This basic concept fit in well with the NSDAP’s ideology of the blood and soil and the peasant/soldier concepts. In 1934 the HJ established the Landjahr program to give urban youth the “opportunity” to work in rural settings and ideally infuse them with a love of the land. The Landjahr service, (actually an eight or nine month stint), was voluntary except for university students who were obligated for a term of Landjahr service before graduation. The Landjahr program worked in close association with the Reichsnährstand, (National Food Producers), under the command of Richard-Walther Darré, in his position as, Reichsminister für Ernährung und Landwirtscahft, (National Agricultural Leader and Minister of Food). Besides the Landjahr program the Germans also established the Landdienst, (Land Service) and the Ernteeinsatz, (Harvest Action), programs which were similar but independent services with the same basic principles and goals.