This superb 1938 Nazi photo book on the KdF organization is **SOLD**   USM book #582

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Without Dr. Robert Ley here would have been no Nazi Party. He created the organization, published the Organization Book of the NSDAP, headed the German Labor Front (DAF), cleaned up the factories, increased industrial production, organized trips, holidays and recreation for millions of German workers, took over the theaters and music halls of every sort from wandering troops of actors to the national opera, and in general made Germans proud of themselves and their country. His influence in the post-World War I reconstruction of Hitler's Nazi Germany can not be overstated; but is mostly overlooked by those who incorrectly refer to themselves as historians of the 20th century. This book is the single best reference produced in Nazi Germany regarding the work of Dr. Robert Ley and the work of the KdF or Strength through Joy organization.

This is a very rare 1938 First Edition heavily illustrated hardcover book published by the Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF) in Berlin about the Nazi organization Kraft durch Freude (KdF). Unter dem Sonnenrad - Ein Buch von Kraft und Freude (Under the Sunwheel - A Strength through Joy Book) by Karl Busch chronicles the history of the KdF organization and the many improvements it provided in the life and working conditions of laborers and factory workers, office workers and ordinary people in Nazi Germany (including the former Austria).

The 10-1/4 x 11-3/4 inch, 200 page book is divided into sections and chapters beginning with full-page portraits of the Führer Adolf Hitler and Reichsorganisationsleiter Dr. Ley.  It explains the grim circumstances for workers in Germany in the years leading up to the Nazi assumption of power early in 1933. It explains the creation of the Labor Front and the National Socialist Community Strength through Joy.

The oversized book was printed on high quality, coated paper and has superb photos by Heinrich Hoffmann, Fritz Mieler, Heinz von Perckhammer, Hans Retzlaff, Hugo Schmölz, and others, and still has the original foldout map inside the back cover.   

When Hitler decided to build the Volkswagen, he put the job in the capable hands of Dr. Ley who was soon building a KdF Car factory in Fallersleben. The car was very cheap for consumers to buy and was heavily advertised on a basis of weekly payments. If had not been for the beginning of the war and the government's requirement for the production of the KdF Factory, there would have been millions of Robert Ley's KdF Cars in the hands of German consumers crowding the new Reichsautobahnen of Hitler's Germany. There are many pictures of KdF Cars and of the construction of the factory at Fallersleben.

There are pictures of most of the ships in the KdF fleet such as the Wilhelm Gustloff, Monte Olivia, Der Deutsche, Stuttgart, Oceana, Robert Ley, Hanseat, etc.

There are pictures of the planned construction of tourist facilities on the island of Rügen, traveling and permanent theaters, one of the world's most renowned conduction, Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting the Reichs Orchestra outside of a factory, Germans studying at KdF language schools, viewing the stars in a KdF planetarium, checking out books from a factory library, attending painting classes, playing competitive chess and participating in every sort of sport from dancing to boxing to rollerskating and fencing.

Of the millions of books produced in Nazi Germany during the Third Reich, there is no better book on the subject of the KdF than Unter dem Sonnenrad - Ein Buch von Kraft und Freude. Very rare and difficult to find. Excellent used condition with original dust jacket.

Other rare orginal Third Reich KdF material for sale on USMBOOKS.com:

- 1936 book about a KdF German Workers Cruise to Madeira

- rare ticket book from the January 1939 KdF cruise around Italy

- 21 item lot related to a 1937 Norway cruise on the KdF ship Sierra Cordoba

- original May 1939 magazine for KdF members

(Don't miss the superb photo content, even
if the subject does not interest you!)