Germany, RAD. A Private Photo Album from a Member of RAD-Abteilung 3/361, c. 1939

(Reichsarbeitsdienst Fotoalbum). A fascinating and unit-attributed private Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service/RAD) photo album, constructed of a card stock binding with an olive-drab canvas exterior liner, the spine perforated with four eyelets reinforced with black painted magnetic metal grommets, looped through with a drawstring which maintains the album’s structural integrity, the upper left corner of the cover bearing a silvered RAD insignia and the lower right corner bearing a silvered inscription of “MEINE DIENSTZEIT” (“MY SERVICE TIME”), the interior content consisting of 24 black card stock pages pasted with 58 images, separated by wax paper dividers to protect the latter, opening with a hand-drawn illustration of a mountainous village and an inscription of “KÄRNTEN 1939” (“CARINTHIA 1939”), followed by numerous photos of RAD life, including scenes of camps and barracks, with personnel in uniform and stripped down of clothing while working outdoors in summer conditions, interspersed with further examples of the owner’s whimsical hand-drawn illustrations, transitioning to numerous depictions of RAD personnel drilling and exercising, followed by small-scale depictions of members of the unit being reviewed by high-ranking RAD officials with hewers on display, and concluding with further images of camp life, the latter including signage indicating that the owner of the album was a member of RAD-Abteilung 3/361 (Viktring bei Klagenfurt, Carinthia), measuring 26.5 cm (w) x 19 cm (h), demonstrating the loosening of a small number of images with the loss of others, a superb example of a unit-attributed RAD album compiled on the eve of the Second World War in near extremely fine condition.