Der Deutsche ('The German')
Front page of Der Deutsche ('The German'), the newspaper of the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront, DAF), published in Berlin on 1 July 1934. Founded following the dissolution of Germany's independent trade unions in 1933, the DAF became one of the largest mass organisations in Nazi Germany, claiming responsibility for representing workers and employers within the framework of the National Socialist state. The issue is dominated by a large portrait of Dr Robert Ley, head of the German Labour Front, beneath the headline 'Vorwarts mit Hitler und der DAF!' ('Forward with Hitler and the DAF!'). Accompanying articles and congratulatory messages from leading National Socialist figures, including Hermann Goring and other senior party officials, celebrate the newspaper's role as a voice of the organisation and emphasise loyalty to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement. The DAF presented itself as the successor to class conflict and trade union politics, promoting instead the concept of a unified national workforce working in harmony for the benefit of the German state. Publications such as Der Deutsche played a central role in communicating labour policy, workplace initiatives and ideological messaging to millions of members throughout the Third Reich. An uncommon example of early National Socialist labour propaganda published during a pivotal year in the consolidation of Nazi power
