35112 WWII REICHSBAHN HELFERIN 1939-45

Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR for short) are German state railways that were founded in 1920 under the name Deutsche Reichsbahnen, but changed their name a year later. In 1924, however, the Deutsche Reichsbahn was transformed into a company whose income was to be transferred towards war reparations. During the Nazi dictatorship and with the expansion of the borders of the Third Reich, DR included (fully or partially) railway lines in countries such as Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Belgium, France, but also the USSR. During World War II, the Deutsche Reichsbahn were responsible for the transports necessary for the German armed forces, but also for the deportation of civilians in occupied Europe or the transport of forced laborers to Germany. The Deutsche Reichsbahn also participated in crimes against humanity by transporting prisoners to concentration and extermination camps. It is worth adding that in 1939 a special railway police (German: Bahnschutzpolizei) was established, which was responsible for the safety of railway transports and was to prevent acts of sabotage against railroad communication in the occupied territories. In fact, the Deutsche Reichsbahn in its current form ceased to exist in 1949 with the division of Germany into two states: West Germany and East Germany.