The National Socialist Factory Cell Organization (german: Nationalsozialistische Betriebszellenorganisation, NSBO or NSBZO) was a workers organization in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. In 1927, some

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

workers in large factories, located mostly in the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

area, joined together as an alternative to social democratic and Christian labor unions. The NSBO was established in 1928 by these groups. On 15 January 1931, the NSBO was declared a ''"Reichsbetriebszellenabteilung"'' (German Reich Factory Cell Organization) of the Nazi Party. It began to increase its membership by means of aggressive campaigns, which included both propaganda and violence, under the war-cry: ''"Hinein in die Betriebe!"'' (Into the Factories!), which was shortened to "Hib". The NSBO had overall little success among German organized workers, except in certain regions where they supported strikes, such as the 1932 Berlin transport strike. As a result of the "Hib" campaign, the NSBO increased its membership to only about 300,000 by the end of 1931, while the Democratic and Christian labor unions had still well over 5 million members. Some sections of the NSBO had an ideology similar to

National Bolshevism National Bolshevism (russian: национал-большевизм, natsional-bol'shevizm, german: Nationalbolschewismus), whose supporters are known as National Bolsheviks (russian: национал-большевики, natsional-bol'sheviki ...

. They believed that after the "national revolution" occurred, a "social revolution" had to follow, to do away with the existing elites. This attitude earned them sympathies in some places, like in

Nordhorn Nordhorn ( Northern Low Saxon: ''Nothoorn'' (or ''Notthoarn'', ''Netthoarn'' and ''Noordhoorn'')) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony's southwesternmost corner near the border with the ...

, a textile industrial city in the

county of Bentheim The County of Bentheim (''Grafschaft Bentheim'', Low German ''Benthem'') was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the south-west corner of today's Lower Saxony, Germany. The county's borders corresponded largely to those of the modern adm ...

, where the NSBO defeated the formerly strong Communist labor unions in the industrial worker council elections in 1933. The NSBO's methods then included using armed violence in order to offset a salary reduction in a particular factory. After all non-Nazi trade unions were outlawed by decree on 2 May 1933, the NSBO became the only official workers' organization in Germany. This moment of glory, however, was short, for the

German Labour Front The German Labour Front (german: Deutsche Arbeitsfront, ; DAF) was the labour organisation under the Nazi Party which replaced the various independent trade unions in Germany during Adolf Hitler's rise to power. History As early as March 1933, ...

(DAF) was established a few days later. More organized and better represented at national level, the DAF ended up absorbing the NSBO in 1935.Gunther Mai, ''Die Nationalsozialistische Betriebszellen-Organisation. Zum Verhältnis von Arbeiterschaft und Nationalsozialismus'', VfZG 31. Jg. 1983, Pages 573–613.

References

*Lore Heer-Kleinert, ''Die Gewerkschaftspolitik der KPD in der Weimarer Republik,'' Frankfurt/New York 1983. {{Authority control 1928 establishments in Germany Nazi Party organizations 1935 disestablishments in Germany Trade unions established in 1928 Trade unions disestablished in 1935 Economy of Nazi Germany Defunct trade unions of Germany Fascist trade unions