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

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. In 1927, some

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

workers in large factories, located mostly in the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

area, joined as an alternative to

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

labor unions. The NSBO was established in 1928 by these groups. On 15 January 1931, the NSBO was declared the ''"Reichsbetriebszellenabteilung"'' (Reich Factory Cell Department) within the Nazi Party ''Reichsleitung'' (National Leadership) and was placed under the leadership of Walter Schuhmann. At this time it had only 3,000 members. It began to increase its membership by means of aggressive campaigns, which included both

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

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 The 1932 Berlin transport strike was an industrial labor dispute in Berlin, during the Weimar Republic period of interwar Germany. It took place in the context of the November 1932 German federal election, which was held on 6 November, 1932. Hist ...

. As a result of the "Hib" campaign, the NSBO increased its membership to only about 300,000 by the end of 1932, 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, whose supporters are known as National Bolsheviks and colloquially as Nazbols, is a syncretic political movement committed to combining ultranationalism and Bolshevik communism. History and origins In Germany Natio ...

. 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 Dutch: ''Noordhoorn'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim, located in the southwest corner of the state, near th ...

, a textile industrial city in the

county of Bentheim The County of 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 administrative district ...

, 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 (, ; DAF) was the national labour organization of the Nazi Party, which replaced the various independent trade unions in Germany during the process of ''Gleichschaltung'' or Nazification. 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