Herbert Apfelthaler was born in Vienna as a son of the tire dealer Friedrich Apfelthaler. From 1931-1941, he goes to school in Vienna, and becomes a member of Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) around 1942/43. His father dies in 1947. In 1951, he married Hedy. Around 1964, he turns to the company Eumig as a movie adviser and head of the Eumig Filmstudios and establishes his own film studio (Schmalfilmzentrum Rosenhügel; by 1970 Film- und Viedozentrum Rosenhügel). He remarried in 1984 to Angelika. He died in Vienna in 2008. Herbert's father Friedrich founded a commercial firm for car tires and car components and was an ambitious film amateur and member of the Klub der Kinoamateuere Österreichs (DdKÖ).
This film is featured in the Ephemeral Films Project: National Socialism in Austria. Watch the historic film through an innovative film player showing contemporary images, geographical mapping, and shot-level analysis at efilms.ushmm.org.
Private film by Herbert Apfelthaler. Title card reads “Soldaten der Arbeit” with a Nazi insignia. Another title card briefly reads “Ein Ferrania Film der Hera / von: H. Apfelthaler. / Mitwirkende: Führer und Mannschaft des RAD Abt S/343 Schönering.” Nazi insignia. Title card: “Student u. Handwerker, Bauernsohn u. Lehrling, zu einer Gemeinschaft zusammengeschweißt, arbeiten unter dem Zeichen des Reichsarbeitsdienstes.” View of houses on the other side of a river. A mini-bus drives down the road on the side of the river. Young blond men, part of the Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD), ride in the car. The car stops in a town and the men, wearing uniforms and Nazi armbands, disembark. They march in line. They stand in a field and take off their hats and shirts. Piles of neatly folded uniforms sit on the grass. They do manual labor on a railroad. Title card reads: “Bei Rodungsarebeiten:” Young RAD soldiers do manual labor in a field. Title card reads: “Beim Verschoenern des Eigenen Lagers:” More manual labor with wheelbarrows. Shots of nature. The Nazis paint wooden houses. Title card reads “Beim Bauern:” Horses pull a cart. Various shots of manual labor. Title card reads: “So steht Ihr Schulter an Schulter beim gleichen Werk, bei der gleichen Arbeit, geeint unter demselben Zeichen:” A Nazi insignia. Title card: “Ende.”
RAD labor in July 1943