The Reichsluftschutzbund (State Air Protection Corps) was a paramilitary

Paramilitary

A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....

 organization of Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 founded in the 1933 as a branch of the German Aviation Ministry. The group's first function was to serve as Air Defense Crews during a period when Germany was forbidden an Air Force by the Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

. The Reichsluftschutzbund maintained a system of paramilitary ranks

Ranks and insignia of the Reichsluftschutzbund

Ranks and insignia of Reichsluftschutzbund were paramilitary titles adopted by the Reichsluftschutzbund for wear on the paramiliary uniforms of the RLB....

 similar to that of the Nazi Sturmabteilung

Sturmabteilung

The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...

(SA).

In 1935, the Reichluftschutzbund was placed under the authority of the Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

 and performed mainly non-combat support roles such as ground crew training and search and rescue

Search and rescue

Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...

. The group remained relatively small and, as a paramiliary organization, was overshadowed heavily by the National Socialist Flyers Corps

National Socialist Flyers Corps

The National Socialist Flyers Corps was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party that was founded in 1937 as a successor to the German Air Sports Association, during the years when a German Air Force was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles...

.

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the Reichluftschutzbund performed in air defense support manning anti-aircraft emplacements in Germany's major cities. In 1945, the Reichluftschutzbund ceased to exist with the fall of Nazism

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

. The Reichluftschutzbund, however, was not condemned as a criminal organization since the group was technically a branch of the Air Ministry and not a paramilitary group of the Nazi Party proper.