Winterhilfswerk The Winterhilfswerk ( WHW , — literally " winter help work " ) was an annual drive by the " Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt " ( the National Socialist People ’ s Welfare Organization ) to help finance charitable work . Its slogan was " None shall starve nor freeze " . The drive was originally set up under the government of Heinrich Brüning in 1931 , though Hitler would later claim sole credit . It ran from 1933 - 1945 during the months of October through March , and was designed to provide food , clothing , coal , and other items to less fortunate Germans during the inclement months . As part of the centralization of Nazi Germany , posters urged people to donate rather to give directly to beggars . The Hitlerjugend and Bund Deutscher Mädel ( boys ' and girls ' associations , respectively ) were extremely active in collecting for this charity . As part of the effort to place the community over the individual , totals were not reported for any individuals , only what the branch raised . Certain weekends were assigned to all of the different Nazi associations , each with their own special Abzeichen to pass out in exchange for a pfennig or two . These highly collectible items were made of many different materials , such as wood , glass , paper , terra cotta , metal , and plastic . Over 8000 different pieces were produced by war ' s end , and some of the rarer ones sell for quite a lot of money today . The " Can Rattlers " , as they became known , were relentless in their pursuit of making sure every good German citizen gave their share to the WHW . In fact those who " forgot " to give had their names put in the paper to remind them of their neglect . Neighbors , and even family members were encouraged to whisper the names of shirkers to their block leaders so that they could persuade them to do their duty . On one occasion , a civil servant was prosecuted for failure to donate , and his argument that it was voluntary was dismissed on the grounds it was an extreme view of liberty , to neglect all duties not actually prescribed by law , and therefore an abuse of liberty . It was not unheard of for workers to lose their jobs for not donating to Winterhilfe or not giving enough . For instance , a worker was fired for not donating to Winterhilfe , and the firing was upheld by a labor court on the grounds that it was " conduct hostile to the community of the people . . . to be most strongly condemned . " Large donations were also a means to establish oneself as a loyal supporter of the Nazi Party without the commitment of joining it . A greatly encouraged practice was to , once a month , have a one - pot meal ( " eintopf " ) , reducing all the food to one course ; the money thus saved was to be donated . Collection drives were a mainstay of the Winter Relief , and those who did not give , or gave little ( such as one pair of boots to a clothing drive ) , were sometimes the victims of mob violence and needed to be protected by the police . A paper " Monatstürplakette " ( monthly placard ) was issued to place on your door or in your window to show others that you had given , and also to keep the roaming bands of charity workers at bay . Donors were often given small souvenir gratitude gifts of negligible value , somewhat similar to the way modern charities mail out address labels and holiday cards . A typical such gift was a very small propaganda booklet , reminiscent of Victorian - era miniature books ; about 0 . 8 " wide x 1 . 5 " tall . Booklets included " The Führer Makes History " , a collection of Hitler photographs , " The Führer ’ s Battle in the East 2 " , and " Gerhard Koeppen " and other decorated heroes of the war . More generous donors would receive concomitantly better gifts , such as lapel pins on a wide variety of themes . Some depicting occupational types or geographic areas of the Reich , others animals , birds and insects , nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters , or notable persons from German history ( including of course Adolf Hitler himself ) . They were made from a variety of materials . Each individual miniature book , badge , badge set or toy set was only available for two or three days of a particular collection drive . So the populace would be encouraged to donate the following week and thereby collect the latest in the series . There could also be very annoying consequences ; nagging by the appropriate official if your local " Blockleiter " saw that you were not wearing the current , appropriate pin by about Tuesday of the week . When he visited Germany in 1939 as a reporter for the North American Newspaper Alliance , Dr . Lothrop Stoddard wrote : " . . . Once a fortnight , every city , town , and village in the Reich seethes with brown - shirted Storm Troopers carrying red - painted canisters . These are the Winter - Help collection - boxes . The Brown - Shirts go everywhere . You cannot sit in a restaurant or beer - hall but what , sooner or later , a pair of them will work through the place , rattling their canisters ostentatiously in the faces of customers . And I never saw a German formally refuse to drop in his mite , even though the contribution might have been less than the equivalent of one American cent . " During these periodic money - raising campaigns , all sorts of dodges are employed . On busy street - corners comedians , singers , musicians , sailors , gather a crowd by some amusing skit , at the close of which the Brown - Shirts collect . People buy tiny badges to show they have contributed — badges good only for that particular campaign . One time they may be an artificial flower ; next time a miniature dagger , and so forth . The Winter - Help campaign series reaches its climax shortly before Christmas in the so - called Day of National Solidarity . On that notable occasion the Big Guns of the Nazi Party sally forth with their collection - boxes to do their bit . " Taken as a whole , the WHW program was a brilliant propaganda coup for Hitler and the Nazis . Not only did it serve to break down all the class barriers of society , it also helped solidify Hitler ' s bond to the people . Indeed most of the early slogans called for citizens to join Hitler in the struggle to protect the Mutter und Kind , the family , and to help him provide freedom and bread to every German house . The collection drives of 1933 to 1945 issued a large number of themed ceramic medallions and other badges given to donators .