Nazi propaganda against jazz music. The text reads: Degenerated Music, A Reckoning by Undersecretary Dr. H. S. Ziegler

The Swing Kids (German: Swingjugend) were a group of jazz and Swing lovers in the Germany of the 1930s, mainly in Hamburg (St. Pauli) and Berlin. They were composed of 14- to 18-year old boys and girls in high school, most of them middle- or upper-class students, but some apprentice workers as well. They sought the British and American way of life, defining themselves in Swing music, and opposing the National-Socialist ideology, especially the Hitlerjugend. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... WHAT THE HECK IS THIS THING?? GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGLY! ... Image File history File links Entartete_musik_poster. ... Image File history File links Entartete_musik_poster. ... Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of jazz music that developed during the 1920s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. ... Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Location Coordinates Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DE6 First Mayor Ole von Beust (CDU) Governing party CDU Votes in Bundesrat 3 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  755 km² (292 sq mi) Population 1,754,317 (11/2006)[1]  - Density 2,324 /km² (6,018... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... The American way refers to an American nationalist ethos which purports to adhere to principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... The German Nazi party established the Hitler Youth (in German: Hitler-Jugend or HJ) in 1926. ...

Name

The name "Swing kids" (Swing Kinder) is a rough translation of the German "Swingjugend" ("Swing Youth"), which was a sort of parody of the numerous "youth" groups which flourished under the National-Socialists. They also referred to themselves as "Swings" or "Swingheinis" ("Swingity"); the members were called "Swing-Boy", "Swing-Girl" or "Old-Hot-Boy".

Counter Culture

Jazz music was offensive to Nazi ideology because it was often performed by African American (and a number of Jewish) musicians. They called it "nigger music" or "degenerate music"—coined in parallel to "entartete Kunst" (degenerate art). Moreover, song texts defied Nazi ideology, going as far as to promote sexual permissiveness or free love. For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... The Magdeburger Ehrenmal (Magdeburg cenotaph) created by Ernst Barlach was declared to be degenerate art due to the anti-war motive. ... The term free love has been used since at least the nineteenth century to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage, especially for women. ...

The Swing kids were initially basically apolitical, similar to the youthful rebellion in the history of rock and roll. A popular term that the Swing subculture used to define itself was Lottern, roughly translated as someting between "lazyness" and "sleaziness," indicating contempt for the pressure to do "useful work" and the repressive sexual mores of the time. Reports by Hitler Youth observers of Swing parties and jitterbug went into careful detail about the overtly sexual nature of both. One report describes as "moral depravity" the fact that Swing youth took pleasure in their sexuality. Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Jitterbug is a swing dance, a subset of Lindy Hop, with an emphasis on 6-count moves and fast spins. ...

The Swing Kids were defining a counter-culture, shown by their clothing and music. Their behavior, described by many Nazis as "effete," ran counter to the Spartan militarism that the regime was trying to inculcate in its youth. They organized dance festivals and contests, and invited jazz bands. These events were occasions to mock the Nazis, the military and the Hitlerjugend -- hence the famous "Sieg heil!", mocking the infamous "Sieg Heil!". Swings kids wore long hair and hats, carried umbrellas and met in cafés and clubs. They developed a jargon mostly made of Germanicisms. Militarism or militarist ideology is the doctrinal view of a society as being best served (or more efficient) when it is governed or guided by concepts embodied in the culture, doctrine, system, or people of the military. ... Sieg Heil is a German phrase, which literally means Hail [to] Victory. ... For the glossary of hacker slang, see Jargon File. ...

Despite this, not all jazz was forbidden in Germany at the time. Due to the popularity of this type of music, they permitted a milder, slower, "Germanized" version under strict regulations.^[1] Swing was tolerated to some degree at least until 1940, when a Swing festival, held in Hamburg, attracted over 500 youths. Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Location Coordinates Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DE6 First Mayor Ole von Beust (CDU) Governing party CDU Votes in Bundesrat 3 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  755 km² (292 sq mi) Population 1,754,317 (11/2006)[1]  - Density 2,324 /km² (6,018...

The way to Resistance

Though they were not an organised political opposition organisation, the whole culture of the Swing Kids evolved into a non-violent refusal of the civil order and culture of National Socialism.

From a paper of the "Youth Guidance" office:

"The members of the Swing youth oppose today's Germany and its police, the Party and its policy, the Hitlerjugend, work and military service, and are opposed, or at least indifferent, to the ongoing war. They see the mechanisms of National Socialism as a "mass obligation". The greatest adventure of all times leaves them indifferent; much to the contrary, they long for everything that is not German, but English."

From 1941, the violent repression by the Gestapo and the Hitlerjugend shaped the political spirit of the Swing youth. Also, by police order, people under 18 were forbidden to go to dance bars, which encouraged the movement to seek its survival in clandestinity. The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei: “secret state police”) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ... The German Nazi party established the Hitler Youth (in German: Hitler-Jugend or HJ) in 1926. ...

The strict regimentation of youth culture in Nazi Germany through the Hitler Youth led to the emergence of several underground protest movements, through which adolescents were able better to exert their independence. There were street gangs (Meuten) of working class youths, who borrowed elements from socialist and communist traditions to forge their own identities, and there were less politically motivated groups such as the Edelweiss Pirates (Edelweißpiraten), who acted in defiance of Hitler Youth norms. A third group, consisting mainly of upper middle class youths, based their protest on their musical preferences, rejecting the völkisch music propagated by the Party for American jazz forms, especially Swing. The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... “Young Men” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Gang (disambiguation). ... Socialism refers to a broad array of ideologies and movements which aim to improve society through collective and egalitarian action; and to a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... The Edelweiss Pirates (Edelweißpiraten) were a loose group of youth culture in Nazi Germany. ... The hard-to-translate word völkisch has connotations of folksy, folkloric, and populist. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of jazz music that developed during the 1920s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. ...

Connection with the Weiße Rose

The Swing Youth of Hamburg at some point had contacts with another famous resistance movement, when three members of the White Rose developed a sympathy for the Swing youth. No formal cooperation arose, though these contacts were later used by the Volksgerichtshof ("People's Court") to accuse some Swing Kids of anarchist propaganda and sabotage of the armed forces. The consequent trial, death sentences and executions were averted by the end of the war. Monument to the Weiße Rose in front of the Ludwig-Maximilian-University, Munich White Rose (German: die Weiße Rose) was a non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany, consisting of a number of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor. ... The Volksgerichtshof (German for Peoples Court) was a court established by Hitler after the Reichstag fire to handle those accused of political criminal offences, such as treason. ... Anarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of hierarchy and imposed authority. ... Soviet Propaganda Poster during the World War II. The text reads Red Army Fighter, SAVE US! Chinese propaganda poster from during the Cultural Revolution. ... “Saboteur” redirects here. ...

Swing Clubs

When bigger gatherings were banned, the Swing youth moved to more informal settings, and Swing clubs and discotheques emerged in all the major cities of the Reich. Participants were mainly from the upper middle class, as Swing culture required the participants to have access to the music, which was not played on German radio, so that extensive collections of phonograph recordings were essential. Similarly, to understand the lyrics of the predominantly American songs, it was necessary to have at least a rudimentary understanding of English, which was not taught in the Volksschule (working-class high school). Relative wealth also fostered a distinctive style among the Swing youth, which was in some ways comparable to the zoot suit style popular in the United States at the time. Boys, a small majority of them homosexual, usually wore long jackets, often checkered, shoes with crepe soles (for dancing), and flashy scarves. They almost always carried an umbrella, and added a dress shirt button with a semi-precious stone. Girls generally wore their hair long and loose and added excessive makeup. Their dandyish dress style riled the Nazis by drawing heavily on Hispanic Pachucos. A discothèque (or discoteque) (pronounced disko-tek) is an entertainment venue or club with recorded music, played by Discaires (Disk jockeys), rather than an on-stage band. ... Edison cylinder phonograph ca. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A Volkschule was an eighteenth century system of state-supported primary schools established in the Habsburg Austrian Empire. ... A soldier inspecting zoot suits in Washington D.C. in 1942 Men in zoot suits A zoot suit was a style of clothing first popularized by young African Americans, Filipino Americans, Italian Americans, and Mexican Americans in the late 1930s and 1940s [1][2][3][4][5]. Today, a zoot... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... A pachuco was a Chicano youth in the mid-20th century who wore flashy clothes (such as a Zoot Suit). ...

Clamping Down

On 18 August 1941, in a brutal police operation, over 300 Swing jugend were arrested. The measures against them ranged from cutting their hair and sending them back to school under close monitoring, to the deportation of the leaders in concentration camps. Amongst these was the well known revolutionary of the time; Wolfgang “Jem” Bőwles. is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... Piles of bodies in a liberated Nazi concentration camp in Germany Prior to and during World War II, Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps (Konzentrationslager, abbreviated KZ or KL) throughout the territories it controlled. ...

This mass arrest encouraged the youth to further their political consciousness and opposition to National Socialism. They started to distribute anti-fascist propaganda. In January 1943, Günter Discher, as one the "ringleader" of the Swing youth, was deported into the youth concentration camp of Moringen. Moringen is a small city in the southern part of Lower Saxony, Germany, in the district Northeim. ...

On January 2, 1942, Heinrich Himmler wrote to Reinhard Heydrich calling on him to clamp down on the ringleaders of the Swing movement, recommending a few years in a concentration camp with beatings and forced labor. The crackdown soon followed: clubs were raided and participants were hauled off to camps. is the 2nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( ; 7 October 1900–23 May 1945) was the commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany by being second in power to Adolf Hitler in the Nazi hierarchy. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ...

My judgement is that the whole evil must be radically exterminated now. I cannot but see that we have taken only half measures. All ringleaders (...) are into a concentration camp to be re-educated (...) detention in concentration camp for these youths must be longer, 2-3 years (...) it is only through the utmost brutality that we will be able to avert the dangerous spread of anglophile tendencies, in these times where Germany fights for its survival. (Heinrich Himmler) This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( ; 7 October 1900–23 May 1945) was the commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany by being second in power to Adolf Hitler in the Nazi hierarchy. ...

Film

Thomas Carter's 1993 film Swing Kids examined this underground culture of rebellion during Nazi Germany in some detail. Starring Robert Sean Leonard, Christian Bale, Frank Whaley and Kenneth Branagh (uncredited), the picture was not a commercial success, but sustains a large underground following, and is nonetheless a moderately accurate history-based film. Thomas Tom F. Carter was the inventor of the Carterfone, a privately-manufactured radiophone that would strike the first blow against AT&Ts then-monopoly. ... The year 1993 in film involved many significant films. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... For the San Diego hardcore punk band, see Swing Kids (band). ... Robert Sean Leonard (born Robert Lawrence Leonard on February 28, 1969, in Ridgewood, New Jersey) is a Tony Award-winning American actor who is most noted for his role as an aspiring actor Neil Perry in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society. ... Christian Charles Philip Bale (also known professionally as Christian Morgan Bale; born 30 January 1974) is a Welsh-born English[2][3] method actor who is known for his roles in the films American Psycho, Shaft, Equilibrium, The Machinist, Batman Begins and The Prestige, among others. ... Frank Whaley (born Francis Carlyle Whaley on July 20, 1963) is an American film and television actor known for his roles in independent films. ... Kenneth Charles Branagh (born December 10, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated Northern Irish-born actor and film director. ...

In other Countries

In France, a similar movement went by the name "zazou" when Vichy and German racial laws demanded that the Jews wear the Yellow Star, a number of them, in defiance, wore yellow badges labeled "zazou". They were consequently arrested and deported. The Zazous were a fashion in France after World War II. They were young people expressing their individuality by wearing big or garish clothing (similar to the zoot suit fashion in America a few years before) and dancing wildly to swing jazz and bebop. ... Vichy France, or the Vichy regime (French: now called Régime de Vichy or Vichy; called itself at the time État Français, or French State) was the de facto French government of 1940-1944. ... Compulsory Jewish badge under the Nazi occupation of Europe: the Star of David with the word Jew inside (this one in German) A yellow badge, also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a mandatory mark or a piece of cloth of specific geometric shape, worn on the outer garment...

In USSR groups of youth called Stilyagi emerged in 1940-1950s. They listened to jazz and rock'n'roll music, wore the narrow trousers, oversized jackets and ducktail haircuts. Stilyagi were often detained and harassed by Militsiya and Voluntary People's Druzhina's members. A member of a Russian special purpose police team (OMSN), equipped with a 9A91 submachine gun. ... Soviet druzhinniks badge Voluntary Peoples Druzhina (Russian: , Dobrovolnaya Narodnaya Druzhina, DND) variously translated as Voluntary People’s Guard, People’s Volunteer Squads, Peoples Volunteer Militia, etc. ...

See also

• Swing Kids 1993 film
• A musical, Swinging St. Pauli, was made out of the story of the Swing Youth of Hamburg^[2]
• History of subcultures in the 20th century
• Youth culture

For the San Diego hardcore punk band, see Swing Kids (band). ... The year 1993 in film involved many significant films. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... // Subcultures The 20th century, particularly the latter half, was a time of increasing social diversity and individualism. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...

Notes

1. ^ Nazi Jazz
2. ^ http://www.tivoli.de/Info/Presse/2001/190901b.html

External links

• The German Swing Youth detailed overview with extensive bibliography by Swingstyle.de
• Different Drummers Jazz In The Culture Of Nazi Germany
• Swing Kids at the Internet Movie Database