Swing Kids

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 high-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.

Counter Culture

Jazz music was offensive to Nazi ideology because it was associated with the American enemy and worse, was often performed by African American (or Jewish) musicians. They called it "negro music" or "degenerated music" – coined in parallel to "entartete Kunst" (degenerated art). Moreover, song texts defied Nazi ideology, going as far as to promote sexual permissiveness.

Related Topics:
African American - Entartete Kunst

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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 "sleaziness," indicating contempt for 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.

Related Topics:
Rock and roll - Jitterbug

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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 organised dance festivals and contests, and invited jazz bands. These events were occasions to mock the Nazis, the military and the Hitlerjugend -- hence the famous "Swing heil!", mocking the infamous "Sieg Heil!". Swings kids wore long hair, hats, umbrellas and met in cafés and clubs. They developed a jargon mostly made of Anglicisms.

Related Topics:
Militarism - Sieg Heil - Jargon

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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 http://www.shellac.org/wams/wnazi02.html. Swing was tolerated to some degree at least until 1940, when a Swing festival, held in Hamburg, attracted over 500 youths.

Related Topics:
1940 - Hamburg

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