Case Study: Swing Kids
How would you feel if the Government took control of all aspects of your life? Imagine being told that there was an approved way to dress, that your free time wasn’t free. How would you react to a law which banned your favourite music so that listening to it made you a criminal? Imagine being forced to take part in official youth activities whether you were interested in them or not. This is what happened to young people when the Nazis were in control. They took charge of the school curriculum so that all students would learn about Nazi ideals for a master race and how to judge, according to Nazi standards, whether a person was deemed fit to be a member of society. They wanted young people to be obedient to the government and fit into the roles that they were given without questioning authority.
Young people did not spend all their time in classrooms. They were free to meet their friends in the evenings and at weekends. The Nazis put a stop to that because they thought young people had too much freedom. They closed youth groups and from 1936 made all young people join Nazi organisations. Teenage boys had to join the Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth) and teenage girls the Bund Deutscher Madel (League of German Maidens). There were other Nazi groups for younger children such as the ‘Little Fellows’ and the ‘Young Maidens’. The Nazis wanted young people to be prepared for different roles in adult life so, in the Nazi groups, they were taught that young women should marry and have lots of children whilst young men were expected to join the army. Activities in these groups were regimented and there was no chance to question authority. The Nazis told young people what to wear and what music was deemed appropriate. Most young people joined the Nazi organisations without question as it was not easy to Stand up to Hatred and challenge authority.
The Swing Kids loved modern music, like swing and jazz and they did not want to conform. They enjoyed dancing and listening to the radio. Much of their favourite music came from the USA and Britain and therefore playing it was an excellent way to challenge the Nazis. The Nazis hated Jazz; they called it “degenerate music”. Jazz was often performed by Black musicians and/or Jewish musicians so the Nazis believed there was no way a true Nazi could enjoy listening to it. They also found the lyrics offensive as they thought that the words would encourage a free lifestyle which did not match the Nazi approved version of family life.
The Swing Kids chose non violent ways to defy Nazi authority. They held dance festivals and concerts where young people mocked Nazi ideals, activities and symbols. A favourite way was by shouting “swing heil” rather than “Sieg Heil”. Swing Kids did not like Nazi attempts to control all aspects of life so to show their opposition and defiance they grew their hair long and adopted American and English fashions. They said they did not want to take part in military service. Mostly they used peaceful and non violent ways to oppose oppression but the Nazis saw Swing Kids, their fashion statements and their music as a threat to conforming youth and from 1941 the Gestapo were encouraged to use violence to suppress their activities.
- Swing_Kids (PDF document)
