Swing kids is a term used to describe young people in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s who were devoted to swing music and jazz culture. This subculture emerged in opposition to the dominant Nazi ideology, which sought to suppress non-Aryan art forms and promote a homogenous, militaristic culture.
Swing kids were typically teenagers and young adults who were drawn to the energetic and rebellious spirit of swing music. They formed clubs and held secret gatherings where they could listen to music, dance, and socialize. These activities were often covert, as the Nazi regime viewed swing music as degenerate and sought to suppress it.
Despite the risks, swing kids remained dedicated to their passion for swing music and resisted the Nazi cultural agenda. They adopted a distinctive style, characterized by tailored suits, fedoras, and dance shoes. This style, which was influenced by American jazz culture, was a deliberate act of rebellion against the conservative and militaristic fashion norms imposed by the Nazi regime.
Swing kids were also notable for their defiance of racial segregation. In a time when the Nazi regime promoted the idea of Aryan superiority and actively persecuted Jews and other minority groups, swing kids embraced a multicultural and inclusive ideology. They often included Jews and other minority group members in their circles, and their music and culture reflected a diverse range of influences.
Despite the efforts of the Nazi regime to suppress swing music and culture, the swing kids movement persisted throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Their dedication to their passion for swing music and their resistance to Nazi ideology made them an enduring symbol of resistance and defiance. Today, the legacy of the swing kids lives on through the enduring popularity of swing music and the cultural influence of jazz.
Swing Kids (soundtrack)
Vocalist Justin Pearson is known for contributing to a multitude of bands and projects over the years including Dead Cross, The Locust, Retox, Planet B, Head Wound City, and Deaf Club. Restrictions on the music and its dissemination came gradually. Then the unexpected happened; guitarist and founding member of Swing Kids and Unbroken, Eric Allen, took his own life. After a few short tours and a jaunt over to Europe, the band called it quits due to drummer Jose Palafox relocating to the Bay Area. A cool and laid-back demeanor, modeled after Hollywood movies, went hand-in-hand with a desire to just hang around with no particular aim or goal.
The final chapter of the band was written, as the remaining members had the opportunity to play two benefit shows in Southern California raising thousands of dollars for charity. Not all fared so well. In their heart of hearts, they were teenagers who loved American popular jazz connected to ideas of freedom, self-determination, and self-expression. Then the unexpected happened; guitarist and founding member of Swing Kids and Unbroken, Eric Allen, took his own life. As hard as the Nazis tried to put down the Swing Kids movement, they were still able to maintain their group identity and were never fully put down by the Nazis.
Some engaged in provocative actions and violent confrontations, mostly with their counterparts in the Hitler Youth. These youths rejected the Nazi Regime because of its ideology, uniformity, and its militarism. Naturally, the Nazis were scandalized by such wanton displays of Hollywood influenced degeneracy, as true German woman had a pure beauty and kept their hair in Heidi braids. Their use of music and dance was a way for them to rebel in a way that was non-violent. This stood for their love of life, self-determination, non-conformism, freedom and independence, liberalism, and internationalism. Swing girls had their own look too.
What followed were years of raids on music events, dance schools, and other informal meeting places. Their rebellion came more from a teenage desire for self-expression than a resistance mindset. The Swing Kids were mostly middle and upper class and, it must be stressed, largely apolitical youths who wore long whips of hair in direct contravention of the order that men must wear military length hair and long, often checked English sports jackets, shoes with thick light crepe soles, showy scarves, homburg hats; some even carried umbrellas in imitation of the British foreign secretary at the time, Anthony Eden. While Nazis hated jazz and every form it came in, the existence of these swing kids and their lifestyle posed a much bigger threat to their world view. The final chapter of the band was written, as the remaining members had the opportunity to play two benefit shows in Southern California raising thousands of dollars for charity. If they were over the age of 18, then they were sent to adult concentration camps.
"Swing Heil": Swing Youth, Schlurfs, and others in Nazi Germany
Due to their resistance with the Nazi Regime, they faced many conflicts and had many skirmishes with the Nazis. They often faced detention and interrogations by the Gestapo, which resulted in many of the Swing Kids committing suicide. The final chapter of the band was written, as the remaining members had the opportunity to play two benefit shows in Southern California raising thousands of dollars for charity. Over a decade later, and Eric still lives on in his music. Photo by August Priesack, courtesy of the German Federal Archives.
They were a threat to regulated order. As many as half a million civilians remained in Stalingrad when the Germans approached in the late summer of 1942. Bassist John Brady has since played in Sweep The Leg Johnny and Agonista. The Swing Kids name was playing on the fact that Hitler required the youths of Germany to join youth oriented programs, but they were highly against this. Advertisement for the exhibit on degenerate art in Salzburg, Austria in 1938. Nazis were particularly concerned with the ideal German female, and the way swing girls dressed and behaved showed the world that they did not care about these ideals. I do not know what became of the older gentleman I danced with that evening.
Most boys would wear long, often oversized and checked sports jackets, hats with American-style brims, shoes with thick crepe soles and, in some cities, an umbrella, no matter the weather. On 2 January 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 clash of Swing Kids On 18 August 1941, in a brutal police operation, over 300 Swingjugend were arrested. Swing music per se, however, was never completely outlawed. The band, made up of Justin Pearson, Jose Palafox, John Brady and Eric Allen drew inspiration from jazz and swing era ethics, creating a strand of genre-defying music.
The crackdown soon followed: clubs were raided, and participants were hauled off to camps. Bassist John Brady has since played in Sweep The Leg Johnny and Agonista. An overwhelming majority of them were women and children. They started to distribute anti-fascist propaganda. Their love of swing dance and jazz music was an overall view of life for them, in which they strictly opposed Hitler and his youth organizations. The way the swings dressed reflected this stance on life.
Many faced massive restriction on their personal freedoms in Germany and this angered them to fight against it. This mass arrest encouraged the youth to further their political consciousness and opposition to National Socialism. The band, made up of Justin Pearson, Jose Palafox, John Brady and Eric Allen drew inspiration from jazz and swing era ethics, creating a strand of genre-defying music. Anthology: Disease Line 1 Clean Shade of Dirty Warsaw Blue Note Intro to Photography Situation on Mars Forty-Three Seconds El Camino Car Crash Fake Teeth Situations on Mars Includes unlimited streaming of Anthology via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. What they had in common was a love for jazz and an affinity for British and American pop culture which stood in stark contrast to the enforced Nazi culture of German nationalism, uniformity, and military regulation.
The band did their last few shows recruiting Jimmy Lavalle who was part of notable acts such as The Locust, The Crimson Curse, The Black Heart Procession, Gogogo Airheart, and Album Leaf, to play second guitar. What they all had in common was long hair-long enough to touch the collar, and slicked back in what was perceived as Hollywood style. The swing kids would dance in an outrageous fashion linking arms, jumping up and down, jiterbugging to the point of physical exhaustion, one women often dancing with two man to the hot sounds of Luis Armstrong and Nat Gonella. Teenagers, the most ardent followers of a new musical trend, were also hard to regulate and for some of them the anti-jazz propaganda had the exact opposite effect. Over the years, this nine-song collection would become a staple for the Three One G community. None of the couples danced normally; there was only swing of the worst sort.
