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Jazz in Nazi Germany

Emily Mackprang
UCSB Hist 133p, Winter 2002
Prof. Marcuse
March 14, 2003

As early as 1928, jazz was targeted by the German Government for being what, composer Carl Nielsen in a New York Times interview called, "a direct sin against the people." [1]   This spurred a popular aversion to jazz that would continue to grow amongst German bureaucrats, in the following decade. The Reich Music Chamber (RMK) was established in 1933 by Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, to regulate the playing and availability of jazz in Germany. Goebbels and the RMK systematically removed jazz from radio broadcasts and record stores. Due to this fierce effort, by 1939, American music was on the verge of extinction in Germany culture. However as the war progressed, American music began to gain a new and larger following. Ironically, American music found perhaps it's most surprising and fortuitous resurgence in Goebbels attempts

to use the very music he had once described as the "ugly squeaking of instruments offensive to our ears," [2]   in German propaganda against foreign powers. Unable to set, or abide by, a clear policy on American music, Goebbels undermined his original goal and ultimately, helped to introduce the forbidden music to mainstream culture.

In the Beginning

Although jazz is typically labeled as the music of Africans, the true origin of jazz is not known. Its sound is a collection of worldly influences. Jazz incorporates African influences in its tribal like rhythms, European tradition in its classical melodies and a bit of New Orleans in its unique harmonies. Historian, John Edward Hasse describes jazz as “both visual and visceral,” possessing the ability to “induce a nearly irresistible urge to move.” [3] It is improvisational by craft giving jazz musicians the freedom to add their own flare to any piece of music. But although jazz is an open and personal style of music, it is defined by four strict characteristics, rhythm, melody, harmony and tonal inflection. The first, rhythm, is best described by historian Michael Kater in his book Different Drummers. Kater describes the rhythm as “conventionally syncopic.” [4] It is formed by the use of consistent but subtle rhythmic variations. Melody is the next principle of jazz. It is characterized by Kater as neither “exclusively triadic nor diatonic.” [5] Melodies are varied and sometimes seem random to the unfamiliar ear.  Equally important is harmony. Harmonies are often improvised, writes Kater, “this often involves the substitution of one musical key pattern for another.” [6] Lastly, jazz consists of tonal inflection. The tonal inflection of jazz is “the ever so slight and merely momentary flatness of a saxophonist’s pitch.” [7]   So unique is the tonal inflection of jazz that it could almost appear to be a mistake in the music to the untrained ear. These four properties are the key elements of jazz.

Incorporating the four elements of jazz, does not eliminate the artist’s freedom to ascribe a personal touch to each piece of music. Creative freedom lends itself to

the creation of a sound so lively and attractive it quickly spread throughout the United States. Jazz was accompanied by a dance craze that made its way into Britain and France around the time of the First World War. Acts like Josephine Baker and Duke Ellington gained fame and popularity over seas, helping to extend the sound of jazz further into Europe. By the end of World War I, jazz had reached Germany. Likely brought into Germany by Allied forces, jazz instantly became a favorite among Germany’s youth. Jazz was like nothing ever heard before in post war Germany. It was appealing for many reasons. For Germany, Kater writes, the “postwar dance craze, served to shake off the memories of war.” [8] Jazz also brought with it an intriguing message of individualism, freedom, and expression.  Lyrically, jazz was something very new. Musicians, Louis Armstrong and Cole Porter, wrote about the freedom to love, the freedom to work hard for a living and the freedom to choose your own path in life. Louis Armstrong’s “Hello Brother” [9] :

A man wants to work for his pay
A man wants a place in the sun
A man wants a gal proud to say
That she’ll become his lovin wife
He wants a chance to give his kids
A better life, Yes!

Armstrong sings of every man, no mention of color or creed. This message is universal. Everyone wants to be paid for their work, everyone wants to be loved and everyone wants a chance at a better life. Lyrics like this were not common in German music. The absence of emphasis an on race and culture was alluring and different.

The Seductiveness of the Forbidden Fruit

Director Sekles of the Conservatory of Frankfurt, enjoyed jazz and saw it as beneficial. Sekles was quoted in 1928 by the New York Times as having said, “a serious study of jazz will be the greatest help to our young musicians.” [10] Jazz found its niche amongst the disillusioned and war beaten youth of Germany. “The sheer pull of jazz music and style has also been felt in other totalitarian regimes”, writes George McKay, columnist for the Index on Censorship,“ not only because of its forbidden nature, but because it connotes pleasure, freedom of expression, sympathy for the oppressed and so on.” [11] Jazz’s free flowing and irregular composition offered an appealing alternative to the metered and rigidity of German folk music. Jazz by default became a form of resistance, because of its obvious opposition to all things Nazi. As a musician during this period, Otto Jung, later expressed in an interview with historian Mike Zwerin, the appeal of jazz to German youth who were against the National Socialists party, “we always felt that only people who were opposed to the Nazi regime could like this music.” [12] By the later half of the 1930’s, jazz and swing had grown in popularity among the youth of German cities. Dance halls and night clubs were packed with cities kids. The Swing Youth established itself in opposition to the Hitler Youth. Unlike the conservative Hitler Youth, the Swing Youth grew their hair long and both genders wore make-up. They dressed elaborately and mocked the badges worn by Hitler Youth, by creating and wearing their own version. Swing dance was sexual in nature and provoked close and sensual dancing. This type of dancing was believed, by Nazis, to promote promiscuity in young men and women. The Swing Youth enjoyed the music of Benny Goodman and Billie Holiday. Both artists sang about young lovers and the magic of falling in love. Holiday’s “Yours and Mine” [13] :

These lyrics were the work of foreigners, largely Americans. The influence of American modernity was not desirable to members of the National Socialists party. Alfred Rosenberg, an advisor to Hitler, believed “this cretinized American art form symbolized everything that was insidiously evil in a Jewish-Negro plot to undermine Germanic culture.” [14] Jazz was not only the music of Americans, but the music of Black Americans.

Who Was Doing It?

 “Because of its black origins, and its ‘pulsating, sensual’ rhythms”, jazz was considered “below German culture.” [15] Black jazz musicians were pictorially portrayed in anti-jazz propaganda as ape like figures and believed to be culturally inferior. Blacks were often referred to as “the chocolate people and regarded with little respect. As jazz became an agency for vocation many Black artists were able to capitalize on these new opportunities. The most successful jazz musicians, men like Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins, were of African decent. Patronizing attitude towards Blacks intensified, as German musicians attempted and were unable to mimic the popular sounds of jazz.

As German musicians struggled to capitalize on the popularity of jazz, the Jewish music community began writing and playing jazz with great skill and aptitude. They possessed an ear for the unique harmonies and sophisticated melodies of jazz. Many Jewish musicians took on the role of conductor or arranger. They also served as advertisers and agents, helping to publicize the music throughout the Third Reich.  The success of Jewish musicians did not go unnoticed. Jews were accused of using jazz to spread cultural corruption in Germany. The alarming success of the Jews and Blacks resulted in the establishment of institutions to impede their further prosperity.

The Music Stops

Jazz was an unpleasant nuisance to members of the National Socialists party. The music of Jews and Blacks, already widely accepted by the degenerate youth of Germany, jazz began to reach into Germany’s mainstream. In 1933, the Reich Culture Chamber (RKK) was formed to take on the task of centralizing the cultural arts in Germany. The RKK was responsible for improving the quality of theater, music, film and radio. Goebbels served as head of the RKK and carefully selected young, moldable assistants, faithful to the National Socialists party’s ideology. Hans Hinkel was one of the first additions to Goebbels’s team. Hinkel had caught attention as a member of Goebbels’s newspaper, Der Angriff, staff in Berlin. An avid anti-Semite and a zealous supporter of racial purity, Hinkel was an asset to Goebbels’ team.

Professor Peter Raabe was another of Goebbels’ henchmen. Raabe replaced Richard Strauss as head of the Reich Music Chamber, after Strauss failed to perform like a true Nazi. The Reich Music Chamber (RMK) was a division of the RKK responsible for regulating music in the Third Reich. Prior to his appointment as head of the RMK, Raabe served as the conductor of the Aachen Symphony. His main platform was a return to family, friendly music. He hoped to bring new life to German music by taking it back to the home and making music family friendly once again.

From 1933 to 1938 the RMK monitored musicians and musical venues, mostly those with jazz or swing affiliations. Using a new criteria to decipher jazz, the RMK began to weed out undesirables, mostly Jews and Blacks, from the music circuit in Germany. The director of Radio Frankfurt, Otto Fricke set this new criterion, in 1935.   The RMK also made it mandatory to register with the chamber. To become a registered member, musicians had to pass a qualification test. The test was given only after the musician filled out a racial profile, cleverly disguised as a questionnaire. The questionnaire proved useful only for those musicians who told the truth. If the musician passed the questionnaire, they were able to move on to the qualification test. The qualification test asked artists to perform musical compositions to display their skills. If the musicians passed the qualification tests they were given a membership card. Musicians with membership cards could legally perform in Germany and were responsible for paying monthly dues. Membership allowed the RMK to keep musicians under close watch and to monitor performances for undesirable elements. Foreign musicians were rarely able to play public venues since all “alien music” had been prohibited. [16] Even big name performers like Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman were banned from performing in Germany. The threat of physical violence had caused most Jewish musicians to seek out less hostile environments. By 1938, the RMK had rid Germany of most of its undesirable performers.

After the RMK had denigrated jazz in newspapers and in most public forums, it turned to the regulation of recordings. German-based producers were already registered with the RMK, which made regulating German recordings a simple assignment. The RMK however, faced difficulty with controlling the importation of foreign recordings. To stop the importation of foreign products into Germany would have caused larger problems. By 1937, the RMK successfully banned Jewish and Black musicians from recording in Germany. The importation of foreign music had greatly diminished as well. But many music lovers were still able to import banned recordings. Jazz enthusiasts were still able to import illegal records from France into Germany. [17] Many banned artists recorded under false names and were able to import their recordings. This remained a problem for the RMK.

The RKK’s next project was the regulation of German airwaves. The Reich Radio Chamber (RRK) was formed to monitor radio activity.  It was to do this under the leadership of another of Goebbels’ henchmen, Eugen Hadamovsky. Hadamovsky blindly faithful to the National Socialists Party was made chief of broadcasting in the Reich. In 1937, he was replaced by Dr. Heinrich Glasmeier. Dr. Glasmeier, according to historian Michael Kater, “was less dynamic and less offensive to other Third Reich bureaucrats”. [18] Glasmeier and Hadamovsky shared a passion for the censorship of jazz. The RRK’s main problem was the availability of radio transmission from Allied forces. This was a problem because Germans could hear banned recordings, as well as, anti-Nazi propaganda. Since faithful Germans were taught to view Englishmen as “weak, cruel, cowardly and bound to lose the war,” [19] anti-German radio propaganda was harmful to German moral. Since “radio in Germany is a government institution,” [20] Goebbels and the RRK had to find a solution to this progressing problem.

Reinventing the Sound of Germany

Hitler and the National Socialists Party set out to rid post war Germany of its social degeneracy and to unify the country once again. This meant the eradication of the volkisch community contrived of Blacks and Jews. The New York Times quoted Hitler from a 1933 speech given to the Reichstag, describing all true Germans as members of “a spiritual community of language, blood, culture, and customs.” [21] The Nazis had a very strong belief in “blut und boden” [22] (blood and soil). The soil was reflective of the deep affection for the homeland. Blood was a symbol of the peasants who personify what a true German should be. The reverence for peasants and countryside are illustrations of how the Third Reich viewed modernity and all that it stood for, industry, complicated economics, and extravagance. Nazi distaste for modernity meant a dislike of most things American. This left little room for jazz, an American export, in Hitler’s Germany. Goebbels’s was quoted in an unidentified newspaper fragment as having once said, “Everyone knows, America’s contribution to the music of the world consists merely of jazzed-up Nigger music, not worthy of a single mention.” [23] However much the Nazis despised jazz common citizens enjoyed it. Goebbels knew the importance of keeping these citizens happy and knew a concession must be made.

Goebbels’ first prospect was to find a replacement for jazz. Modern Germans, especially those of the younger generation had grown tired of the sound of German folk music. Songs like the “Horst Wessel Song,” [24] :

The “Horst Wessel Song” had become a staple of Germany’s patriotic sound. But by 1940, Germany’s youth, believed the “Horst Wessel Song” was out of style. [25] The musical stylings so popular with Hitler and Goebbels, were quickly losing their appeal. Goebbels set out to change this. He employed German composers to create a new style of German dance music, a more contemporary version. This was no small task since music was regarded with the utmost respect in Germany. Goebbels believed “Germany was the first music nation on the world.” [26] With a strong history consisting of the works of Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach, German composers faced the difficult job of reinventing the German sound. Goebbels founded the Reich Theater Chamber (RTK) to accomplish this task. The RTK invented a substitute for swing dance, the polka. This substitute did not have the same allure as swing and the RTK failed to create a replacement. To create a new contemporary sound for Germany, the RTK formed a national orchestra. It was funded by the government and heavily regulated. The orchestra, like the polka, was not a success. The RTK had failed to come up with a viable replacement for jazz, but the RKK had still achieved the almost total expulsion of jazz from the Reich. By 1940, “there were no American films, no touring American stars of stage, screen and radio, no more American jazzmen,” [27] to be found in Germany.  However the need for a replacement for jazz would remain.

A Use for the Degenerate Music

Goebbels and the RKK had for nearly ten years, pursued the removal of jazz and its influence from Germany. The RMK had made it nearly impossible to be a non- Aryan musician in the Reich, and the RRK had flushed out any non-German recordings from record sales and imports. Their only failure was the RTK’s attempt to reinvent the German sound.

Early in the RMK’s effort, Goebbels used nightclubs to round up its undesirables. Many artists could pack a nightclub providing an excellent opportunity to keep tabs on certain people and groups. Many uniformed Nazis frequented these clubs for this purpose. Mike Zwerin lived and performed in occupied Germany at this time and writes of his and his acquaintances’ experience with such events. According to Zwerin, the Scott Orchestra’s shows, having developed a fairly loyal and large following in Germany, became a target for Gestapo. Zwerin does not allude that Scott himself was a Nazi collaborator, but he does state that the Nazis took advantage of such a gathering to monitor groups and even arresting attendees in the middle of performance. [28] Actor Edmund Fetting, a regular at Cafe Bodega, a hot spot for illegal performances, recalls seeing one such incident, “ in such cases, a Nazi patrol would enter the restaurant, the orchestra would stop playing, people would stop talking. Everyone would become tense and watch the Germans.” [29] Goebbels had found a use for jazz, the music he so adamantly rejected. Goebbels would find a second use for jazz as the war waged on.

A new type of warfare developed during W.W.II, political propaganda. Goebbels’ knew the importance of propaganda. This emphasis on propaganda most likely came from Hitler. In Mein Kampf, Hitler writes “all propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to.” [30] This was something that Goebbels attempted to follow very closely. Goebbels knew the appeal of popular music. He also knew how effective the airwaves could be in spreading propaganda. The radio brought propaganda into every household around the world. Goebbels knew if he could attract the attention of German citizens to the airwaves, he could eliminate the desire for defiance. To appease listeners, Goebbels allowed a small amount of dance music on German broadcasts.

Late in 1940, Goebbels re-introduced American music to German airwaves. He knew the importance of attracting listeners and jazz was the answer. Jazz attracted a broad audience, reaching as far as Great Britain. Goebbels needed to mend the damage the BBC had done to Germany. His solution was the formation of a German jazz band. He hired conductor Karl Emil Heinrich Schwedler and his orchestra, fondly known as Charlie and his Orchestra. Schwedler had prior propaganda experience as a former employee of the foreign ministry. Charlie and his Orchestra perform popular pieces of music. The pieces tended to be exclusively American in origin. Most of the music was from American films or musicals. The pieces were unsophisticated in order to appeal to the general public. All of Charlie and his Orchestra’s music had to be pre-approved by the RKK. 

Charlie and his Orchestra were accompanied by propaganda pieces, which were introduced as part of the music program. These broadcasts were the brain child of radio propagandist William Joyce. After being introduced to Goebbels in 1939, Joyce an English born fascist, became an instant success in Germany. Not only did he embrace the National Socialists Party’s effort; he spoke the language of the British and US, making him an invaluable member of the German propaganda ministry. Joyce’s knowledge of British life attracted attention from foreign listeners. People identified with his humor and his ability to verbalize what most were unable or unwilling to say. Joyce took on the radio persona, “Lord Haw Haw”.

Together Charlie and his Orchestra and “Lord Haw Haw” were a successful blend of popular music and propaganda. Foreigners tuned in each night to hear the latest rendition of American music by Charlie and the latest report from Joyce. The duos performances typically opened with a number by Charlie. An example of this is Charlie and His Orchestra’s rendition of Art Hinkman’s 1940 hit “Hold Me” [31] :

The performance would be interrupted by “Lord Haw Haw” with his trademark greeting, “Germany calling, Germany calling”, followed by his version of Hinkman’s tune:

Listeners tuned in for Charlie and his Orchestra’s renditions of banned tunes and stayed for the witty antics of “Lord Haw Haw”.

The Double Standard

Goebbels saw the importance of creative propaganda as early as 1924; “even entertainment can be politically of special value, because the moment a person becomes conscious of propaganda, propaganda becomes ineffective.” [32] He claimed the use of American music, was one of the many “concessions made to the taste of modern times.” [33] It is strange however that the music Goebbels’ once called “the rot of a decaying society,” [34] was now accepted as a war measure. The RKK began to function with what Michael Kater called, “a somewhat contradictory, if not to say counter productive, policy towards jazz music.” [35] Goebbels set a double standard. The music of Jews and Blacks was not acceptable for German citizens to enjoy in clubs and dance halls, but it was acceptable for use by German officials. This sent a confusing message. The Ministry of Propaganda began to use the condemned genre politically. [36] The inability of Goebbels to adhere to his own set of standards, was harmful to the RKK’s effort.  

Jazz began to find its way into the most hopeless of settings, concentration camps. It made survival a reality for many Jewish musicians. The Ghetto Swingers are just one of the many jazz bands found in the concentration camps. The Merry Five and the Ghetto Swingers, are two of the better known bands inside Auschwitz. The Ghetto Swingers spent the final days of the war there, but they did not originate in Auschwitz. Eric Vogel, a Czech Jew, put together the Ghetto Swingers while in Terezin. Vogel had eluded internment for sometime by befriending members of the Gestapo. For a short time he worked in a ‘technical bureau’ registering Czech Jews. But 1942, he was shipped off to Terezin. Regular trains left Terezin for Auschwitz so survival was not a guarantee, but music, especially, jazz, became a means of survival. Many of the SS officers and “culture craving” commandants sponsored the formation of such bands. [37] Commandant Karl Rahm was responsible for endorsing the formation of the Ghetto Swingers. The group played Jewish tunes for the commandant’s amusement. Vogel’s described the Ghetto Swingers as “quite a good band. We played with swing and feeling, mostly in the style of Benny Goodman.” [38] In 1944, Vogel was transported to Auschwitz. Right away he established himself as a skilled musician. An SS officer approached him and inquired about his profession. Vogel told him he was a musician. The elderly SS officer told Vogel, that when he reached the front of the line, he was to say he was in perfect health and to take ten years off his age. [39] This insured Vogel’s exemption from the gas chamber. While in Auschwitz, Vogel was reunited with many of the original members of the Ghetto Swingers. They quickly reformed and were given odd jobs around the camp. The Swingers played events such as executions and while new prisoners were brought to the camp. Vogel and the Ghetto Swingers believed the key to their survival was jazz.  Jazz, kept them out of the gas chamber and in the good graces of top camp officials.

In the End

Goebbels set out in 1933 to rid Germany of what writer Olaf Solby called “a running sore on European culture.” [40] By the late 1930’s, he nearly accomplished that very task. Chief of broadcasting in the Reich, Hadamovsky, was quoted by the New York Times, as having once said, “whatever destroys the foundations of our entire culture we reject.” [41]   American artists were hard to find in Germany and Jewish musicians had fled the country in large numbers. The sound of Jewish and Black degenerates was on the verge of total extinction. All the while, American music was becoming a symbol of resistance. The more Goebbels opposed the music, the more resistors embraced it. The music once said to be unsuitable for marching suddenly found its place in German society. “ The Horst Wessel Song” was replaced by Charlie and his Orchestra’s version of “Hold Me”, an American song. American music was piped into every radio-toting household. SS officers as well as many members of the Gestapo continued to listen to jazz even after it was banned. SS officers organized jazz bands in the concentration camps. Auschwitz had a jazz band on almost every block. SS officers, the Gestapo and even Goebbels himself did not adhere to the bylaws they had set.

Jazz had accumulated a faithful following in Germany. Many of these followers survived the war, because they remained loyal to the music. Jazz was a symbol of liberty and freedom. For some, like Eric Vogel, jazz was a symbol of survival. Jazz had the ability to effect its listeners on so many levels that although it may have been hidden during the war year it was not lost.  Musicians at the time, like Otto Jung, believed “ the music meant more than just music.” [42] Unlike most music, jazz was born outside the conservatory; it was programmed to break rules. [43] It carries with it a sense of integrity and social grace, which after all, helps to frame “the life element of music.” [44]

Jazz music profited from Goebbels’ efforts. If Goebbels had accepted or embraced jazz, there would have been no Golden Age of jazz. The struggle inspired the art. Being persecuted and outcast motivated jazz artists. The greatest music comes out of conflict. The war on American music bolstered its popularity. As the war ended, the popularity of jazz faltered. German musicians had been deprogrammed by wartime regulations and were uninterested in reproducing the once popular music. Foreign musicians were unconcerned with or unable to return to Germany. The popularity of jazz faded with the fall of the National Socialists party. It seemed that without the ban, jazz lacked the glimmer it once had. Goebbels ban on American music had made it describe. Much of the allure of jazz came from its forbidden nature.  Mike Zwerin, musician and historian sums this point up best. “So it came to pass that a devil named Joseph Goebbels was the most powerful angel jazz music ever had, but the gold turned to dust when the devil died and the love died with the hate.” [45]