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How Germans took a stand against Nazis by dancing to ‘degenerate’ swing music

8 0
27.05.2026

Jazz became a worldwide sensation throughout the 1920s, and Germany was no exception. However, as the political climate grew darker in the 1930s, jazz music also became a way for young people to rebel against a fascist regime. 

Under Nazi ideology, jazz was labeled as “degenerate music” (“entartete Musik“) for its obvious roots in Black culture, not to mention that many musicians who played jazz were Jewish. 

Restrictions gradually manifested: first, broadcasting of jazz was prohibited, then individual artists were banned, followed by listening to any non-German radio station, which did play propaganda-filled “Aryanized” jazz music. 

A youth culture emerged outside Nazi ideals

But as groups like the Hitler........

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