Essay on Jazz in Nazi Germany and Role of Django Reinhardt

The Nazi takeover of Germany in 1933 brought many changes, often prohibitions and restrictions to parts of society that the Nazis deemed inferior to, or at odds with their ideology. One of the most prominent of these changes was the control and prohibition of music in Nazi Germany. Considering how vital and valued music is in society, many would question how anyone could successfully take away or control a society’s music. Thus, this paper attempts to answer the question of how the Nazis, an uncompromising ideological force, managed to conquer and control their people by denying them what they enjoyed, such as music, given Germany's thriving culture before their rule and the importance and love of entertainment. To answer this question, this paper focuses on the genre of music popular during this period known as ‘jazz’. Specifically, this paper will address the role of jazz during World War II Europe and in Nazi controlled society, as well as the influence of artists deemed ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis such as the gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. European jazz and its musicians, like Django, were able to survive the Nazis because of the genre’s impact and powerful hold on the people, thus giving it more meaning and significance than just as entertainment music.

To address the main topics and begin answering the core question of this paper, it’s important to first understand the reception of the jazz genre in Germany, both before and after the Nazi’s rise to power in 1933 and the implementation of their social reform policies.

Jazz first came to Germany in a form somewhat recognizable to what we know today in the 1920’s with the arrival of many foreign jazz-style ensembles. The genre quickly exploded into a level of popularity that was known as ‘jazz fever’ in Berlin due to the perception of it as ‘exotic’, the same was true all over Europe. Popular performers like Josephine Baker reinforced this reception. During this time Berlin was one of the cultural and pleasure capitals of the world, therefore more accepting of new artforms. Due to the success of American performers and groups, European imitations quickly arose, such as the works of Eric Borchord. The year 1926 brought a wave of ‘symphonic jazz’, like the work of Paul Whiteman, and the public soon started to take jazz seriously as an art form.

When the Nazis rose to power and dominance in 1933, the welcoming reception began to radically change. In addition to discriminatory policies like the Civil Service Law, the Nazis launched campaigns against music they labeled ‘degenerate’ including jazz. However, while radio stations, where ordered not to play jazz music, and German jazz musicians were now exposed to harassment and persecution, the Nazis did not implement any official categorial ‘ban’ on jazz music and many jazz bands still existed. The Nazi attitude towards the censorship of jazz music soon shifted to using its popularity for their own goals and not entirely eradicating it, instead ‘neutralizing’ it. Despite this, jazz music was still much more censored than it had been prior to Nazi control, thus protests took place. Most notable of these protests was the protest by a group of young German jazz fans called the ‘Swingheinis’, who wore American jazz fashion to speak out against Nazi conformity. The Swingheinis and other protesters were eventually persecuted by the Nazi Gestapo.

Meanwhile, Hitler’s Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels was using jazz for Nazi propaganda. In 1940 Goebbels formed the German jazz band known as ‘Charlie and his Orchestra’, and frequently broadcasted their music with anti-ally lyrics in German and English to the German people and to Ally soldiers. In 1942 Goebbels created the ‘German Dance and Entertainment Orchestra’, a group created to meet the demand for swing music that produced a more ‘neutralized’ version of jazz music. In his 1942 directive, Goebbels highlighted his belief that ‘unterhaltungsmusik’, or light entertainment music, is vital for providing relaxation and release both at home and on the war front for soldiers and civilians alike. The Nazi propaganda machine even used performances from residents in Jewish ghettos and concentration camps like Theresienstadt, who they ‘allowed’ to play jazz, for their propaganda films, referring to them as ‘Ghetto Swingers’. Thus, the Nazis without doubt exploited the jazz genre’s popularity and demand for their benefit. However, this exploitation also highlighted the power and impact of the jazz genre, ultimately providing it with some resistance to total censorship or eradication, though censorship of the genre was still widespread and enforced in Germany.

How the Nazis carried out censorship of the jazz genre involves both what was allowed by the Nazis and what wasn’t allowed. This is due to the complex balancing act the Nazi regime had to play when dealing with a genre so popular and widely enjoyed by the German people. Their goal was to suppress parts of the genre they could not control, attain ownership over the genre for use, and benefit from the genre’s popularity in order to please the demands from the public. This resulted in the absence of total and complete censorship of jazz in Nazi Germany and Nazi occupied Europe.

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The Nazis soon realized that they had to let their people have some jazz present in their lives, especially during the war, in addition to other public and economic reasons. The demand of the people and soldiers, both at home and on the warfront, for syncopated popular music contributed to less censorship of jazz compared to other genres or artforms. The music industry in Germany at the time relied heavily on popular music like jazz to generate revenue. Due to many German musicians being called into service, the government imported in foreign jazz bands, usually from occupied countries, to substitute the lack of performers. As mentioned before, Joseph Goebbels created several German jazz groups to produce music he thought was safe and would please the public demand. Some of these groups became popular, like ‘Charlie and his Orchestra’. The Nazis would often use this music in their propaganda, believing it helps with reception. The war also affected the level of censorship, like the success of the German Blitzkrieg resulting in the government lifting some prohibitions, such as the ban on public swing dancing events and businesses. Considering this information, it cannot be said that there was no German jazz scene during Nazi rule, though the genre’s development was severely encumbered.

Nazi censorship of the jazz genre was still widely present, despite the tolerance showed towards the genre in comparison to others, many censorship policies mirroring the Nazi ideology of the government. In 1933 Joseph Goebbels established the Reich Chamber of Culture, or RKK, intent on the control over the entire cultural life in Germany, promoting things that were consistent with Nazi ideals. Goebbels also created the musical branch of the RKK, the Reich Music Chamber, or RMK, to promote what he deemed ‘good German music’. Jazz often did not meet this standard; thus, censorship was implemented. Most jazz music was labeled ‘degenerate’ and musicians like Ernst Krenek were banned from performing due to their African-American influence and other aspects of the jazz style the Nazis disapproved of. The government implemented boycotts of ‘enemy nation’ cultural products, such as music, and started campaigns of defamation to discredit many jazz musicians. In 1942 the government implemented their final ban on public and private dance events, prohibiting swing culture entirely. The protests of some swing music fans and youth groups like the ‘Swingjugend’ only motivated further repression. In later years, it was not uncommon for jazz musicians or fans to be incarcerated. The presence of heavy censorship left the jazz genre and music scene in Germany increasingly dependent on the ‘loopholes’ in Nazi culture policy to survive. Fortunately, survival was possible due to the lack of any unified Nazi censorship and control strategy for dealing with the jazz genre.

The state of jazz was not the same everywhere in Europe during the Nazi regime, even in occupied areas. This is the case for many European musicians involved in the genre like France’s famous gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, who’s experiences highlight how the inconstant and ununified censorship policies of the Nazis not only allowed jazz to survive, but flourish as an artform. This also displays the usual result of the Nazi’s ideology and suppression polices, a cultural and societal backfire that results in the strengthening of that which was suppressed.

In 1910 Django Reinhardt was born in the Belgian village of Liberchies to two gypsy parents. Django grew up a fully nomadic gypsy, eventually moving to France and settling. Naturally talented, he began his career at age 13 performing with popular accordionist Guerino. In 1982, Django famously survived a brutal house fire, permanently injuring his left hand and hospitalizing him. While hospitalized Django developed a new guitar fingering system and his signature style of playing. At this time Django was influenced by jazz musicians like Eddie Lang and Louis Armstrong, immediately becoming infatuated with the genre and later developing his own new style of jazz in the 1930’s combining traditional gypsy music with American jazz music. In 1934, Django and his friends formed the famous ‘Quintet of the Hot Club de France’, a distinctly European jazz group that quickly soared to massive worldwide popularity.

Django was on tour in 1939 when World War II broke out, causing Django to go home to Paris were he still managed to grow and maintain his fame, even as a solo artist. In spring 1940 the Nazis occupied Paris following the success of the German ‘Blitzkrieg’, causing Django to flee the city and go on hiatus. Instead of imposing similar policies to their home country, the Nazis decided to exploit the cultural and entertainment recourses of Paris, particularly to provide their soldiers and officers an opulent recreational area to relax. This resulted in the quick reopening of theatres in Paris and began the booming time of expansion for French art and entertainment. The jazz genre was able to achieve unprecedented popularity and success, performance audiences more than doubling and record sales skyrocketing. Many people felt that jazz fulfilled their ‘desire to escape’ and symbolized the outside free world, while also making an ideological statement due to its unrestrained style and African-American origins. During the forced isolation, the jazz scene in Europe became more indigenous and self-sustaining, due to lack of access to other sources. Because the Nazis wanted to exploit the culture and economy of France and similar areas, Nazi officials were allowed more autonomy, thus resulting in more tolerant Nazi control in these occupied areas.

France had somehow remained a safe place for Django, who eventually came back to the French jazz scene and reformed the Hot Club de France. During this time Django became Europe’s premier native jazz performer and an indispensable celebrity. Many consider this period to be arguably, and ironically, Django’s peak, his worldwide fame and admiration at levels previously unheard of in terms of a European musician, especially a gypsy, and Django also beginning his work as a composer producing famous works such as ‘Douce Ambiance’. Django eventually decided to flee France after hearing about the gypsies dying in German death camps. However, he was captured at the Swiss border and prohibited from leaving, later being released from Nazi capture by the Wehrmacht frontier commander who was a big fan of his. Django may have been trapped in France until 1944, when German occupation ended, but he not only survived but flourished despite being the antithesis to the ideal of fascism and the Nazi regime. Django continued to live his life, avoiding the fate of many gypsy people murdered by the Nazis, and eventually died May 16th, 1953 of a brain hemorrhage. Django Reinhardt’s rhythms and melodies have forever had a profound impact on Europe’s music scene and culture, both before and after the war, and especially on the entire jazz genre.