Swingjugend

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Get a load of these guys who opposed the HJ! :001_tongue:

The Swing Kids (German: Swingjugend) were a group of jazz and Swing lovers in Germany of the 1930s, mainly in Hamburg (St. Pauli) and Berlin. They were composed of 14- to 18-year old boys and girls in high school, most of them middle- or upper-class students, but some apprentice workers as well. They sought the British and American way of life, defining themselves in Swing music, and opposing the National-Socialist ideology, especially the Hitlerjugend.



What a contrast to the HJ !

Nick
 
They and the other opposition groups caught some hell for it though. The opposition really only started after 1936 when the first youth law was passed and it became one of the main activities of the HJ-Streifendienst to seek out these groups and provide information to the police and Gestapo in order to prosecute. The Swing-Jugend, Edelweißpiraten etc were very loosely organised opposition but they were still able to coordinate and execute physical attacks on the HJ and party buildings. Some of the ringleaders got jail terms where others were held in one of two concentration camps built especially to contain the under-20s involved in opposing the tight grip of the HJ.
 
What exactly were the Streifendienst? The unit is mentioned alot in my books but as yet I have found no description ! Were they like a "police" unit of the HJ?

Nick
 
Yes, they were to keep order and ensure the HJ's conducted themselves properly. They were also supposed to ensure that members were properly uniformed.
 
Hi Nick
Here is their cufftitle , picture curtersy of KevinS , more pics are in the cufftile thread

cheers steve

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Thanks Steve !

Great picture. Was there anything else that distinguished them? ie shoulder or collar insignia? Or any badges?

Nick
 
They had distinct shoulder straps as well. The HJ Striefendienst was officially sanctioned in October 1938, so all straps will be of the post 1938 variety. There were a couple of different coloration styles. At first they wore the red piped of the General HJ, and some straps with white piping and red numerals have also been encountered that appear to be handmade or altered. The final pattern introduced in 1942 were white piped with white numerals. They wore the triangle of the Gebiet in which thier Bann existed. Here's an example of a set from Bann 509 Wien-Floridsdorf, Obergebiet Sud-Ost, HJ Gebeit 27 Wien.

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Am I right in thinking that the Streifdienßt would have been comprised of fanatical national socialists? They would have to be hardcore believers in order to enforce such things, yes?

I bet they were,and I bet they ended up in the SS or Gestapo!!

Nick
 
During the war, there were a group in Denmark called "Swingpjatter" [Swing frivolous ?] and their long hair, slang language and excessive clothing signaled rebellion against bourgeois life and all Nazi ideals. They were not resistance fighters, but openly lived their youth life despite the war and with eyes turned toward the American culture.

In 1944 a part of the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen was selected as a target and blown in the air [in Danish: Schalburgtage] by a Danish nazi terror group, due to the fact that some senior SS officers on visit had been scandalized at the sight of young people with long hair who danced to jazz music.

../henrik

(Photo: The Museum of Danish Resistance 1940-1945 )



Get a load of these guys who opposed the HJ! :001_tongue:

The Swing Kids (German: Swingjugend) were a group of jazz and Swing lovers in Germany of the 1930s, mainly in Hamburg (St. Pauli) and Berlin. They were composed of 14- to 18-year old boys and girls in high school, most of them middle- or upper-class students, but some apprentice workers as well. They sought the British and American way of life, defining themselves in Swing music, and opposing the National-Socialist ideology, especially the Hitlerjugend.



What a contrast to the HJ !

Nick

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Great story and picture Henrik!

The Nazis soon surpressed these movements at time quite brutally as you have mentioned, although I bet many youths listened to American music "illegally" !

I wonder if any of these "Swing" kids ended up in concentration camps!

Nick
 
Am I right in thinking that the Streifdienßt would have been comprised of fanatical national socialists? They would have to be hardcore believers in order to enforce such things, yes?

It was a strong sense of duty (among other attributes) which was required for this kind of work. They were basically a kind of military police but unlike the MPs the SRD had no judiciary powers. They were disliked as much as MPs though. However, russian-style political commissars they were not.
 
Swingjugend

Der Begriff "Swingjugend" stammt vermutlich von den nationalsozialistischen Verfolgungsbehörden zur Kennzeichnung von Jugendlichen, die ihrer Distanz zum NS-Regime vor allem durch ihre Vorliebe für amerikanische Swing-Musik Ausdruck verliehen.

Die Mitglieder der "Swingjugend" waren wie die "Edelweißpiraten" in der Regel unpolitisch. Ihnen ging es vor allem um die Schaffung eines jugendkulturellen, autonomen Lebensbereichs und einer Gegenkultur zum uniformierten Alltag der Hitler-Jugend (HJ). Die Jugendlichen der "Swing-Gruppen" kamen vornehmlich aus dem Mittelstand und dem gehobenen Bürgertum. Die vor allem während des Zweiten Weltkriegs in Hamburg und Berlin auftretenden Gruppen zeichneten sich durch einen bewusst internationalen und weltstädtischen Lebensstil aus, der sich an amerikanischen und englischen Moden orientierte. Die Jugendlichen trugen oft längere Haare, karierte Sakkos, Hut und Regenschirm und trafen sich in Cafés oder Clubs, um den bei den Nationalsozialisten verrufenen Swing zu hören. Ihre Abgrenzung gegenüber dem normierten Alltag zeigte sich auch in der bewussten Verwendung von Anglizismen.

Ohne im eigentlichen Sinne politisch-oppositionell eingestellt zu sein, wichen sie in Aussehen und Verhalten stark vom nationalsozialistischen Ideal des Jugendlichen ab. Erst durch das bisweilen äußerst brutale Vorgehen gegen die "Swing-Cliquen" seitens der Geheimen Staatspolizei (Gestapo) und überzeugter Anhänger der HJ wurden Teile der "Swingjugend” ab 1940 politisiert.


Google translation:

Swing Youth

The term "Swing Youth" probably originated from Nazi persecution by authorities to identify youths who expressed their distance to the Nazi regime, especially by their fondness for American swing music expression.

The members of the "Swing Youth" were like the "Edelweiss Pirates" generally apolitical. They were concerned primarily about the creation of a youth culture, independent living area and a counter-culture to everyday uniform of the Hitler Youth (HJ). The youngsters of the "swing group" came mainly from the middle class and upper middle class. The Second World War, especially during the Hamburg and Berlin occurring groups were characterized by a consciously international and cosmopolitan lifestyle that was based on American and English fashions. The young people often wore long hair, plaid jackets, hat and umbrella and met in cafes or clubs to listen to the Nazis at the infamous swing. Their differentiation from the standardized daily was also evident in the deliberate use of Anglicisms.

Adjusted without the proper sense of being politically-oppositional, they differed greatly in appearance and behavior from the Nazi ideal of adolescents. Only through the sometimes extremely brutal crackdown on the "swing-cliques" on the part of the Secret State Police (Gestapo) and a staunch supporter of the Hitler Youth were part of the "Swing Youth" politicized from 1940.

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Text from: Swingjugend

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