Founding of the Swing Youth

The Swing Youth formed around 1938, in the wealthy northern region of Hamburg. The founding members included wealthy boys and girls who typically knew each other from Gymnasium, the German name for High School. Members of this group usually met in local skating rinks and particular cafes. In the book “Hitler’s Children,” author Gerhard Rempel describes how they were originally called “Loafer Clubs” and “Gangster Cliques (Rempel 92).” The term “Swing Youth” came later and reflected their connection to American music and English apparel.

Similar to the White Rose and the Edelweiss Pirates, the “Swings” were formed as a counter movement to the Nazi Youth group. However, unlike the White Rose and Edelweiss Pirates, the Swings served more as a countercultural group than a counter political group to the traditional Nazi party.  They rejected the traditional music of the Nazi party and instead embraced American and English influenced music, such as Jazz and swing.

Unlike the Edelweiss Pirates who represented a more serious challenge to Hitler, the Swing Youth was politically indifferent to National Socialism. In the book “The Third Reich,” author David Welch, describes how, “The swing youth were definitely not anti-fascist (Welch 62).” Nonetheless, the existence of these youth and “non conformists” groups illustrates how not all Germans supported the Nazi Party. The Swings also show that there was a rift between the traditional older German generation and the more laid-back younger generation.

In addition, smaller dissensions of the Hamburg Swings formed in cities such as Breslau, Kiel and Berlin. It wasn’t until 1941, that the German authorities became aware of the Swing group.