German Language and Literature Commons^™

Jazz Banned: How Jazz Music Shaped Nazi Germany, Stella Coomes

Young Historians Conference

Jazz is widely known to be a formative element in American history, but it also played an important role during some of Europe’s most formative and memorable years: the time of World War II and Adolf Hitler’s reign in Germany and surrounding countries. With its roots in Black American culture, it is easy to believe that Hitler would not have supported the increasing popularity of jazz music in his homeland. However, that did not stop him from using it to his advantage (of course, denouncing any form of jazz that was not sponsored by the state). Also not to be …