Hitler’s Airwaves: The Inside Story Of Nazi Radio Broadcasting And Propaganda Swing by Horst J.P. Bergmeier & Rainer E. Lotz

Although it has long been known that jazz-that despised “Nigger music”-as well as all other evidence of decadent “cultural Bolshevist-Jewry” were strictly verboten in Nazi Germany, ongoing research has revealed that starting in 1939 Hitler, on the suggestion of Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, approved the restricted use of jazz on short-wave broadcasts specifically aimed at Allied bases and homes in England, America and elsewhere. Factually distorted and racially inflammatory “news reports” and commentaries delivered by dozens of native-born British and American traitors, including the infamous William Joyce (“Lord Haw-Haw”) and Mildred Gillars (“Axis Sally”), as well as famed poet Ezra Pound, a virulent anti-Semite, alternated with recordings of current American hit tunes as played by an in-house swing band. Featuring the vocals of Karl “Charlie” Schwedler and Lale Andersen and led by tenorman Lutz Templin, this initially all-German band ultimately came to include some of the best European jazz musicians on the continent. Their many recordings were made under the name of Charlie And His Orchestra.

As indicated in detail in both the text and on its accompanying CD (65:25), the quality of musicianship in the band was high, but it should also be emphasized that, unlike the fanatic, Jew-hating commentators, who eagerly sought their influence-wielding positions, these musicians didn’t have much of a choice. It was either “play the gig” or suffer the consequences, i.e., forced conscription in the military or internment. The political message on the musical segments of the broadcasts presented itself in the form of specially written lyrics to the melodies of popular American swing tunes, with primary emphasis placed on the personal denigration of both Churchill and Roosevelt, and, of course, the general condemnation of Jews, Blacks and Communists, all of whom, in the Nazis’ thinking, deserved nothing less than total extermination. In addition to a complete discography of the 1939-1944 recordings, the book also provides transcriptions of the parodied lyrics.

Originally Published November 1, 1997