Podcast episode about anti-fascist youth cultural movements in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. In particular we look at the German Edelweiss Pirates and Swing Kids, the French Zazous and the Austrian Schlurfs.
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Despite years of indoctrination, young people in fascist Europe in the 1930s and 40s resisted the authoritarianism and conformism of Nazi rule. We hear from former Edelweiss Pirate Walter Mayer, and speak with historian Nick Heath about these little-known movements.
- E72: Swing Kids and Edelweiss Pirates: available early for our patreon supporters
- E72.1: Zazous and Schlurfs, bonus episodes – coming soon exclusively for our patreon supporters
More information
- Nick Heath’s short history of the Edelweiss Pirates
- Nick’s short history of the Zazous
- Nick’s short history of the Schlurfs
- This is a playlist of tracks curated by Nick which these groups listened to at the time.
- Anarchist Communist Group website
- Anti-fascist books and merchandise – Posters, clothing and merchandise using artwork by or inspired by 1930s anti-fascists in Germany.
Sources
Sources used by WCH in addition to articles referenced in More information, above:
- Christopher Hutton (2005). Race and the Third Reich: Linguistics, Racial Anthropology and Genetics in the Dialectic of Volk. Polity. pp. 93, 105, 150
- Gemma d’Urso, “The Edelweiss – Switzerland’s national flower?,” Swiss Info, May 2015 to 11, accessed December 7, 2022, https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/the-edelweiss—switzerland-s-national-flower-/30300682.
- Working Class History, “Cologne resistance executions,” Working Class History stories, July 19, 2022, accessed February 13, 2023, https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8234/cologne-resistance-executions.
- McConnell, Michael Patrick, “Home to the Reich: The Nazi Occupation of Europe’s Influence on Life inside Germany, 1941-1945. ” PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2015. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/3511
- Jennifer Macey, “Campaigning for Cologne’s Maligned Resistance,” DW, November 10, 2004, archived March 23, 2021, accessed February 13, 2023, https://web.archive.org/web/20210323125527/https://www.dw.com/en/campaigning-for-colognes-maligned-resistance/a-1391096.
- “Freie Arbeiter Union Deutschlands Timeline,” Working Class History stories, accessed February 13, 2023, https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/tag/9514/freie-arbeiter-union-deutschlands.
- “Ausstellungseröffnung Die Leipziger Meuten – Jugendopposition 1933 – 1945,” Stadt Leipzig, January 27, 2012, accessed February 13, 2023, https://www.leipzig.de/news/news/ausstellungserffnung-die-leipziger-meuten—jugendopposition-1933—1945.
- Gilles Dauvé and Denis Authier, “The communist left in Germany 1918-1921,” libcom.org, July 31, 2009, accessed February 13, 2023, https://libcom.org/article/communist-left-germany-1918-1921-gilles-dauve-and-denis-authier.
- Detlef Siegfried, European Cities, Youth and the Public Sphere in the Twentieth Century (Taylor & Francis, 2016).
- Monica Porter, Children Against Hitler: The Young Resistance Heroes of the Second World War (Pen & Sword Books, 2020).
- Gertrud Koch, Edelweiss : meine Jugend als Widerstandskämpferin (Reinbek : Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, 2006).
- “Edelweißpiratenfestival,” Edelweißpiratenfestival, accessed February 14, 2023, https://www.edelweisspiratenfestival.de/html/.
Acknowledgements
- Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands and Jamison D. Saltsman.
- Episode graphic, mural of a group of Edelweiss Pirates in Cologne, courtesy wwwuppertal Flickr, CC by 2.0.
- Edited by Louise Barry
- The theme music was Functionizin’, by Fats Waller, courtesy of the Swiss Foundation and Wikimedia Commons.
- Also featured was Richard Wagner’s Gerechter Gott, performed by Ernestine Schumann-Heink also courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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Transcript
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