Category: Swing

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Documentary film “Dancing Over the Abyss”

Dancing Over the Abyss

or: Who were Bedřich “Fritz” Weiss
and the Ghetto Swingers?

The documentary “Dancing over the Abyss” traces the history of the Ghetto Swingers, a jazz combo from the Theresienstadt ghetto. The Ghetto Swingers under their bandleader Bedřich (Fritz) Weiss were made up of Jewish prisoners who brought modern swing sounds into the closed confines of the Theresienstadt ghetto. Their development is shown from the founding of the band to their extermination in the German gas chambers. Their contemporary significance is addressed, as is the memory of them, both through their musical legacy and through contemporary witnesses. The film sheds light on the power of music in a place of Nazi injustice, defying the propagandistic exploitation of the band by the Nazi regime and deportation to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.

The film is directed by the well-known Czech filmmakers Marek Jícha and Josef “Pepi” Lustig. The film is accompanied by historians Petr Koura and Šárka Jarská. The central actor is Czech dance teacher Jan Onder, who has achieved national fame after winning the TV show StarDance twice. The film premiere took place on 28.09.2025 at the Atlas cinema in Prague.

Tanec nad propastí, CZ, 2025, 62 min
Director: Josef Lustig, Marek Jícha

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Exhibition “The Collision of Freedom”

Exhibition "The Collision of Freedom"

Photo: Paweł Jóźwiak

The Collision of Freedom

Nazi Persecution of Czech, German and Polish Swing Dancers and Jazz musicians

The exhibition “The Collision of Freedom: Nazi Persecution of Czech, German and Polish Swing Dancers and Jazz Musicians” offers a comparative look at a transnational phenomenon for the first time.

Jazz music and swing dancing were popular in all three Central European countries during the interwar period. In the large cities in particular, there were numerous people indulging their love of jazz and swing in bars, cafés and concert halls. However, the National Socialists despised jazz and swing. For this reason they suppressed music and dance from 1933 onward in Germany; and later, in the territories conquered by the Nazi regime as well.

The exhibition traces this development, starting in Part I with the “Beginnings of Jazz in Europe”. Part II, “Youth, Jazz and Politics”, deals with youth subcultures and the incipient defamation and persecution by the Nazi regime in Germany. Part III, “Swing in Wartime”, uses biographies and localities to illustrate the increasing practice of persecution. Stories of self-assertion and resilience are revealed in Part IV, “Resistance Through Music”. The final Part V, “Liberation. Future. Hope”, recounts biographies of survivors and their continued work after 1945.

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Exhibition “The Collision of Freedom” – Program in Bremen

Exhibition "The Collision of Freedom" - Program in Bremen

Photo: Paweł Jóźwiak

The Collision of Freedom

Nazi persecution of Czech, German and Polish swing dancers and jazz musicians

Trinational exhibition from August 22 to September 14, 2025

Gallery of the University of the Arts (HfK)
Dechanatstrasse 13-15
28195 Bremen

Accompanying program:

August 22, 7 p.m. Exhibition opening with partners from the Czech Republic and Poland, in the HfK gallery
Afterwards: live music by Jakub Šafr & swing trio Avalon with social dance, DJane Eléna Wendt (Swing Man Tau) until 11 pm
Venue: Gallery of the HfK

24 August, 3 p.m. Lecture by Dr. Šárka Jarská on the persecution of Czech jazz musicians and the Czech swing youth by the Nazi regime
Afterwards: Tea Dance
Venue: Evangelische Studierendengemeinde Oldenburg, Schützenweg 40, 26129 Oldenburg

September 5, from 7 p.m. Bremen Babylon Bohème, the dance night at Bali’Ku with original swing shellac records by DJ Guido Bolero
Venue: Bali’Ku, Werderstraße 60, 28199 Bremen

September 6 & 13 2 p.m. Swing Walk: City tour in the footsteps of Bremen’s swing youth
Meeting point: in front of City 46, Birkenstraße 1, 28195 Bremen

September 6, 7 p.m. Film screening “Django – A Life for Music”, preceded by a film discussion with Django Heinreich Reinhard and Giovanni Steinbach, moderated by Natalie Reinsch (BBfd-tZ)
Venue: Gallery of the HfK

September 10, 7 p.m. Theater performance: “Gegen das, was da oben ist” – a documentary collage with motifs from “Swinging Bremen” by Birgit Köhler with the performing arts course of Helene Finck (Altes Gymnasium Bremen)
Venue: Gallery of the HfK

September 12, 7 p.m. Talk about Sinti Swing with Dardo Balke and Nico Thom, followed by a concert by the Dardo Balke Ensemble with Social Dance
Venue: Gallery of the HfK

Click here for the program flyer

NS-Injustice "Degenerated Music"

The transnational project takes a comparative look at the Nazi persecution practices of the northwest German swing youth, the Czech potapki and the swing and jazz music scene in occupied Poland and develops multi-perspective, interdisciplinary and participatory mediation formats.

To the project page
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BBfd-tZ at DAS! – Researchers from Bremen about swing youth during the Nazi era

BBfd-tZ at DAS! - Researchers from Bremen about swing youth during the Nazi era

Swing and jazz were considered “degenerated music” by the National Socialists. But there was a scene of around 1,000 active music-loving young people in Hamburg who pursued swing. Conflicts with the Nazi regime were inevitable.
The NDR and the talk show DAS! accompanied three Bremen historians from the Bremer Bündnis für deutsch-tschechische Zusammenarbeit e.V., who are researching the topic of swing youth.

The content of this video is in German.

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Event information: 12.06. Commemorative Impulse in Bremen

Event information: 12.06. Commemorative Impulse in Bremen

Photo: Ramona Rücker

When: Thursday, 12.06.2025, 19:30 h

Where: Kukoon Cultural Center, 28201 Bremen

With: Ksenja Holzmann (Landeszentrale für politische Bildung/Denkort Bunker Valentin) Virginie Kamche (Afrika Netzwerk), Derviş Hızarcı (Kreuzberger Initiative gegen Antisemitismus), Lucy Debus (trotzdem da!)

Commemorative kick-off in Bremen – Whose responsibility? How the culture of remembrance is changing in the migration society

What role does the memory of the Nazi era play in a diverse society? How does migration change the way we remember? 80 years after the end of the Second World War, the question of how we can all keep the memory alive is being discussed. The event will feature panel discussions with experts, committed personalities and Bremen initiatives, insights into remembrance projects and the opportunity to talk to experts in person.

We from the Bremen Alliance for German-Czech Cooperation are also taking part with our project “NS-Injustice ‘Degenerated Music’”. We look forward to presenting our Liberation Dance and to exchanging ideas at our stand.

Free admission. Please register for the event at: https://www.stiftung-evz.de/veranstaltungen/anmeldungen/anmeldung-gedenkanstoss-in-bremen/

NS-Injustice "Degenerated Music"

The transnational project takes a comparative look at the Nazi persecution practices of the northwest German swing youth, the Czech potapki and the swing and jazz music scene in occupied Poland and develops multi-perspective, interdisciplinary and participatory mediation formats.

To the project page
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08.05. Commemorative event: Liberation Dance, 6.00 p.m.

Commemorative event: Liberation Dance

Photo: Jiří Lubojacký

When: Thursday, 08.05.2025, 18:00 – 19:00 h

Where: Marketplace Bremen

Europe-wide flash mob to commemorate 80 years since the end of the Second World War

2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe with the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht.
It commemorates the liberation from National Socialism and the devastating war with over 60 million dead.

The Liberation Dance will be performed as a flash mob on May 8 as part of the tri-national project “Nazi injustice ‘Degenerate Music’. Persecuted swing dancers and jazz musicians in north-west Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland”.

The title “Jeepers Creepers” by Louis Armstrong was chosen because German swing youths sang it during forced labor in concentration camps, as they were persecuted by the Nazi regime because of their love of jazz and swing.

The Liberation Dance was conceived in Bremen together with dancers from all over Europe in remembrance of the war, but also in view of the strengthening of right-wing groups throughout Europe.

Dancing the choreography together, holding hands and building bridges, which can be recognized in the dance, stands for cohesion, for remembrance, because #Niewiederistjetzt

NS-Injustice "Degenerated Music"

The transnational project takes a comparative look at the Nazi persecution practices of the northwest German swing youth, the Czech potapki and the swing and jazz music scene in occupied Poland and develops multi-perspective, interdisciplinary and participatory mediation formats.

To the project page
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Recap video: Swing-Exchange Bremen 2024

Recap video: Swing Exchange Bremen 2024

It was a lot of fun!

The recap video of our Swing Exchange weekend in August 2024 is here. Check out the impressions of this event in a short video.

Thank you to all the participants from all over Europe. It was very nice to network, dance together, learn and commemorate the young swing dancers who were persecuted by the Nazi regime.

Swing was and is a symbol of freedom and individuality. We look forward to our next events in Prague in November!

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Concert/Tea-Dance: Agnamana Duo

Concert/Tea-Dance: Agnamana Duo

Photo: Sven Hallmann

25.08.2024, 3:30 pm

United Evangelical Community Bremen-Neustadt, Krankenstraße 11

The swinging Agnamana Duo from Bremen will be playing at the Swing Exchange weekend tea dance on Sunday. It consists of saxophonist Gilles Biedozi and his son Mael on drums. They will be accompanied by Claudius Tölke on double bass.

Admission: free

Nazi injustice "Degenerated music"

The transnational project takes a comparative look at the Nazi persecution practices of the northwest German swing youth, the Czech potapki and the swing and jazz music scene in occupied Poland and develops multi-perspective, interdisciplinary and participatory mediation formats.

To the project page
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Concert: Django H. Reinhardt with band and HFK musicians

History Talk + concert: Django H. Reinhardt with band and HFK musicians

19:00: History Talk

A history talk with Czech swing dancers Zuzana Hypsova and Zdeněk Pilecky will take place before the concert at 7 pm. Zdeněk Pilecky danced in the 1993 feature film “Swing Kids” and later founded the swing and tap dance studio ZIG-ZAG in Prague. Zuzana Hypsova works as a therapist with Holocaust survivors. They talk about how they use Lindy Hop in their therapeutic work. The interview is in English.

20:00 Concert/Social Dance

The concert starts at 20:00 with Social Dance. Django Heinrich Reinhardt belongs to one of the most famous jazz families in Europe. As part of our Swing Exchange weekend, he will be playing with parts of his swing orchestra and musicians from the Bremen University of the Arts in the St. Pauli parish in Bremen’s Neustadt district.

Admission: free

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Team of the project “NS injustice” introduces itself

Get to know us

Hi, we are the German team behind the project: “NS Injustice ‘Degenerate Music'”.

We would like to introduce ourselves in the following article.

We are based at the Bremer Bündnis für deutsch-tschechische Zusammenarbeit e.V. and work in Bremen.

Natalie Reinsch

Hi, my name is Natalie Reinsch and I am the director of the project “Nazi Injustice ‘Degenerate Music'”. I am a historian and curator with a focus on the history of the 20th century. As I am passionate about swing dancing, I was aware of the persecution of swing youth by the Nazi regime, having seen the movie “Swing Kids”. I conceived the project to develop new educational programs about the history of National Socialism and the resistance to it. Dealing with the history of Lindy Hop and the persecution of swing dancers during National Socialism opens up the possibility of dealing with various topics such as racism, anti-Semitism and antiziganism, but also with resistance and the scope of the individual in a totalitarian state.

Natalie Reinsch, Project Management

Philipp Mangels

Philipp Mangels, Research Assistant

Moin. I am Philipp Mangels, a cultural historian specializing in East Central Europe and part of the team of the Bremen Alliance for German-Czech Cooperation. During my studies, I was already heavily involved with subcultures and youth cultures and I see many links to this topic in the swing youth. What I find particularly fascinating is the self-determination of young people, who don’t let adults or regimes tell them how to live their lives. In our project, I am particularly looking forward to the educational work with young people who still have clear ideas about their own lifestyle today. I don’t just want to teach about history, I also want to learn a lot from the young people.

Ramona Rücker

Hello, my name is Ramona. Together with Melika, I’m responsible for the project’s social media. I studied public history and media studies with a focus on cultures of remembrance as well as media communication and coming to terms with National Socialism.
I have been dancing since my childhood, mainly hip hop, which is why I find the persecution of swing dancers all the more unimaginable and their commitment courageous and self-determined.
I am looking forward to this project because I love meeting different people and learning with and through them. I am also excited to share the story(s) of swing youth with you.

Ramona Rücker, Social Media Manager

Melika Yildizová

Melika Yildizová, student assistant

Hi, I’m Melika Yildiz, a student at the University of Bremen.
I’m studying political science and religious studies and I’m interested in the history of Jewish life because I have Jewish roots. I have been working in the PR department of the ŠTETL FEST, an international Jewish festival in Brno, for three years. I am also a member (as a Czech) of the Bremen Alliance for German-Czech Cooperation.
The topic of the project “NS-Injustice degenerated music” is extremely interesting for me, as it provides a different perspective on the Nazi era. That’s why I’m very happy to be part of the team. Together with Ramona, I am responsible for the project’s social networks.

Nazi injustice "Degenerated music"

The transnational project takes a comparative look at the Nazi persecution practices of the northwest German swing youth, the Czech potapki and the swing and jazz music scene in occupied Poland and develops multi-perspective, interdisciplinary and participatory mediation formats.

To the project page