The exhibition was opened in Prague in the Lucerna Passage on September 27, 2025. It was thus exhibited in a place that is closely linked to the history of jazz and swing in the Czech Republic. Lucerna was considered the most important cultural and social centre of Prague – countless concerts, balls, meetings, conferences, fashion shows and sporting events took place here. Josephine Baker and Louis Armstrong, among others, also performed there. The Czech swing youths, the Potápky, met here for dance events.

The Lucerna Passage is still very popular today thanks to its location directly on Wenceslas Square. Many cultural events such as concerts and movie screenings still take place here. For around two weeks until October 12, 2025, passers-by were able to immerse themselves in the history of the persecution of jazz musicians and swing dancers. As the exhibition is available in both Czech and English, it appealed to locals and tourists alike.

The project partners from the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany came together for the exhibition opening on the afternoon of September 27 to talk about their historical research. This was followed by interviews that focused even more strongly on certain topics. Historian Petr Koura spoke about the significance of the Lucerna Passage in the interwar period. Project manager Natalie Reinsch took a closer look at the fate of two swing girls from Hamburg who were deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp for women. Curator Michał Miegoń emphasized the role of jazz for the persecuted musicians as a space of freedom in an unfree world. Historian Šárka Jarská linked the musical careers of icons Inka Zemánková and Edita Fischerová to the occupation.

A very personal story was told by historian Petr Bjaček, whose grandmother Alena Dobišarová lived as a young woman during the Second World War. The history of the Czech Potápky is also described in the exhibition. Alena Dobišarová survived the Second World War, but her first love, the swing youth ‘Bobin’, did not.

The exhibition was opened in Gdynia on June 28, 2025 and thus shown for the first time. It stood on the Square of Free Ukraine, directly in front of the Gdynia City Museum and in the immediate vicinity of the Baltic Sea, during the summer vacations until September 7, 2025. It was therefore barrier-free and could be visited by many people.

On the weekend of the exhibition opening, the project “NS-Injustice ‘Degenerated Music'” organized a program in cooperation with the swing dance club Harlem Beats that focused on swing and jazz. After the last exhibition panel had been erected and the first visitors had already stopped by with interest, the exhibition was ceremoniously opened. In speeches by Marzena Markowska (Deputy Director of the Gdynia City Museum), Michał Miegoń (curator), Natalie Reinsch (project manager) and Petr Koura (historian), with translations into English and Polish by Justyna Gorgoń (producer), the uniqueness of the exhibition idea, the transnationality of the project cooperation and the importance of the topic were emphasized. While there were dance workshops for advanced swing dancers in the morning, Harlem Beats organized a swing workshop for beginners in the foyer of the Gdynia City Museum after the exhibition opening. It helped them to develop a feel for the music and dance and to be prepared for the subsequent concert. Finally, the Braunschweig band “Die Kleine Swingbrause” took to the stage in the foyer and got the dancing audience in the mood with energetic swing music.

The next day, after another dance workshop by Harlem Beats, the so-called Jazz Walk had its premiere, which took place more frequently over the course of the next week to accompany the exhibition. Michał Miegoń invited them on a guided tour of Gdynia, during which they visited historical places with a strong connection to jazz and swing. As in the exhibition, the focus was on the interwar period and the Second World War.