While hunting up WWII propaganda on YouTube just out of curiosity, I came across a Nazi propaganda swing band called Charlie and His Orchestra. They took famous jazz tunes like "St. Louis Blues" and "Makin' Whoopee" and rewrote the lyrics in order to celebrate German victories, bash Winston Churchill, and insult the Jews. They then broadcast them to Allied troops and to the UK in hopes that the music (actually very good: these guys were real pros) would bring in listeners who would then be exposed to the propaganda message. Churchill supposedly found all this very funny. Though the official Nazi view was that jazz and swing were degenerate Negro music, Dr. Goebbels and the boys had no qualms about using them in order to subvert Allied morale. It didn't work, of course. Obligatory disclaimer: I'm no Nazi. I despise them. I am very interested in World War II propaganda from all sides, however.
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