Imagine living in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. Most of us know how horrible atrocities that occurred in Nazi Germany during that time, but the focus of this essay will not be about war. Instead the focus will be how the music was used by the Nazi’s. The Nazis attempted to control almost every aspect of the Germans lives to ensure they were holding all the power. The Nazis limited the citizens freedom of choice and used propaganda as a form of coercion or persuasion. The nazis also used music as a distraction technique for the soldiers who committing horrible acts against the Jews. Nazis in Germany restricted the type of music that could be listened to, used music as a form of propaganda, and used music as a distraction technique in
…show more content…
That is why Hitler and Goebbels felt it was extremely important to create Nazi propaganda through music.. Although jazz was labeled as “bad” music in Nazi Germany, Hitler and Goebbels created a jazz type band named, Charlie and His Orchestra to assist in creating and spreading propaganda. According to Will Friewald of the Wall Street Journal, the concept behind the Nazis ' Charlie campaign, conducted from about 1940 to 1943, was that they could diminish Allied morale using musical propaganda, with a perfectly conceived orchestra broadcasting messages in English to British and American forces (1). The band would re-create popular songs from the United States and change out the lyrics to make them propaganda that supported the German’s mission or damaging America’s character. In addition to using music for propaganda, music was also used as form of …show more content…
These Nazi concentration camps are responsible for killing millions of Jews and other people who did not follow the Nazi way of life. Upon prisoners arrival the orchestras would be playing songs to welcome them. Music played a sizable role in the death camps because it was used to aid in distracting the soldiers from what they were doing, it gave prisoners a false sense of hope, and the music was a form of entertainment for the Nazis. “In five of the extermination camps, the Nazis created orchestras using prisoner-musicians, forcing them to play while their fellow prisoners marched to the gas chambers (“Orchestras” 2). The music would help distract soldiers from the fact that they were about to wrongfully kill innocent people. In addition, the music playing was misinterpreted by prisoners who were unknowingly being lead to their death. According to the YouTube video, “Music in Death Camps,” the musicians that were forced to play in the orchestra had the second highest suicide rate among any other job in the camps. This proves the prisoners were often disappointed by the false sense of hope and caused them to take drastic measures like suicide. Finally there was not much to do for entertainment in the concentration camp, so listening to music was a form of entertainment for the Nazis in concentration
That is why Hitler and Goebbels felt it was extremely important to create Nazi propaganda through music.. Although jazz was labeled as “bad” music in Nazi Germany, Hitler and Goebbels created a jazz type band named, Charlie and His Orchestra to assist in creating and spreading propaganda. According to Will Friewald of the Wall Street Journal, the concept behind the Nazis ' Charlie campaign, conducted from about 1940 to 1943, was that they could diminish Allied morale using musical propaganda, with a perfectly conceived orchestra broadcasting messages in English to British and American forces (1). The band would re-create popular songs from the United States and change out the lyrics to make them propaganda that supported the German’s mission or damaging America’s character. In addition to using music for propaganda, music was also used as form of …show more content…
These Nazi concentration camps are responsible for killing millions of Jews and other people who did not follow the Nazi way of life. Upon prisoners arrival the orchestras would be playing songs to welcome them. Music played a sizable role in the death camps because it was used to aid in distracting the soldiers from what they were doing, it gave prisoners a false sense of hope, and the music was a form of entertainment for the Nazis. “In five of the extermination camps, the Nazis created orchestras using prisoner-musicians, forcing them to play while their fellow prisoners marched to the gas chambers (“Orchestras” 2). The music would help distract soldiers from the fact that they were about to wrongfully kill innocent people. In addition, the music playing was misinterpreted by prisoners who were unknowingly being lead to their death. According to the YouTube video, “Music in Death Camps,” the musicians that were forced to play in the orchestra had the second highest suicide rate among any other job in the camps. This proves the prisoners were often disappointed by the false sense of hope and caused them to take drastic measures like suicide. Finally there was not much to do for entertainment in the concentration camp, so listening to music was a form of entertainment for the Nazis in concentration