Tim Trager threw this aside in 990824 MMDigest:

> Oh, by the way, on a historical note: in its effort to crack down
> on jazz, Hitler's Third Reich banned the use of the Flex-A-Tone
> with dance orchestras in Germany!

There was a really interesting series of programs on BBC Radio 3 about
a year ago about jazz and swing in Nazi Germany.  The situation was
complex, because Josef Goebbels, the Minister for Propaganda and
normally a great stickler for Aryan purity, loved Benny Goodman's music
and when borderline cases came up for his attention, would vaguely not
do very much about it.  Thus the black-leather-coated cultural purity
enthusiasts in the Gestapo tended to have their efforts undermined from
on high.

There were some quite good dance bands in the big urban centres.
They gave the well-known American tunes sly allusive German names which
fooled everyone except the knowledgeable.  If the club was raided by
the Gestapo the band would be suppressed, but there were few prosecu-
tions and all the band had to do was change its name and move to
another town.

Ex-Gestapo officers interviewed after the war said they were not
musical experts, and it was never made crystal clear to them exactly
what features in a piece of music ranked it as sufficiently debased
to warrant actual punishment.  German band members, after all, did not
look at all like Louis Armstrong, who had incurred Der Fuhrer's
especial distaste.

The Nazi Party also found that its own social meetings only worked
well if there was a good swing band in attendance.  Quite often no-one
in the gathering would even be aware the music was supposed to be
degenerate, and anyway they had had their fill of German culture during
the day.

Understandably, not many records were made, but one band which
contained Dutchmen earned its keep broadcasting syncopated Nazi
propaganda songs, in English, and the punctilious British Government
monitoring service made a point of getting it all on disc -- for the
great historical, if not musical, benefit of posterity.  There was a
very soggy song called "We're Going Bombing ..." (England) which I (an
impressionable child in London at the time) can't imagine having any
effect over the Channel other than mirth.

Quickly getting back on topic, I wonder if Ludwig Hupfeld ever issued
rolls of syncopated dance music ?  I've never seen one.  Before the
Thousand-Year Reich rolled into place in 1933, a good selection of
US-recorded Welte Licensee hot numbers had appeared on red-paper Welte
rolls in Germany.

Dan Wilson, London