These really did represent a reaction against the value of the Nazi party and the rise of the Hitter Youth and the BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädchen. The word 'Schlurf' actually later became part of the name of a Hollywood film, Heil Schlurf, released in 1991. It wasn't a great success but did shed a little light on this time and caused a minor reappearance of Swing music in Germany.
Swing became popular in Germany in the 1920s. It represented the roaring twenties though Germany also had to cope with hyperinflation at that time. It seemed odd that jazz was used as background music in the BBC film of John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas; the Nazis didn’t like jazz. Or perhaps that was precisely why it was used.
However, jazz and swing were never completely banned. The Nazis realised that it was good for moral and even produced their own version of jazz with Charlie and His Orchestra. However this was mainly a satirical band that adapted the lyrics from popular jazz pieces in a way that made fun of them.
Many of the swing fans welcomed Jewish youths into their clubs and this did not sit well with the authorities.
Several managed to import jazz and swing records from the USA but those caught doing that were rewarded with beatings and hard labour. On 18 August 1941 over 300 members of the Schwingjugend were arrested and subjected to police brutality. By 2 January 1942 Heineich Himmler ordered Reinhardt Heydrich to clamp down on the swing movement and submit participants to several years in a concentration camp. By 1941 20,000 young people were taking part in swing events.
The Nazis saw jazz and swing as 'Negermusik' – it was indeed mainly supplied by Black musicians. The Nazis saw Black people as part of an inferior race.
