The Swing Shift Shuffle is a radio program of swing, big band, jazz, boogie woogie and other popular music from the 1930's and 40's that airs every Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. (US Central Time) on WEVL 89.9 FM in Memphis, Tennessee, with a live webcast at wevl.org. In addition to the radio show, this blog is dedicated to all aspects of the Swing Era, including art, automobiles, cartoons, comics, history, movies, music, news, science, technology, and anything else that happened during that time. It also includes announcements about events in the Memphis/Mid-South area related to the Swing Era, such as classic movies, concerts, dances, lectures, etc. If you see something that fits the description, send it to me at tim@wevl.org. If you would like more information about the radio show, just go to the Radio Show FAQ page.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Hard At Work On Der Atlantik Wall

The pictures in the Nazi propaganda filmstrip Der Atlantik Wall now take a definite industrial turn, as they start to feature scenes of the construction of the fortifications.  The Todt Organization (TO) was responsible for these engineering projects and helped produce the filmstrip.  During the war, the TO met the massive demand for workers through forced labor drawing from the German population, concentration camp prisoners, workers from occupied countries, "volunteer" prisoners of war, military personal, etc.  Whether or not any of the workers pictured in these scenes fall into any of those categories is unclear, although many are wearing what appear to be military uniforms, and most appear to be more enthusiastic than one would think forced labor would be.

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