Douglas E. Friedman
Award-Winning Author
New Release!
The Nazis’ War on Music (2022)
The Nazis mounted a two-pronged attack on music, both on the type of music—for example, jazz or swing, and on who was performing it—Jews or other non-Aryans. In his latest book, "The Nazis’ War on Music: Another Side of the Holocaust," noted music historian, Douglas E. Friedman, explores the Nazis’ brutal attempts to rid Germany of what they called “degenerate art." Friedman brings the subject to life by telling the heartbreaking stories of those that were affected, including the Comedian Harmonists, the Weintraubs Syncopators, the Swing Youth, the Jewish Culture League and others.
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Praise & Reviews
“Douglas Friedman’s book, The Nazis’ War on Music, provides a fascinating look at the Nazis’ treatment of popular music from a different perspective—kaleidoscopic stories of those affected directly by these policies. It is both informative and well written. Highly recommended.”
—DR. RAINER E. LOTZ, music historian and preeminent discographer
“The Nazis’ War on Music weaves together the stories and experiences of musicians and music fans who were persecuted by the Nazis from 1933-1945. Douglas Friedman offers a compelling examination of the intersection of Nazi policies against the Jewish people and music deemed 'degenerate' by the Nazi government, and shines a bright light on an overlooked area of Holocaust history.”
—SARA E. BROWN, Ph.D., Executive Director, Center for Holocaust, Human Rights and Genocide Education
About Douglas Friedman
DOUGLAS E. FRIEDMAN, an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Villanova University School of Law, served for many years as vice-president and legal counsel to a Fortune-100 energy company until retiring in 2002 to devote more time to his lifelong interest in music. Among his earlier books are a biography of the Comedian Harmonists, a wildly popular German vocal group of the 1930s that was forced to disband by the Nazis because of its Jewish members; and an award-winning biography of the classic American vocal group, the Mills Brothers. He serves on the Board of Directors of the nationally recognized Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education in Lincroft, New Jersey, to which all profits from his books are donated.