There was a joke in the Third Reich:"In a moving train, two silent people make barely noticeable gestures under the blankets with which they are covered - deaf-mute tell each other political jokes." This joke perfectly described the situation of political humor in Hitler's state. Similar jokes of fear were to be told. And people did it anyway.
The Nazis did not like jokes about themselves. In the light of the law of the Third Reich, the joke could be treated as an act of hostility against the Führer, the state and Nazism. An exuberant sense of political humor could be paid for by staying in a concentration camp. The seriousness with which the Nazis approached the subject is evidenced by the fact that the courts punished people who named their dogs and horses "Adolf".
But even the threat of repression was not able to stop the Germans from making fun of the Nazi tops.
The greatest of absurdities
In one of the jokes about Hitler, when asked "what is the greatest absurdity in the world?", The answer was: "That an Austrian who believes in Soviet ideas and salutes how an Italian fascist became chancellor of the German Reich ..." .
Hitler didn't get married until 1945? Not according to that satirical drawing from 1939 ...
People eagerly mocked the dictator's "dyed" Germanness and the fact that Nazism was a copy of Italian fascism:
During the first meeting, Hitler greets Mussolini with a fascist gesture and with the words: "Ave Emperor"! To this Mussolini replies "Ave Imitator"!
Kleptomaniac Hitler…
However, not all jokes about Hitler were malicious. Throughout the duration of the Third Reich, he enjoyed mass adoration in Germany. Hence, there were jokes that were supposed to show his unique character traits. In one of them he was praised for his authenticity:
On one of his travels, Hitler stopped by an inn and ordered bottled water. Soon he was surrounded by a wreath of admirers who ordered what the Führer ordered.
Only one distracted farmer took a beer for which his companions glared at him. At one point, Hitler said to him:- It seems that there are only two honest people in this village:you and me.
… And megalomaniac! French satirical drawings from 1939.
Franco's widow, above Mussolini's coffin…
It was only with the unfavorable development of the situation on the fronts - in the face of the losses incurred, constant bombing and problems with access to food - that the tone of jokes began to become more and more reluctant to Hitler. As in this ominously prophetic joke:
- When will there be peace?
- Then, when Franco's widow, standing over Mussolini's open grave, asks:- Who shot Hitler?
Starving Hitlers
More than Hitler, other Nazi leaders were joked about. The Germans idealized the Führer, and blamed his closest associates, who they maliciously called "little Hitlers" for the war failures and the deteriorating living conditions. They also accused them of greed, greed and corruption.
Goebbels' children are invited to afternoon tea at the houses of Nazi celebrities:Göring, Ribbentrop and Ley.
Everywhere they are served with cakes and other fancy sweets. On the other hand, at Hitler's they only get grain coffee and cheap cookies. After returning home, they ask:- Dad, or F ü hrer does not belong to the party?
Keep your ass against the wall or Röhm will get you
Jokes were very popular not only about the moral but also the physical shortcomings of the main figures of the Nazi elite, which contrasted sharply with the ideal of the perfect Aryan. This joke had a great career:
Ernst Röhm. The scare of the Hitler Youth boys?
A real German should be:
- blonde hair like Hitler,
- tall like Goebbels,
- Göring slim
- virtuous as Röhm
The last of these, Ernst Röhm - murdered during the so-called the night of long knives, the SA chief - was the subject of jokes because of his unconcealed and dissolute homosexuality.
His love of young boys provoked jokes about his special concern for the male youth organization Hitler Youth.
It was laughed that in every place there was a slogan: "Hold your ass against the wall or Röhm will get you." Or at least it should be hanging.
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Strolling naked in Berlin
In the early 1930s, cartoonists predicted that Hitler in power would behave like a savage ...
The humor of the times of the Third Reich dealt with the head of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring, with particular malice. His narcissistic tendency to over-tune was eagerly mocked:
A water pipe has broken in the basement of the Ministry of Aviation. When notified of this, Göring immediately orders:- Bring my admiral uniform.
Göring's narcissism was the source of another of his weaknesses - hanging himself with numerous orders. This could not escape the malicious attention of the jokers who invented a new unit of measurement:"1 Gör" . It meant the maximum amount of sheet metal that a man could hang on his chest without falling on his face.
Göring's abundant body was also the subject of a biting humor. In 1944, when the problems with access to food became more acute, it was joked that Göring would occasionally walk naked around Berlin to remind the Germans of what ham and ham look like.
Noisy Kuternoga
Goebbels was ruthlessly joked about. Kuternoga, short, thin, with a sunken chest - his exceptionally non-Aryan appearance was a perfect material for jokes:
Göring liked to take one of his animals for a walk every now and then. During one of his walks, he passed the Reich's office. Suddenly Hitler leaned out of the balcony and asked:
- Hermann, did you take your turtle for a walk?
- No, Göring replied, these are Goebbels in a steel helmet.
The French cartoonist kicks out Hitler ... 1939.
A French and two Germans talking…
His outstanding propaganda skills also provided material for creating excellent jokes. Such as this one:
In Heaven, Frederick the Great, Hindenburg and Napoleon discuss modern warfare.
- If I had as many planes as Göring, I would have won the Seven Years' War in four months! - swears Fryderyk.
- If I had as many tanks as Hitler, no Russian would have entered East Prussia in 1914! Says Hindenburg.
- If I had Goebbels, no French would ever know that I lost the campaign in Russia! - Napoleon concludes.
Another "unit of measure" was invented because of the expressiveness and loudness of Goebbels' speeches. It was "1 goeb" - the maximum width at which you can open your mouth without risking breaking your face.
The article is based on the book "Underground Humor In Nazi Germany, 1933-1945" (Routledge 1995).
Last refuge
The old truth is that tyrants do not tolerate humor about themselves. This was also the case with the Third Reich. Nazism was deadly serious. Only in this way could he achieve his internal political goal:the full subordination of the German people to the Nazi leadership. There was no room for jokes during the solemn and hypnotic state ceremonies and political rallies. That is why humor was the last place of refuge, which, even for a moment, allowed many Germans to take a break from the totalitarian everyday life, which - with the approaching end of the war - became more and more oppressive.