Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Laughter in Hell: Use of Humor During the Holocaust, by Steve Lipman. 1991

Humor Directed Against Nazi Germany, Nazi Personages, and German Policies

This work is not just a collection of jokes. It also traces their purposes, and the psychology behind them.

Some jokes were forms of satire, and passive resistance–the kind directed against all totalitarian regimes. Others were a means of coming to terms with the situation–such as GALGENHUMOR (gallows humor). (pp. 63-on). Still others were a form of resistance against oppressive conditions and impossible situations. They often raised the morale of the suffering. They could even be said to be a form of optimism–in that evil would not finally triumph.

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Some jokes were about politics and political systems. For example:

What is the difference between Communism and National Socialism? Under Communism, if man has a cow, it is taken away from him. Under National Socialism, he is allowed to keep the cow and feed it–only the milk is taken away.” (p. 91).

What is the difference between National Socialism and Communism? It is colder in Russia. (p. 105).

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Some of the jokes touched on religious themes. For example:

What is the difference between Christianity and National Socialism? In Christianity, one man died for everyone. In National Socialism, everyone has to die for one man. (p. 91).

What is the difference between a missionary and the Reich Bishop? The missionary makes the savages devout, the Reich Bishop makes the devout savage. (pp. 98-99).

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Many jokes poked fun at leading Nazis. For example:

Goering and Goebbels die and go to Hell. Their punishment: for Goering, 1,000 new uniforms and no mirrors; for Goebbels, 1,000 radios and no microphone. (p. 52).

The definition of a German Christmas goose: Fat as Goering, cackling like Goebbels, plucked like the German people, and brown like the party. (p. 76).

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As the war began to turn against Germany, some of the jokes alluded to this fact. For example:

What does life in Berlin look like? The Germans rule the cellars, the foreigners rule the streets, and the British rule the air. (p. 81).

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A number of the jokes included in this book were by peoples who had been conquered and occupied by Germany or the USSR. Examples:

“There’s a German living in my house.” “Hush. It Hitler hears about it, he’ll annex the whole district.” (p. 88).

A German asks a Pole, “You Poles don’t want us Germans to stay here in Poland forever?” “Why not? You are very welcome…six feet under the earth.” (p. 110).

Two ghosts meet in the Soviet Union in 1945. “Where did you die?” the first one asks. “1941, in Stalingrad, and you?” “1943, on a collective farm.” A third apparition enters. “Where did you die?” the first two ask. “I’m not a ghost,” the third forms answers. “I just came from a Russian gulag.” (p. 75).

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Part of this book is about Jewish humor. Author Steve Lipman points out that the Jewish element was very strongly represented in pre-WWII European cabaret. (p. 118). Here are some examples of jokes told by Jews, as described by the author:

Humor was a popular pastime in the Warsaw Ghetto, largest of the voluntary enclaves. “Nalewski Street looks like Hollywood nowadays” it was said there. “Wherever you go you see a star.” Jews in the ghetto were required to wear an armband bearing the six-pointed Star of David. (p. 147).

Elie Wiesel’s classic NIGHT contained a sardonic passage… “I’ve got more faith in Hitler than anyone else. He’s the only one who’s kept his promises to the Jewish people.” (p. 151).

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For an additional selection of Jewish humor, some of which is anti-Christian, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/jewish-humor-antipolish-novak/