HUMOUR OF SUFFERING

Evening Star, Issue 23499, 13 February 1940, Page 2

HUMOUR OF SUFFERING

THE JOKE'S ON HITLER

A grim typo of humour is circulating in, Germany: it is born of suffering and repression, its general theme tpe time when Germany will be freed from the Nazi regime, says a writer in tne Melbourne ‘ Age.’ The mass ot these jokes are directed against Hitler and other Nazi leaders, mostly cynical gibes at their foibles and weaknesses, A collection of sto,rie_s and jokes has been made by Count Alfred Hessen’ stein, and with the title ‘ The Joke s on Hitler,’ they are published in a little book. There are many laughs in these “ underground whispers from the land of the concentration camp ”; realising the conditions that gave them birth, there is something more than laughter in them. _ , . , ~ In his book ‘ Year of Reckoning Mr G. Ward Price gives some samples of the type of humour tolerated by the Nazi leaders in order to keep up tne morale of the people. The classic of his stories is a cabaret parody called the Fuhrer’s speech of 1942, a summary of which, in Hitler’s best oratorical style, is: “ Men and women of Europe! It is no affair of chance that I should to-day be speaking, to you from the Throne of England. Following upon the return of Ireland to the Reich, the shepherds of Scotland have been freed from an oppressive yoke. I will not now deal with Italy’s breach of faith. I greet our Holy Father in Rome, Rosenberg the First.” Mr Ward Price says most of the jokes circulating in German “ have a basis of respect.” Count Hessenstein says he has collected in his little book “ some of the whispers, some of the jokes, that are the furtive, secret expression of that spirit of freedom which will one day return to Germany.” A story that sent its teller, a popular comedian, to a concentration camp concerned the identity of Germany’s greatest man. “ His name begins with the letters Goe, he _ is an Aryan and looks an Aryan; in the whole world he is recognised as Germany’s cleverest head,” said the comedian, inviting his audience to name this man. Goering?' No . . . the cleverest head. Goebbels? No . . . one who looks an Aryan. Then, said the comedian, “ I fear the German public has lost its lucidity The great man is naturally Goethe.” It must have been this same comedian who told an appreciative audience that Dachau, the concentratein

camp, was “ like a fortress, surrounded by barbed-wire entanglements, with a moat around it, live wire, protected by machine guns, and , heavily-armed sentries, and yet—it’s funny, isn’t it— I managed to get in.” , . Another comedian, commenting on the ■well-known fact that Nazi leader* invariably ride in expensive, highpowered motor cars, told an audxenc® a wonder occurred that day—a man who alighted from a luxurious Mercedes car was not a Nazi. _ He was warned for this offensive joke, and was told that if ’he did not apologia* he would be sent to a concentration camp. This was the apology: “ Ladie* and gentlemen. I have been told tn present to you my apologies for what I said last night regarding the Mercedes car. I apologise and correct my. statement, admitting that I was wrong. TKe man who alighted from the car was a Nazi.”