NAZI HUMOUR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23796, 1 May 1939, Page 14

NAZI HUMOUR

THE GOEBBELS STANDARD The first prize of one hundred marks in the competition organised by the Angriff, the most radical of the Nazi Party newspapers, with the object of proving that Germans possess a sense of humour, has been won by Herr Kurt Naumann, a builder’s labourer, who contributes three jokes illustrated by his own drawings. The first of these drawings represents a very scanti'y clad dancer confronted by an astonished theatre director and bears the caption: “ 1 won’t go on in this costume.” “ Why. does it show too much?” “No, you old fool, too little.” The second drau - ing which appealed to the judges is one of a woman in an extremely short dress, who is shown saying to her husband: “ You haven’t looked at my new dress. I am buying it by instalments,” to which the man answers: “ I suppose that is the first instalment that you are wearing.” The third winning joke shows a bloated pug saying to a meagre dachshund: “ How thin you’ve got, Fifi! ” and receiving the answer: was sold to a vegetarian three weeks ago.” In their remarks on the awards (says The Times correspondent) the judges make it clear that, in spite of the title of the competition, “Have We Any Humour? ” that quality was not the first consideration in awarding the prize. Herr Naumann is now richer by 100 marks, not in the words of the judges, “because we think that the products of his lively spirits in themselves constitute the essence of humoui. We believed rather that his work showed him to be a real man, a man who, as builder’s labourer, performs hard physical labour, day in, day out, but who nevertheless employs his short hours of leisure in putting his comic ideas on paper to amuse his comrades,” The competition was instituted by the Angriff some weeks ago after Dr Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda, had seen fit to exclude three comedians from the Reich Cultural Chamber, thereby depriving them of their living, for having made indiscreet political jokes. On that occasion Dr Goebbels justified his action in a long newspaper article in which he sought to define humour and to prove that the German people possessed an abundance of that quality while the disgraced comedians did not. The Angriff therefore undertook to provide practical proof of the existence of German humour by inyiting its readers to send in jokes.