Book Review: Dead Funny, Humor in Hitler’s Germany

Dead Funny: Humor in Hitler’s Germany by Rudolph Herzog
ISBN: 978-1935554301
Publisher: Melville House
Retail: $26.00

In Nazi Germany, telling jokes about Hitler could get you killed.

Is it permissible to laugh at Hitler? This is a question that is often debated in Germany today, where, in light of the dimension of the horrors committed in the name of its citizens, many people have difficulty taking a satiric look at the Third Reich. And whenever some do, accusations arise that they are downplaying or trivializing the Holocaust. But there is a long history of jokes about the Nazis.

In this groundbreaking volume, Rudolph Herzog shows that the image of the “ridiculous Führer” was by no means a post-war invention: In the early years of Nazi rule many Germans poked fun at Hitler and other high officials. It’s a fascinating and frightening history: from the suppression of the anti-Nazi cabaret scene of the 1930s, to jokes about Hitler and the Nazis told during WWII, to the collections of “whispered jokes” that were published in the immediate aftermath of the war, to the horrific accounts of Germans who were imprisoned and executed for telling jokes about Hitler and other Nazis.

Significantly, the jokes collected here also show that not all Germans were hypnotized by Nazi propaganda—or unaware of Hitler’s concentration camps, which were also the subject of jokes during the war. In collecting these quips, Herzog pushes back against the argument, advanced in aftermath of World War II, that people were unaware of Hitler’s demonic maneuvering. The truth, Herzog writes, is more troubling: Germans knew much about the actions of their government, joked about it occasionally . . . and failed to act.

When reading the Sunday paper in the United States (and other countries where it is permissible) we can often see political comics- poking jabs about those in power. It wasn’t quite the same in Hitler’s Germany but there were jokes, political and meant to ‘jab’, aplenty. It helped people to deal with the state of affairs. There were plenty of individuals who were bothered by the direction that Hitler and others in power were taking the country in. But as Herzog points out, the jokes and comics were only a way to ease the tension for the people, not the country. Herzog shows that many knew what was going on and were bothered by it, but not to the point of action.

The book is a good read that will make one think. It is sometimes difficult to understand the jokes passed during these times if one is not familiar with the German/Jewish cultures before and during the WWII era. For those who are interested in history, this book is a good glimpse into the mindset of those during this time.

I did think that this book was going to share more of the specific comics/jokes that were written/voiced during Hitler’s Germany and it does, dispersed throughout, share some specific ones. However, it is more of a history of the time and the people’s attitudes, with some examples of ‘humor’ that circulated. Interestingly, the jokes did not often center around the Nazi brutality but instead was more popularly politically themed. Goring was made fun of for the excessive number of medals on his suit- and his enjoyment of food.

Herzog does recount some of the deaths that were the result of the public jokes against Hitler and those in power but I gathered that the deaths (many from being in concentration camps) were ordered later in Hitler’s reign. After the Reich was losing the war and was becoming much less popular.

Some examples of the ‘jokes’:

A 'law’ that was rumored to be passed by the Nazis is as follows:
1. Anyone who does something or fails to do something will be punished.
2. Punishment will be handed down according to popular opinion.
3. Popular opinion is defined by the Nazi district leader [Gauleiter].

Another example:
A high-ranking Nazi official visiting Switzerland asks what a certain public building is for. “That’s our Navy Ministry,” his Swiss host explains. The Nazi laughs and says: “Why does Switzerland need a ministry of the navy? You’ve only got two or three ships.” The Swiss answers, “Why not? Germany has a ministry of justice.”

But as Herzog goes on to say after telling of over 250 well-known authors who were stripped of their citizenship, prominent culture figures and the friends of these individuals generally ‘adapted to the times’.

“Jokes…like this didn’t aim any serious criticism at the paramilitary nature of Nazi organizations. At most, such witticisms targeted the disruptions to normal life party duties entailed…” (in reference to jokes about party name acronyms)

If you are interested in history, WWII history, perhaps sociology, and/or a look into the mindset of some people during the WWII era, this book may be worth a read. It does contain profanity and some explicit language.

I received this book from Melville House Publishers via NetGalley.