Melville House Books

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, in fact, 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.

Jokes recorded during the Third Reich:

Two Jews are waiting to face a firing squad, when the news arrives that they are to be hanged instead. One turns to the other and says: “You see—they’ve run out of ammunition!”

Hitler visits a lunatic asylum. The patients give the Hitler salute. As he passes down the line he comes across a man who isn’t saluting. “Why aren’t you saluting like the others?” Hitler barks. “Mein Fuhrer, I’m the nurse,” comes the answer. “I’m not crazy!”

A poster for the Winter Assistance Organization reads: “No one should be allowed to go hungry or suffer from the cold.” A laborer says to a co-worker: “So now we’re not even allowed to do that.”

The telephone rings, and a man says: “Hello, can I speak to Müller?” “Who?” “Müller. Is Müller there?” “No, my name is Schmidt.” “Oh, I’m sorry, I must have dialed the wrong person.” “No big deal, we all did that in the last election.”