From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Whisper joke
Whisper joke
Whisper jokes (from the German Flüsterwitze) are jokes 3)
that cannot be told in public because they address taboo Three prisoners are sitting in the cell in Bautzen:
subjects. In totalitarian dictatorships, whisper jokes of- 1. prisoner: "How come you’re in jail?"
ten criticise authorities. 2. prisoner: "I always came five minutes early. So I
was convicted (?) of spying."
Whisper jokes in Nazi Germany 2. prisoner: "And why are you in jail?"
1. prisoner: "I always came five minutes late. So I
Whisper jokes spread in Germany under the Nazi regime was convicted of sabotage."
of Adolf Hitler,[1] and served different purposes. Inside 1.prisoner is turning to the third prisoner: "And
Germany, the jokes voiced criticism against the totalitar- now you have to tell us why you are in jail."
ian dictatorship which otherwise would have been sub- 3. prisoner: I always came on time. So they discov-
ject to persecution. They could thus be seen as a form of ered that I had West-watches."
resistance. In the occupied areas, and here especially in 4)
the Ghettos, whisper jokes can be interpreted as a means Early in the morning; Honecker comes into his of-
of a survival mechanism.[2] fice, opens his window, faces the sun; saying: “Good
The following is an example of a whisper joke (trans- morning, dear Sun.”
lated from German):[citation needed] The sun answers: “Good morning, Mr Staat-
sratsvorsitzender, I wish you a recreative day.”
Dear good Lord, please make me dumb, “This is kind of you, dear Sun,” Erich Honecker
that I don’t go to a concentration camp. replies. Then he works. At lunch he goes to the win-
Dear good Lord please make me deaf, dow again, addressing the sun: “Good day, dear
that I don’t tamper with the radio. Sun.”
Dear good Lord please make me blind, The sun replies: “Good day, dear Erich.”
that I think everything is fine: In the evening Erich goes to the window again,
If I’m deaf and dumb and blind, sighing: “Thanks, dear Sun, I had a pleasant day!”
I am Adolf’s favourite child... “Rats”, says the sun, “Kiss my ass, now I am in the
West.”
Examples for whisper jokes in
the GDR References
[1] Stokker, Kathleen (1997). Folklore fights the Nazis:
In the GDR, whisper jokes ridiculed the main board of the
humor in occupied Norway, 1940-1945. University of
party, how the state was run (elections, laws, STASI) or
Wisconsin Press. pp. 50. ISBN 0299154440.
the appalling living conditions in the communist state.
[2] Jenkins, Henry; McPherson, Tara (2002). Hop on pop:
Most consumer goods were either totally lacking or of in-
the politics and pleasures of popular culture. Shattuc,
ferior quality as compared to the West-products.
Jane. Duke University Press. pp. 344.
ISBN 0822327376.
1) http://www.klartextsatire.de/politik/witze-02.htm
A customer asks a sales-assistant in a department http://www.mz-web.de/servlet/ContentServ-
store: er?pagename=ksta/
Excuse me please, where can I find no tights? page&atype=ksArtikel&aid=1257341725043
You’re wrong here, I’m afraid. Here we only have
no washing machines. No tights you’ll find in storey Other references
nb two. Gramm, H.-J., Der Flüsterwitz im Dritten Reich, München
2) (List), 1964. Bos, D. / Hart, M., Humour and Social Protest,
The regime took a way a citizen’s phone. When he Cambridge (CUP), 2008.
asked for the reason they said: You tried to defame
the Stasi! – Me. In which way? - While on the phone,
you repeatedly said , they would eavesdrop on you.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Whisper joke
External links
• http://www.g-geschichte.de/pdf/plus/
fluesterwitze.pdf%7Ctitle=flustervitze%7Caccessdate
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Categories:
• Jokes
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