Dead Funny: Humor in Hitler's Germany

Herzog, Rudolph

ISBN 10: 1935554301 / ISBN 13: 9781935554301

Published by Melville House, 2011

About this Item

Mar 2011 hardcover stated 1st Melville House printing with full number line (1st English language edition) flatsigned by the author on the title page . Light tanning, surface scratches and a hint of denting on dj, else fine .

Seller Inventory # ABE-1644354283648

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Dead Funny: Humor in Hitler's Germany
• Publisher: Melville House
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1935554301
• ISBN 13: 9781935554301
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

As a director, Rudolph Herzog is best known for the crime series The Heist, which aired on Channel 4 (U.K.) and was called “riveting” byThe Daily Telegraph. His documentary on humor in the Third Reich, Laughing With Hitler, scored top audience ratings on German Channel 1 and was also broadcast in English translation on the BBC. The son of the celebrated filmmaker Werner Herzog, he lives in Berlin.

Jefferson Chase is one of the foremost translators of German history. He has translated Wolfgang Scivelbusch, Thomas Mann and Gotz Aly, among many others.