Thread by @suchitrav

When the state regulates humor: a look back at history, we realize that dystopias are not imagined futures on the verge of realization. But the record of what has been, what needs to be excavated and remembered.

Below a thread on how the Third Reich “regulated” humor.

In 1934, the Nazi state passed a “Law Against Treacherous Attacks on the State and Party and for the Protection of the Party Uniform,” — “which made laughing and telling jokes about the regime a capital offense.”

It remade the Gleichschaltung (Synchronization) regulations, “which, among other things, brought popular forms of entertainment and humor under the control of the Ministry of Propaganda and People’s Enlightenment.”

“A Chamber of Culture (Reichskulturkammer) was established to control the work of all creative artists – including comedians – to ensure they promoted the ideology of the Party.”

Quoting from the thesis: The Joke is on Hitler: A Study of Humour under Nazi Rule By Chantelle deMontmorency.

The thesis argues: “For “Aryan” Germans who did not otherwise oppose the regime, it was not necessary to rely on humour as a form of resistance. It provided some relief, but ultimately served the regime as people continued to cooperate.”

“It was only people who were otherwise targets of oppression who faced prosecution for humour about the regime, such as cabaret performers. For them, humour was more critical towards the regime and took on a more resistant function.”

“In the absence of other forms of power, humour provided a means of cultural resistance for Jewish people, allowing them to defy the wills of the Nazis who tried to dehumanize them and take their voices.”

What was the Nazi response to political humour? “ this type of humour was illegal, joke tellers who were denounced and brought to the People’s Court...Capital punishments were rarely handed out to “Aryan” Germans who otherwise supported the regime.”

A chilling line: “Rather, the people who received death sentences for telling jokes were those who were already in conflict with the regime, and the joke only provided the means to persecute them under the law.”

“For Jewish Germans, humor did act as a form of resistance.”
“The Nazis fought to dehumanize Jews and take away their power. Under this persecution, laughter provided a means to symbolically gain some of this power back.”