Thread by @Paperclip_In

Humour finds a way even in the most difficult of times. It survived under the nose of Nazi police, across prisons, ghettoes and concentration camps. A short thread on ‘Whisper Jokes’ that once challenged the Third Order. (1/10)
(Illustration by Lucas Varela)

Under the Nazi Germany government from 1933 to 1945, Hitler had controlled almost every aspect of life in Germany. In 1934, the new Nazi government enacted a law that essentially termed telling and listening to any anti-Nazi joke as an act of treason. (2/10)

Between ‘33 and ‘45, 5000 death sentences were executed, a chunk of them for anti-Nazi humour. Regulations like Gleichschaltung and Reichskulturkammer were formed to control the work of all artists – including comedians. (3/10)

But Humor survived. The jokes, often expressed with a touch of hope, voiced criticism against the totalitarian regime. The jokes bloomed into a secret token of non-conformity, a form of resistance and a survival method. (4/10)

Thus whisper jokes were born. They were the kind of jokes that was told in secret in Nazi Germany that criticized Hitler's regime. They are often short, dry and cannot be told in public - a veiled manner to tell the truth about the political situation. (5/10)

They demonstrated that not all Germans succumbed to Nazi propaganda, and, by addressing topics like Nazi concentration camps, they also reveal public awareness of the horror.
We have compiled a few of the best ones. (6/10)

“How was life at the concentration camp?”
- “Oh! It was lavish.”
“But the other man told me a different story”
- “yeah! That’s why they picked him up again.” (7/10)

Hitler visits a lunatic asylum.
The patients give the Hitler salute. As he passes down the line he noticed a man not saluting.
“Why aren’t you saluting like the others”, Hitler barks.
“I’m the Doctor, not a lunatic”, comes the answer. (8/10)

Hitler and his chauffeur take a drive in the countryside. They drive over a pig.
The chauffeur went to face the farmers but came back with a basketful of gifts.
“What did you tell the farmer?”, Hitler was shocked.
“I just said, ‘Heil Hitler, the pig is dead!’ (9/10)

Whisper jokes most certainly didn’t make any real dent into the Nazi system but the laughter could make one go during the cruelest times and in the most devilish places. The joke is on Hitler, and it is damn funny. (10/10)