On Joseph Stalin’s birthday, we thought of compiling our favourite urban legends and slices of underground humour known as ‘anekdot’ that bloomed through Stalin’s regime. As Orwell once wrote, "every joke is a tiny revolution" (1/n) 
#1 A Russian rabbit flees to Poland and meets a Polish hare. ‘Why are you running?’ asks the hare. ‘Stalin has just ordered the arrest of all elephants.’ ‘But you are not an elephant,’ the Pole points out, ‘you’re a rabbit.’ (2/n)
‘I know,’ the rabbit replies, ‘but I can’t prove it!’ (3/n)
#2 Stalin was out swimming, but he began to drown. A peasant who was passing by jumped in and pulled him safely to shore. Stalin asked the peasant what he would like as a reward (4/n)
Realising whom he had saved, the peasant cried out: “Nothing! Just please don’t tell anyone I saved you!” (5/n)
#3 Joseph Stalin was once on a school inspection. He asked one of the students "Do you know who killed Mahatma Gandhi?" Trembling, the student finally said, "Wasn't me sir." (6/n)
Stalin was most unhappy with the standard of education in public schools and ordered an enquiry. The KGB chief reported to him less than 24 hours later, "Good news sir! He has confessed" ~ Perils of authoritarianism! (7/n)
#4 One of the modern favourites: Stalin’s ghost appears to Putin in a dream, and Putin asks for his help running the country. Stalin says, ‘Round up and shoot all the democrats, and then paint the inside of the Kremlin blue.’ (8/n)
‘Why blue?’ Putin asks. ‘Ha!’ says Stalin, ‘I knew you wouldn’t ask me about the first part (9/n)
#5 There is another urban legend - once Stalin was going somewhere in his convoy, he wanted to watch a movie as his convoy broke down. He entered the theatre in the dark and started enjoying the movie (10/n)
During the interval, he suddenly realized all the other audiences are approaching him and hurling abuses (11/n)
It was because Stalin had made a rule that everyone in movie theatre needs to stand up in interval and salute Stalin’s photo. He was victimized by his own rule (12/n)
#6 One more and this is our favourite. Stalin, at the height of his power, took his mother to show her his dacha in Odessa. His mother was amazed. Her little Soso, how far he had come from those poverty-ridden days in Gori (13/n)
As they were leaving and getting into the state car, she whispered to Stalin "All this is so nice, do not let those awful Communists get wind of it, else they will take it all away!!" (14/n)
Share your favourite one! (15/n)
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