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.66.For a detailed description of Schwerte s unmasking, see Ungeahntes Erbe: DerFall Schneider/Schwerte: Persilschein für eine Lebenslüge: Eine Dokumentation,ed.Antirassismus-Referat der Studentischen Versammlung an der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnbert (Aschaffenburg, 1998) andJ.Lerchenmueller and G.Simon, Masken-Wechsel: Wie der SS-HauptsturmführerSchneider zum BRD-Hochschulrektor Schwerte wurde und andere Geschichten überdie Wendigkeit deutscher Wissenschaft im 20.Jahrhundert (Tübingen, 1999).67.C.Leggewie, Von Schneider zu Schwerte: Das ungewöhnliche Leben eines Mannes,der aus der Geschichte lernen wollte (Munich, 1998), 228 241.6 German Humour in Books:The Attractiveness and PoliticalSignificance of Laughterduring the Nazi EraPatrick Merziger(translated by Wayne Yung)Cultural products triggering laughter, that most conspicuous expressionof pleasure, were a central component of popular entertainment dur-ing the Nazi era.After falling under National Socialist control in 1933,the media initially became dominated by a  sanctified earnestness and heroic pathos that was further intensified by an over-eager obedienceon the part of writers and producers.1 However, the public s desire forpleasure, especially for laughter, could not be ignored for very long.Public interest groups called for  more humour , asserting that laughterwas healthy and should also have a place in Nazi society.2 Such accusa-tions of excessive solemnity soon prompted National Socialist propa-gandists to declare  We re not like that at all ,3 and from 1935 onwardsthe media was dominated once again by comedic formats.Looking atthe volume of comedic products on the market during the Nazi years,it seems the audience was laughing more than ever.4 This chapter willexamine popular laughter of the Nazi era, analysing the reasons for itsattractiveness as well as its significance within the National Socialiststate.The idea that anyone laughed at all during the Nazi era stands in starkcontrast to the widespread image of the  gloomy years from 1933 to1945.According to popular accounts, this humourless regime subdued the Germans and stifled all pleasure.In its place there prevailed a  bes-tial seriousness 5 in which laughter itself could even prove fatal.6 Thisimage of a time without laughter arises from an overall impression thatunder National Socialism propaganda was the sole arbiter of the media107108 Patrick Merzigerand thus of the public sphere in general.Peter Longerich summarizedthis view thus: the public arena under National Socialism was  the echochamber for [National Socialist] propaganda., the space for reproduc-ing the guiding principles and interpretive frameworks propagated bythe regime, and an arena for the demonstration of enthusiastic agree-ment with the regime s policies.7 In the context of such a controlledand predetermined National Socialist public sphere, it would seem thatonly informal and potentially resistant counter-public spheres werepossible.This image of a politically controlled public sphere is often repeatedin analyses of the comedic.Satire, especially in the form of caricature, isgenerally considered the classic genre of the National Socialist regime.Here, satire is seen as a way to communicate political ideas in a popularand humorous fashion.The flipside was the so-called Flüsterwitz ( whis-pered joke ), through which the populace would then vent their feelings,thereby expressing opposition to National Socialism.However, thesetwo genres will play no part in the present chapter: although satire andthe  whispered joke were certainly comic forms of the Nazi era, theyplayed only a secondary role in the laughter of National Socialism.This impression that satire was the main form of National Socialisthumour survives to the present day, because studies examining satiregenerally end with the year 1934.Apparently nothing would changeafter this point because the National Socialists now had comprehensivecontrol of all media, allowing them to impose their propaganda satires.8Some authors bolster these claims with statements from Nazi culturalpolicymakers who promoted satire as National Socialism s comedic spe-ciality; however, this begs the question of whether the genre actuallysold well.9 In fact, despite the persistent promotion of satire as a propa-ganda tool, it was clear that this comic form was rapidly losing impact.To mention just one example of this lack of popularity: in 1931, theNazi Party put great effort into establishing the Brennessel ( StingingNettle ) as an exemplary satirical magazine, but already in 1938, it hadto be discontinued due to low readership.Conversely, the alleged ubiquity of the  whispered joke is a myth thatonly emerged with the publication of several anthologies during thepost-war era, and that helped to reinforce a certain political agenda.Bypublishing such political jokes, the editors of these anthologies wantedto prove that  the Germans had been not the least bit supportive ofthe Nazi regime.10 In most cases, the sources for these anthologies wereeither unclear or at least unverified; in some cases, the editors admit-ted having compiled these jokes only after 1945.11 When the anthology German Humour in Books 109editors did describe the selection criteria for these jokes, it becameclear that they only printed those which could be understood as criti-cal of the regime.12 Therefore, these publications had little in commonwith the real-life practice of telling jokes.13 Later years saw the publica-tion of many new compilations based on these first few anthologies,14so that the sheer number of  whispered joke titles came to reinforce theimpression that this resistant form of humour was widespread duringthe National Socialist period.15Even when serious consideration is given to popular comedy as itactually existed during the Nazi era, the humour on display is oftenregarded as apparently harmless and insignificant.16 At most, research-ers have considered these entertainment products as a way for Nazipropagandists to lull the populace so that they would be more readyto fight for National Socialism [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]