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"Stalin taught people to stop eating" |
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Stalin
(1879–1953)
starred in jokes by virtue of his murderousness, and
the jokes about him were told in a strong Georgian
accent. His cult of personality and the harsh
shortages that prevailed in his time were reflected
in humor.
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"Our Herbert Hoover taught people to stop
drinking," boasts an American.
"Big deal," answers the Russian. "Stalin taught
people to stop eating."
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Many jokes about Stalin are of morose, dark humour
dealing with his cruelty.
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"Comrade Stalin! This man is your exact
double!"
"Shoot him!"
"Maybe we should shave
off his moustache?"
"Good idea! Shave it off
and then shoot him!".
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Stalin reads his report to the Party
Congress. Suddenly someone sneezes.
"Who
sneezed?" (Silence.)
"First row! On your feet!
Shoot them!" (Applause.)
"Who sneezed?"
(Silence.) "Second row! On your feet! Shoot
them!" (Long, loud applause.)
"Who sneezed?"
(Silence.) ...
A dejected voice in the back: "It
was me" (Sobs.)
Stalin leans forward: "Bless
you, comrade!"
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Most of the jokes about Stalin
were told in retrospect, after his death and after
his successor Nikita Khrushchev condemned his crimes
and the cult of personality around him and marked
the start of the period of liberalization.
Quite a few jokes related to the confusion
introduced by the "thaw" into the public's attitude
toward the leaders:
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"Grandma, was Lenin good?" asks the grandson.
"Of course, grandson, he was good," replies the
grandmother.
"And Stalin, grandma, was bad?" asks the grandson.
"Bad, of course," replies the grandmother.
"And Khruschev, grandma, what's he?" asks the
grandson.
"When he dies, we'll know," replies the
grandmother.
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Stalin jokes posed an
obvious problem with the idea that communist jokes represented an
act of revolt: it wasn't just opponents of the regime who told them.
Stalin himself cracked them, including this one about a visit from a
Georgian delegation:
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They come, they talk
to Stalin, and then they go, heading off down the Kremlin's
corridors. Stalin starts looking for his pipe. He can't find it.
He calls in Beria, the dreaded head of his secret police.
"Go after the delegation,
and find out which one took my pipe," he says.
Beria scuttles off down
the corridor.
Five minutes later Stalin
finds his pipe under a pile of papers. He calls Beria:
"Look, I've found my
pipe."
"It's too late," Beria
says, "half the delegation admitted they took your pipe, and the
other half died during questioning."
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Related reading &
slideshows:
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JOKES |
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