Jokes from Berlin Wall
London: Telling jokes was said to a risky business for East Germany's citizens. But West Germany's spies collected and filed spoofs popular on the other side of Berlin Wall to gauge the level of discontent, declassified documents have revealed.
Files released this week have revealed the jokes were collected from letters steamed open by agents, from spies on the ground and wiretapped phone calls. In fact, the gags were scrupulously collected, filed and dispatched to Bonn, much to the delight of civil servants, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.
"It was our biggest hit among our superiors. The Chancellery and the ministries couldn't wait for the file to have a laugh at those on the other side," one unnamed BND spy said, adding the jokes gave valuable insights into the way East Germans were thinking about their government.
Among the jokes recorded in the files were: Did East Germans originate from apes? Impossible. Apes could never have survived on just two bananas a year.
What would happen if the desert became communist? Nothing for a while – and then there would be a sand shortage!
Joke reports prepared for the BND leadership and its political masters always contained analysis of the situation behind the Iron Curtain.
One report read: "The GDR leadership believes the population is resilient and ready to make sacrifices but it is prepared to take tough action if necessary to prevent 'Polish
conditions'."
In East Germany, the Stasi secret police turned one third of the country's 17 million citizens into informers for the state. Thousands lost jobs, families and sometimes even their liberty for poking fun at the worker's paradise.
Bureau Report