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Humor that served as an "escape" during the Stalin era

Humor that served as an "escape" during the Stalin era

"Stalinism"! This word can evoke many sensations, but obviously gallata is not one of them. The Stalin regime has become synonymous with a totalitarian, violent state that does not tolerate any manifestation of resistance or opposition. However, the diaries, memoirs, and archives of the Russian state itself show that even in the darkest conditions, jokes about the regime and its miserable life abounded among the Soviet people.

Political humor had become a national "sport" in Russia in the 1980s, and US President Ronald Reagan loved it and collected it.

A new book written by Jonathan Waterlow (It's Only a Joke, Comrade! Humor, Trust and Everyday Life under Stalin- untranslated) summarizes these humorous moments and sayings. In it can be found many such as: “One day Stalin was swimming and started drowning. A villager passing by saw him and jumped into the water to save him. After coming ashore, Stalin thanked him and told him to ask for what he wanted in the form of a reward. When the villager realized who he had saved, he said: "I do not want anything, just please do not tell the man that I saved you."

This seemingly normal joke sent Boris Orman to 10 years in prison and forced labor. However, the apparent repression - as documented in Waterlow's book - did not discourage people from creating humorous stories about the regime and its protagonists.

Another story told by an industry worker: "I went to the boss and asked him what the 5-year development plan was. He told me: Do you see those 5 trams? They will become 100 in 5 years ... then I left upset ... because I found out that those 5 graves there will become 100 ".

This is because humor was not simply a way of resisting or opposing the system, but a method of escaping painful reality and at least temporarily turning it into a ridiculous absurdity that should not be taken too seriously.

Evidence from the Soviet era shows that even in the darkest times humor can be a tool that may not allow us to change the circumstances of our lives, but it may perhaps allow us to have it easier to deal with.

Adapted from "Aeon-Psyche" / tiranapost.al