Hitler's "joke"

[DiggitCamara]

@panamajack

Like I said, that is only part of the joke (but a key part that had been omitted). And as I pointed out, the laughing actually begins when he repeats ‘independent’, so they’re set up for it. It also explains why Palestine gets one of the biggest laughs.

I don’t see how Roosevelt could have used this response to guess at the magnitude of the war, considering he came up with the long list. All it revealed was that Hitler had little regard for his message, something he was no doubt already aware of.

Actually I’d have to disagree with you on that point. I can’t listen to the message right now (I’m at work), but I didn’t hear any laughter until he Hitler’s already read half the list. And the repetition of the word “unabhängige” seemed not so much an underlining of the word but rather that he misspoke it the first time (try to say “unabhängige” three times fast )

And I see two jokes there: the joke Hitler made to himself and the joke the parliament thought he was making. I think Hitler was making a private joke: “You’re demanding an answer from me? That’s funny. Just try and stop me!”

[panamajack]

@DiggitCamara

Actually I’d have to disagree with you on that point. I can’t listen to the message right now (I’m at work), but I didn’t hear any laughter until he Hitler’s already read half the list. And the repetition of the word “unabhängige” seemed not so much an underlining of the word but rather that he misspoke it the first time (try to say “unabhängige” three times fast )

Try listening again when you can. He clearly stresses the ‘un’ the second time[sup][/sup], and has no trouble pronouncing it the first. The laughter isn’t loud, and doesn’t continue, but you can see some of the people around him start to smile (though it’s a little difficult with YouTube).
[sup][/sup]- if you don’t know German, the word is morphologically similar to ‘independant’; abhängig = dependent and unabhängig = independant.

[Raygun99]

“My dog’s got no nose!”
“How does he smell?”
“Terrible!”

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

[Slithy_Tove]

@Captain Amazing

And here’s a less literal but more understandable translation.

Jesus Christ! That guy must’ve loved the sound of his own voice! You’d need an ass of iron to be able to sit there long enough to listen to all that.

[Peter_Morris]

Would YOU have dared walk out on him, or fall asleep?

[mobo85]

@Raygun99

“My dog’s got no nose!”
“How does he smell?”
“Terrible!”

Two peanuts were walking down the street and one was a salted…peanut.

[Jackmannii]

@Pochacco

But in spring of 1939 I don’t think most world leaders realized how dangerous Hitler had become.

At that time Hitler had no conception of how dangerous an enemy the United States could be.

In particular, he ignored warnings about the massive American war production potential.

At the end, there weren’t too many boffo laughs in the Fuehrer’s bunker.

[DemonSpawn]

The “joke” (and there really isn’t much of a joke here) is simply the length of the list and his delivery of the words in the letter.

The audience start laughing when he says “Poland”, possibly because Poland = rightfully German in their eyes (remember, we are at a Nazi party meeting). The laughter becomes louder towards the end of the list, because he raises his voice for the last 3 or 4 countries, as if they were a punch line.

What does this show: he has is followers under his thumb and could be reading from the phone book for all they care. If his delivery suggests comedy, they will laugh, even if it chokes them.

[Captain_Amazing]

@DemonSpawn

The laughter becomes louder towards the end of the list, because he raises his voice for the last 3 or 4 countries, as if they were a punch line.

And because, as was said, the last three of four countries weren’t independent, which he then goes on to point out, saying,

It is true that there were certain ones among the states and nations mentioned, whom I could not question because they themselves as for example, Syria are at present not in possession of their freedom, but are under occupation by the military agents of democratic states and consequently deprived of their rights.

[The_Hamster_King]

@Jackmannii

At that time Hitler had no conception of how dangerous an enemy the United States could be.

Oh, completely. His declaration of war against the United States after Pearl Harbor was pure folly.

I think William Shirer said something like “Hitler never focused on anything beyond the short-term, so it’s not surprising that he was wildly successful … in the short-term.”

I don’t think he ever considered the long-term strategic implications of his actions. I think that’s one reason that the other major powers had such a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he really was launching a war of conquest. It was a really stupid move, in the long-term, and he only got as far as he did in the short-term because those in a position to oppose him didn’t think he’d actually go through with it.

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

Since our usual mental image of Hitler is of him shouting on a rostrum and gesticulating wildly, it’s a little disconcerting to see him discoursing in a more neutral, easygoing tone of voice, and one begins to understand not only how he won over as many adherents as he did, but also how he was able to convince foreign diplomats he wanted peace, when he really wanted a piece of this country and a piece of that country.

It’s certainly not the world’s deadliest joke, is it?

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

@Jackmannii

At that time Hitler had no conception of how dangerous an enemy the United States could be.

I wonder if he made the same mistake about the British. I expect he thought his armies would just roll into London and take over, the way they had done on the Continent.

Reminds me of a scene from Das Boot, where somebody derides Churchill and Roosevelt as a drunk and a cripple respectively, and someone retorts angrily that they’re putting up a hell of a fight.

[Lemur866]

I don’t believe Hitler thought an invasion of Britain would be easy. I believe he thought they’d see that they’d been kicked off the continent and were being bombed and that while Britain could resist an invasion they had absolutely no hope of offensive operations against Germany. So Germany and Britain would both gladly sign a peace treaty that simply ended the fighting while leaving Germany occupying Europe. And then Germany could get on with their real war aims in the east.

Hitler kicked off Barbarossa because he thought the western war was now essentially over and whether Britain continued the sideshow or sued for peace it didn’t make much difference, they were no longer a threat.