And then Monty Python took care of the rest.
No, many were repatriated to the US under Operation Seltzer Bottle (the lesser-known brother of Operation paperclip). Including nearly the entire cast of Hogan’s Heroes.
There was a line to that effect on The West Wing once.
In Auto Focus, a pretty good film about Bob Crane’s career, an outraged Jewish network exec passes on Hogan’s Heroes, asking sarcastically, “Oh, you mean your show will be about the funny Nazis?”
Robin Williams - Comedy in Germany
(at 0:25)
My brother lived in Germany (for work) for a few years. I sent him a text suggesting he go out for pizza and ask the counter guy if he could see the ovens. He showed my texts to a coworker, who laughed.
There are several records of people being executed for anti-Hitler jokes during the period.
LPs or 45s?
Seriously: In Germany, you could get a suspended jail sentence for such a joke.
Before the Pythons agreed to do the German specials they were brought there and wined & dined by the German TV producers. While touring the country the Pythons wanted to visit Auschwitz (not as a joke, just for historical curiosity). Unfortunately they arrived at the site late and it had closed and they were told they wouldn’t be let in. Graham Chapman, being wonderfully twisted and macabre, shouted, “Tell them we’re Jewish!”. And they let them in…
That would be suppenmeisterkontrollergeweistwurstschraftengeburger. I hear it’s a hoot when spoken in a Bavarian accent.
I laughed.
No, you are mistaken. Could not have been in Germany. Auschwitz is in Poland.
Germany censors swastikas don’t they? I remember there was some issues about the game series Wolfenstein being available in Germany, either it wasn’t allowed or all of the swastikas were removed or something like that.
You can’t buy a model airplane with swastika decals either. On the kit boxes, the swastikas are always blocked out.
Any of my fellow Dopers remember the Python skit about using the funniest joke in the world, translated into German, that would cause the Nazi troops to succumb to uncontrollable laughter? Perhaps some kind-hearted soul here can find and post it, since I am unable to? Danke!
I believe it was Dachau.
I think (no link) that it ends up that the joke is “My dog has no nose!” “How does it smell?” “Terrible!”
That was the German attempt to reverse-engineer the joke. The English joke was never revealed, and the German “translation” (weaponized by the British) was gibberish.
The Germans also came up with “Two peanuts were walking down the street, and one was a salted … peanut. Heil Hitler!”
Here is the sketch, courtesy of YouTube:
