Kreml i Narod: Politicheskie Anekdoty (The Kremlin and People: Political Jokes)
Munich: [S. Sliusarchuk], 1951. Olin, N. Original pictorial wrappers. Item #331
Dimensions: 14 x 10 cm. 134 pages. Text in Russian. Cover design by N. Olin. The wrappers and text block are soiled, worn, and chipped but still in decent condition for a book that was meant to be heavily used.
This collection comprises all the political jokes from the Soviet sphere which the author was able to acquire (over 380). They are associated with all strata of society and every aspect of life under the Soviets. Their form ranges from the crude joke of a laborer to refined wisecracks of the intellectuals. Their content is practically always anti-Soviet, an excellent indication of the real frame of mind of people under Stalin. For disseminating these jokes innumerable people have been arrested and sent to camps by the secret police. The usual sentence for "anekdotchiki" [anecdote-tellers] has been five years.
This book was published by the Russian refugees and printed in a very small run to be distributed in post-war Germany's Displaced Persons (DP) camps. Due to difficult circumstances in those camps, including a lack of resources and military censorship, such publications are a testament to the resilience and determination of the displaced persons community during this challenging time in history.
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