“Whispered Jokes”: “Reibi” (Rabbi) Becomes “Bleibi

Humor is when you laugh anyway. Criticism of particular circumstances and developments is frequently vented through humor, for instance, in cabaret, satire and caricature. Certain forms of irony and certain jokes can be described as the “weapon of the powerless”. Depending on the situation, in which one feels more or less powerless and helpless, they can become extremely sarcastic and cynical.

“Whispered jokes”, which may not be told in public or printed and which can occasionally result in severe sanctions when spread, thrive in unfree societies. Numerous cases of people who spread such jokes surreptitiously being denounced and placed in concentration camps or even executed are documented during the “Third Reich”.

Whispered jokes circulated in church circles as well soon after the Nazis’ assumption of power. Some made reference to circumstances within the church. Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller, popularly known as “Reibi” (rabbi), was especially a target for joke-tellers and caricaturists because of his vanity in conjunction with his somewhat astonishing lack of skills and his authoritarianism.

The so-called “Iron Crescent”, which Müller had been awarded by the German Empire’s ally Turkey while serving as a navy chaplain in World War I and which he wore at public appearances, was much ridiculed. Since the crescent displayed on the medal was associated with Islam, a Christian bishop of all people proudly pinning this symbol on his chest was a source of ridicule.

The medal’s inscription was even said to translate as, “Death to all Christian dogs” – an anti-Islamic commonplace that additionally mocked Müller. Müller’s refusal to step down from his office, even though he actually had been deprived of his power as of 1934, made him a caricature himself.

Whispered jokes with an ecclesiastical and religious background circulated early on and also sometimes made reference to the Nazis’ claim to totality. After all, many Christians felt this was presumptuous and, in fact, an improper and blasphemous religious aggrandizement of human and worldly things.

The introduction of the greeting “Heil Hitler!” in particular was a provocation for many Christians because they saw it as a flagrant contradiction of the familiar Bible verse from Acts (4:12): And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.