gawilson@watdaisy.UUCP (Graham Wilson) (02/14/85)
The following joke was taken from 'Hammer and Tickle (Clandestine Laughter
in the Soviet Empire)'.
(Note: Novotny was the dictator (called himself president) of Czechoslovakia
from 1957 to 1968, and practically hated by the entire country).
The entire work force of the Communist countries is subjected to
periodic purges (called verifications in Newspeak). One of the most severe
took place in 1957 when Novotny, rattled by the Hungarian Revolution the
year before, tried hard to weed out radishes (red outside, while inside)
from all but insignificant conditions. Any one of the following would often
result in the loss of one's job: Bourgeois or Jewish family background,
relatives abroad, contacts with former capitalists, having lived in a
Western countryu, insufficient knowledge of Communist literature, and
others.
A man is interviewed by a "Verification Committee."
"What kind of family do you come from?"
"A rich, Jewish family."
"And your wife?"
"A German aristocrat."
"Have you ever been to the West?"
"I spent most of my life in England."
"How did you make a living there?"
"A friend supported me."
"Where did he get the money from?"
"He owned a textile factory."
"Who was Lenin?"
"Never heard of him."
"What is your name?"
"Karl Marx."