a eT ea eT Te I ee eee

|

NL

ARTS -—

ocialism’s secret weapon: humor

Barbara Henniger

0 OV MOTE TL A TOPO

Cleo-Petra Kurze

Hans-Joachim Eggstein

‘Monument to the unknown worker’

The East Germans have a secret weapon. It targets the world,
its effect is immediate and devastating, there is no warning,
there is no place to hide. The secret weapon is humor.

In Berlin, I visited the offices of ‘‘Eulenspiegel’’, the GDR’s
weekly satirical magazine, and met with cartoonist Henryk
Berg. Through a haze of good food and good beer, I was able to
discern that humor serves a social, as well as a lyrical function,
under socialism. It attacks the enemies of peace — fascism and
imperialism.

But what I found interesting was that they also take a crack at
foul-ups under socialism.

‘‘Eulenspiegel’’ took a shot at a factory director who brow-
beat a local mayor to let him build a rather sumptuous cottage on
park land. Result: cottage torn down. There was an inquiry into
how the guy got the building supplies. Result: factory director
now enjoying his new job in the factory cafeteria. Not bad action
for a satirical mag.

The cartoonists also target pride, pomposity, pollution and
pettiness. When they run out of P’s, they target shoddy sales
goods, sloth and selfishness.

Best of all, they get 300 marks a month from the state, and
freelance on top of it.

Here’s a spread of some of their work.

— Mike Constable

Montag : Dienstag

Mittwoch

Henry Buttner

Lothar Otto

=

6 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JULY 24, 1985