Livny hB-1_hB.qxd 31/03/2017 22:40 Page 1 H I s Dr. Liat Steir-Livny is Assistant o Holocaust humour, satire, and parody are This is the first book that suggests a comprehensive analysis of a l i sensitive and complex issues. For many Professor in the Department of o complex and sensitive subject – contemporary Holocaust humour t c years, Israeli culture recoiled from dealing Culture, Sapir Academic College, a in Israel – and does it in an innovative and intriguing way that adds O Israel. She is a tutor and course u with the Holocaust from a humorous or s K Is it OK satirical perspective. The perception was to our understanding of the transgenerational transfer of the trauma t coordinator in the MA program that a humorous approach might threaten H to the younger generations. in Cultural Studies and i n t the sanctity of its memory, or evoke feel - u o the Department of Literature, m ings of disrespect towards the subject and Nurith Gertz , Professor Emerita, The Open University L Language and the Arts, and she is o hurt Holocaust survivors' feelings. Official and Sapir Academic College u a to Laugh About it? agents of Holocaust memory continue to also the academic coordinator r u , follow this approach. But, from the of the MA program in Cultural S g 1990s, a new unofficial path of commem - Studies, the Open University, a h t oration has been taking shape. Texts that i Israel. Her books and arti cles r combine the Holocaust with humour are a A e analyse Israeli collective memory major aspect of it, but this remains contro - a Books of Related Interest b and popular culture. Her research n versial. Often, Holocaust humour is per - o focuses on the changing memory d ceived as part of a dangerous process that u of the Holocaust in Israeli popular In the Shadows of Memory P normalizes Nazism and Hitler. t a culture: cinema, TV, digital social The Holocaust and the Third Generation r In opposition to these ideas, Steir- i o t Livny claims that in Israel, a unique post- networks, theatre an d literature. d Edited by Esther Jilovsky, Jordana Silverstein and David Slucki ? y traumatic society where the trauma lives Her first book was Two Faces in i as an integral part of the present, the Mirror: The Representation n Personal Engagement and the Study of the Holocaust Holocaust humour in Hebrew functions I of Holocau st Survivors in Israeli s as an important defence mechanism. The Edited by Noah Benninga and Katrin Stoll r Cinema (Magnes Press, Eshkolot a book argues that Holocaust humour, e series, 2009) and her second l satire, and parody rebel against the way i this trauma affects Israeli society in the book was Let the Memory Hill A National Home for the Jewish People C present by challenging and deconstructing Remember: Holocaust Represent- The Concept in British Political Thinking and Policy Making u l the fear. The book shows that paradoxi - ations in Israeli Popular Culture t 1917–1923 u cally, Holocaust humour also strengthens (Resling Press, 2014). r Dvorah Barzilay-Yegar e the dominance of the trauma in the pres - ent by inserting it even more into every - day life and popular culture. Thus, Hebrew Women Join the Forces Holocaust humour, satire, and parody in Jewish Women from Palestine in the British Forces During L Israel are a double-edged sword: on the Jacket design by Boaz Albert i one hand, they function as an attempt to the Second World War a fight the acting out of the trauma in Israeli Anat Granit-Hacohen t society but, on the other, they strengthen S certain elements of it. This is a contradic - t tory process of dissociation and assimila - e i tion occurring at the same time, which r - Holocaust Humour, Satire attests to the dominance of the trauma in L the Jewish-Israelis' identity. i This is the first comprehensive v research on contemporary Holocaust n and Parody in Israeli Culture ISBN 978 1 910383 35 3 humour in Israel. The innovative y VALLENTINE MITCHELL and intriguing analysis challenges the Catalyst House 920 NE 58th Avenue borders of Holocaust research and 720 Centennial Court Suite 300 commemoration. Centennial Park Portland, OR 97213-3786 Elstree WD6 3SY, UK USA VALLENTINE MITchELL www.vmbooks.com VALLENTINE MITCHELL Liat Steir-Livny ISBN 978 1 910383 35 3 Steir-Livny_V6_Layout 1 4/5/2017 7:40 AM Page 1 IS IT OK TO LAUGH ABOUT IT? Steir-Livny_V6_Layout 1 4/5/2017 7:40 AM Page 2 This research was supported by The Open University of Israel Research Fund Language Editor: Jean Vermel Steir-Livny_V6_Layout 1 4/5/2017 7:40 AM Page 3 Is it OK to Laugh About It? Holocaust Humour, Satire and Parody in Israeli Culture Liat Steir-Livny VALLENTINE MITCHELL LONDON • PORTLAND, OR Prelims2_Layout 1 4/5/2017 7:45 AM Page 4 First published in 2017 by Vallentine Mitchell Catalyst House, 920 NE 58th Avenue, Suite 300 720 Centennial Court, Portland, Oregon Centennial Park, Elstree WD6 3SY, UK 97213-3786 USA www.vmbooks.com Copyright © 2017 Liat Steir-Livny British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: An entry can be found on request ISBN 978 1 910383 35 3 (Cloth) ISBN 978 1 910383 36 0 (Ebook) Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data: An entry can be found on request All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, reading or otherwise, without the prior permission of Vallentine Mitchell & Co. Ltd. Printed by Clays Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk Steir-Livny_V6_Layout 1 4/5/2017 7:40 AM Page 5 Contents Preface 7 PART 1. Introduction 13 1. Jewish and Israeli Humour 15 2. Holocaust Humour: From Taboo to Debate in the Western World 22 3. Holocaust Awareness and Holocaust Humour in Israel 35 PART 2. Holocaust Humour, Satire and Parody in Israeli Culture 51 4. Laughter through Pain: the Intergenerational Transmission of the Holocaust 53 5. Black Humour in Alternative Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremonies in Israel 79 6. Satirizing the Instrumentalization and Commercialization of the Holocaust 97 7. Holocaust Satire and Parody as Political and Social Protest 114 8. Holocaust Humour from the Perspective of the Ethnic Conflict 133 9. The Downfall of the Führer: Lampooning Hitler’s Image 149 10. Holocaust Jokes in Contemporary Israeli Websites: Characters and Developments 170 Steir-Livny_V6_Layout 1 4/5/2017 7:40 AM Page 6 6 Is it OK to Laugh About It? Conclusions 184 Bibliography 189 Index 205 Steir-Livny_V6_Layout 1 4/5/2017 7:40 AM Page 7 Preface Holocaust humour, satire and parody deal with issues and matters that are connected to the Holocaust: Hitler, Nazism, Holocaust, Holocaust memory, Holocaust survivors and their offspring, and are very sensitive and complex issues. For many years, Israeli culture recoiled from dealing with the Holocaust from these perspectives. The perception was that a humourous approach to the Holocaust might threaten the sanctity of its memory, or evoke feelings of disrespect towards the subject and hurt survivors’ feelings. Official agents of Holocaust memory continue to follow this approach, but from the 1990s, a new unofficial path of memory began taking shape in tandem. It is an alternative and subversive path that seeks to remember, albeit differently. Texts that combine the Holocaust with humour, satire and parody are a major aspect of this new memory. This book focuses on the new humouristic, satiric and parodic representations of the Holocaust in Israeli culture.1 It analyzes alternative ceremonies, films, TV shows, art, books, poetry, jokes and internet videos and memes. The book explores these new cultural expressions of the Holocaust through theories of humour, and of individual and collective post- trauma. Often, the public debate as well as the academic debate regarding Holocaust humour, satire or parody in the western world and in Israel claim that Holocaust humour is part of a dangerous historical, social and cultural process that normalizes Nazism and Hitler. Holocaust humour still often provokes anger and is considered as cheapening the trauma and degrading the pain of the survivors. Those who use Holocaust humour often receive complaints and are subject to invectives because of what is considered, by many, an inappropriate approach to the memorialization of the Holocaust.2 This book claims that the perception of Holocaust humour as dangerous is an arguable point when dealing with Holocaust commemoration in the world.3 However, since Israel is a unique sphere of Holocaust awareness,4 Holocaust humour of Jewish-Israelis has particular legitimate functions. In Israel, a post-traumatic society, whose problematic security situation Steir-Livny_V6_Layout 1 4/5/2017 7:40 AM Page 8 8 Is it OK to Laugh About It? strengthens constant anxiety, and where canonic memory agents increase the acting out of the trauma and encourage unending victimization, Holocaust humour is a much-needed defence mechanism. It is the way for some of the second and third generation Holocaust survivors to work against the victimization, to protect the individual and collective soul, even briefly, to protest against the blend of the past in the present, and to dismantle the factors of fear. In that sense, Holocaust humour in Israel also reflects two additional major functions: a vent for frustration; and a mechanism for social cohesion.5 Moreover, the book will claim that Holocaust humour, satire and parody which rebel against the way Israeli society lives the trauma in the present by deconstructing the fear factor, paradoxically, unknowingly (and probably unwillingly) simultaneously strengthen, in other ways, the dominance of the trauma in the present by inserting it even more into everyday life and popular culture.