Comment Re:Ruling doesn't affect Internet blocking (Score 1) 316
One might guess similar jokes have circulated concerning other dictatorships over the years.
I'm going to loose my mod points over this, but one of my interests happens to be Eastern Block humor. (Especially the Polish Eastern bloc joke about the Bank of Moscow)
Many jokes of that time period and area were always word of mouth (for obvious reasons) and many jokes ended up being reworded for the leaders and country it involved. Since there was no official publication of the jokes (as that would be treasonous) no one knew that they were copying each other until the after the 1990's.
example
Honecker and Mielke are discussing their hobbies. (both historical persons in charge of the Stasi in East German)
Honecker: "I collect all the jokes about me that are in circulation."
Mielke: "Then we have almost the same hobby. I collect those who bring the jokes into circulation."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_German_jokes
And then the Russian version:
"Comrade Brezhnev, is it true that you collect political jokes?" â" "Yes" â" "And how many have you collected so far?" â" "Three and a half labor camps."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_political_jokes
So the OP is most likley right in that he heard an East German version as you hearing a Russian version seperatley.