The New York Times reported in 1939 that Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels terminated the careers of five prominent German comedians. Their crime? Making political jokes about the Nazi regime. Werner Finck, Peter Sachse, and "The Three Rulands" were expelled from the Reich's Chamber of Culture for displaying "a lack of any positive attitude toward National Socialism."

The comedians had dared to joke about Hitler's building programs, the Four-Year Plan, and even mimicked the physical mannerisms of Nazi leaders. Goebbels publicly denounced them as "brazen, impertinent, arrogant and tactless" while simultaneously attacking their audiences as "parasitic scum" who applauded their performances.

This historical episode reveals the authoritarian playbook against satirists: official condem

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