Article:
Telling Holocaust Jokes on German Public Television: The German-Israeli Comedian Shahak Shapira and His Satirical Show on Jews, Antisemites and the Rest

Author(s): Langer, Armin

Abstract

Since 2015, Israeli-born German artist Shahak Shapira has initiated several satirical campaigns targeting antisemitism and racism in Germany and the country’s relation to the Holocaust. These interventions set Shapira’s career in motion, and in 2019 he landed a slot on the ZDF public broadcasting channel for the talk show Shapira Shapira. The show mocked antisemitism and far-right movements in Germany and reminded the viewers of the country’s history with Jews. His jokes about concentration camps and their contemporary perceptions proved to be especially effective. This article shows how Shahak Shapira and his show challenged the official narratives about Jews, antisemitism and the Holocaust. It argues that Shapira’s jokes might empower Jews and foster Holocaust awareness among the general public in Germany.

Download icon

Published in:

Preferred Citation
BibTex
Langer, Armin: Telling Holocaust Jokes on German Public Television: The German-Israeli Comedian Shahak Shapira and His Satirical Show on Jews, Antisemites and the Rest. In: VIEW. Journal of European Television History and Culture, Jg. 10 (2021), Nr. 20, S. 7-17. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/18964.
@ARTICLE{Langer2021,
 author = {Langer, Armin},
 title = {Telling Holocaust Jokes on German Public Television: The German-Israeli Comedian Shahak Shapira and His Satirical Show on Jews, Antisemites and the Rest},
 year = 2021,
 doi = "\url{http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/18964}",
 volume = 10,
 address = {Hilversum},
 journal = {VIEW. Journal of European Television History and Culture},
 number = 20,
 pages = {7--17},
}
Keywords
license icon

As long as there is no further specification, the item is under the following license: Creative Commons - Namensnennung - Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen