Jokes, Mittel-Europa edition

Yesterday, we asked for jokes that moved beyond the bounds of Brezhnev’s Russia. And so you gave us … Hungary. From reader Nicholas19, one from a land whose very name is a pun: One day, all the leading politicians in Hungary are going on a trip by bus, when the bus crashes into a ditch ...

AXEL SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images
AXEL SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images
AXEL SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images

Yesterday, we asked for jokes that moved beyond the bounds of Brezhnev's Russia. And so you gave us ... Hungary.

Yesterday, we asked for jokes that moved beyond the bounds of Brezhnev’s Russia. And so you gave us … Hungary.

From reader Nicholas19, one from a land whose very name is a pun:

One day, all the leading politicians in Hungary are going on a trip by bus, when the bus crashes into a ditch near a farm. The next day the police arrive to question the farmer.
"Where are the politicians?" the policeman asks.
Says the farmer, "I buried them all."
"Were they dead?"

"Well, some of them claimed to be alive, but I don’t believe a word they say!"

And from Holland, from reader Dolf, who explains helpfully: "True, this joke is funnier if you’re Dutch. The fourth of May is Remembrance Day, the fifth of May is Liberation Day."

A German walks into a bar in Holland and says to the barkeeper: "It sure is quiet today."

"Well," says the barkeeper, "that’s because today is the 4th of May."

"So what is it about the 4th of May?" asks the German.

Says the barkeeper: "On this day we remember the hundreds of thousands of deaths due to the Second World War."

The German:"Hundreds of thousands? Man, we had millions of deaths in that war!"

"Right" says the barkeeper, "but that, we celebrate tomorrow."

Tomorrow — Bulgaria? Estonia? We can’t wait — but please, continue to send.

Britt Peterson is a contributing editor and columnist for Washingtonian magazine, as well as a freelancer for the New York Times Book Review, Slate, and Elle. Previously, she was an editor at Foreign Policy, where she oversaw the magazine’s culture section. Twitter: @brittkpeterson
Tags: EU, Europe

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