As 1982 faded and 1983 approached, Dutch radio listeners were treated to 90 minutes of Jewish jokes, told by well known American Jewish comedians, dubbed into Dutch, complete with the Yiddish accent that seems to define that type of humor.
The producer of this cream cheese-and-lox flavored Edam was Nico Hammelburg, whose programs specialize in the humor of ethnic minorities in The Netherlands — Turks, Moroccans, Guyanese or whatever. Hammelburg, who Is Jewish, takes his subject seriously.
The jokes were delivered by such international favorites as Myron Cohn, Robert Klein, David Steinberg, Rodney Dangerfield and Woody Allen. Distinctions were made between comics who were the rage in the “borscht belt” and those who made it big in Hollywood, Las Vegas and the TV talk shows. In most cases, they are the some person.
Hammelburg left nothing to chance. A special segment dealt with the prototypical “Jewish Mother.” And let it not be said that Dutch broadcasting lags behind its American counterpart for in-depth analysis. A Jewish psychiatrist, Dr. Samuel Janice, was on hand to explain how and why American Jewish comics tick.
Dr. Janice might have pondered whether the program’s effect on its overwhelmingly non-Jewish audience might not have confirmed long held stereotypes about Jews. As for Jews, a generation after the Holocaust, very few if any of the types depicted by the comics still exist, in Holland.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
