When the Soviet Union existed — 1917 to 1991 — its hapless citizens resorted to dark humor in the face of constant lies.

Open defiance could land them in the Siberian gulag or a KGB torture chamber in a dank basement near the Kremlin. So they learned to joke among themselves about absurd government claims, such as Pravda insisting that the economy was surging and the collective farms overflowing with food.

Here are a couple of typical Soviet jests:

Q: How does every Russian joke start?… Continue Reading