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Noticeably absent from Dominic Standish's otherwise excellent article is any analysis of Berlusconi's subsequent explanation of his 'joke' (When il capo met kapo, 10 July).
Berlusconi claims his joke referred to the popular and long-running 1960s American sitcom Hogan's Heroes. The series was set in a prisoner-of-war camp, and featured a dopey German guard named Shultz. There was also a dopey Kommandant (Kapo?) named Klink, and the Italian premier might easily have substituted one for the other, in order to give his punchline more impact. Hogan's Heroes was exported internationally with some success, and is quite well known in German and France (Italy too, it seems), sometimes renamed as 'Papa Schultz.'
Ignoring Berlusconi's Hogan's Heroes alibi, despite its relevance to continental and international audiences, Dominic Standish races in with the Fawlty Towers 'don't mention the war' riposte. Although 'don't mention the war' is a widely recognised catchphrase in Germany, that's because they have it shouted at them ad nauseum by Brits possessing all the comic timing of Berlusconi. There is little joy to be had in Germans being misrepresented by Italians misrepresenting Americans mispresenting the English misrepresenting themselves misrepresenting the Germans.
James Ramsay, France
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