>>213088351Here's a common contemporary East German joke I heard recounted by the child of a very senior military officer, but stuff like this was across society.
Erich Honecker and Erich Mielke talking.
Mielke: So dear Erich, what are some of your hobbies?
Honecker: I collect all the jokes people tell about me! I have books full. What about you, Erich?
Mielke: That's funny, I collect the names of all the people who tell jokes about you!
Very similar to a KGB joke, and again, Russians will tell you the KGB wasn't that bad for the "average person" by the 70s-80s.
None of this is to say they weren't totalitarian and repressive. Just not a fan of simplistic Hollywood cliches.