Oldal 491 [491]
488
Florin-Aron Pádurean
When Ytzig Met Shtrul: On Schmoozing
and Jewish Conspiracy in Romanian Art
Traditionally, a thorough study starts with a theoretical introduction. But in this
case, a social introduction would fit our study better and would clearly be far
more polite to our heroes. I will introduce them to you by showing one of Ytzig
and Shtrul’s activities as found on many Romanian web pages:
They say that when Ceausescu was still alive, Ytzig and Shtrul decided to flee
the country. Shtrul, a fearful person, asked Ytzig: What if the customs officer
catches us? He won't, replied Ytzig, just do what I do.
It was pitch dark when the two friends got to the border. Ytzig took the
first steps. Halfway through the border zone, the customs officer heard him
move and shouted: Stop or I'll shoot! Ytzig crouched and cried like a cat:
Meeeoooow! Oh, it’s just a cat, said the officer, it can go on!
It was Shtrul’s turn. He started crossing the border, but the officer heard
him, too. Stop or DII shoot! he called out loud again. Shtrul crouched and
replied: Just another cat, can it go on?
As you surely noticed, Ytzig and Shtrul are two joke characters. They are also two
placeholder names, standing in for any average Jews and, occasionally, for any aver¬
age fellows. In today’s Romania, Ytzig-and-Shtrul jokes are numerous and popular,
to the point of representing one of the most noticeable nominal intraethnic jokes,
surpassing (in popularity) Hungarian jokes,’ and surpassed only by the anecdotes
involving Romanian placeholder names. The first ratio is highly surprising, con¬
sidering, on the one hand, that the Jews became an almost invisible group, whereas
the Hungarians are perceived by some Romanians as a distressing minority’ and,
! An accurate account supporting this idea is not possible, as an elaborate repertory of Romanian eth¬
nic jokes was never compiled, the Internet being, so far, the only attesting source. A minimal Internet
search would reveal to any solicitor that Ytzig and Shtrul jokes are more numerous than Janos and Pista
(Hungarian placeholder names) jokes. In Folclorul literar al romanilor (The Literary Folklore of Roma¬
nians), Constantin Eretescu summarizes the ethnic Romanian jokes to those with Jews and Gypsies,
considering these ethnic groups to be as relevant as Irishmen or Scots are in English jokes. The author
mentions Ytzig and Shtrul as being used on a regular basis in the anecdotal setting (2004: 284). In the
case of Gypsy jokes, although numerous, they have no constant actors, the characters being regularly
anonymous.
> An opinion survey organized at the request of the National Council for Combating Discrimination
in November 2010 revealed some interesting aspects regarding the phenomenon of discrimination in