Stalags (2008)

The documentary explores the Stalag booklets, which were extremely popular in Israel in the early 1960s. They were a pornographic, sadomasochistic series of pulp novels that can be classified as a form of so-called Nazi exploitation. The series takes its name from the first title, Stalag 13, written by Eli Keidar (the title is derived from “Stammlager”); it sold 80,000 copies. The individual booklets, all of which deal with fictional events during the Second World War, follow recurring plots: the central character is usually a British or American fighter pilot whom the Nazis shoot down over their territory and take to a prisoner-of-war camp. Once there, the hero is sadistically tortured and raped by female SS members who serve as the camp guards. According to Pornography & Holocaust, the Stalag booklets were the only pornography available in Israeli society in the 1960s, which is characterized as conservative and puritanical; this partly explains the series’ significance in the sexual education of Israeli youth. In addition, many young people encountered the subject of the Shoah for the first time through the booklets. The true scale of the Shoah only became apparent to a wider public in the wake of the 1961 Eichmann trial. A considerable number of surviving copies of the now-discontinued series are in private hands. Some of these collectors speak in Pornography & Holocaust under anonymized identities. Others, such as former police officer Eyal Liani, speak openly about their fascination with the subject. Liani meets a German woman named “Susanna” for sex because she is the granddaughter of an SS member. The documentary also interviews Stalag authors, eyewitnesses, experts, and scholars.