JERUSALEM, Sept. 6 A new documentary explores the cultural significance of Nazi-themed pornographic pocket books in Israel, The New York Times said Thursday.
Called Stalags after the World War II prisoner-of-war camps in which they were set, the volumes first became popular amongst young Israelis in the 1960s.
The books were the only form of pornography available and told sexually charged tales of captured U.S. or British pilots abused by female SS officers.
The plots frequently concluded with the male characters exacting revenge on their tormentors by raping and killing them.
An Israeli court found the publishers guilty of disseminating pornography and the books went out of print and underground just a couple of years after they first appeared.
Ari Libsker's new documentary, "Stalags: Holocaust and Pornography in Israel," looks at this distinct genre, which was created by Israeli publishers and penned by Israeli authors.
Libsker's film also features an interview with the publisher of the first Stalag who admitted gory details disclosed at the 1961 trial of high-ranking Nazi Adolf Eichmann added to the genre's momentum.
Until the trial, the voices of the Holocaust had hardly been heard in Israel, the Times said.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
