Perverting

The Past

A Research project by Ayelet Cartolina Kaminer

About The Project

Perverting the past is a research project with the primary goal of exploring the literary genre of Holocaust exploitation, with a particular emphasis on the differing legal and cultural receptions of works within this genre. Currently, the project is centered on a comparative literary study of two works: Ka-Tzetnik's novella "House of Dolls" and the Stalag novella "I Was Colonel Schultz’s Private Bitch."As a researcher, I am of the belief that Studying the cultural receptions of these works can lead us to a better understanding of the limits of Holocaust narratives and Shoah-related media. On this blog, you will find a number of comparisons between the two works, that I hope will offer some clarification on the nature of these works, the role they have historically served in Israeli pop culture, and the contemporary value of studying them. Thank you for your interest, and please check back often to keep up with updates and new information!

With gratitude,

Ayelet Cartolina Kaminer (They/Them)

Ak106@wellesley.edu

Content Warning

The following research contains analyses of erotica and other pornographic literature, including some non-explicit mentions of assault.

Read A Peer Reviewed Version Of The Paper

HERE

Holocaust Exploitation as Genre

Pornographic eroticization within Holocaust literature is frequently disparaged in scholarship
Often regarded as low-brow, exploitative
“Nazi Exploitation” works often share similar aesthetic and plot characteristics (Dominatrix characters, homoeroticism, emasculation)
Even in contemporary anti-unspeakability rhetoric surrounding Holocaust literature, pornographic use of Shoah aesthetics is seen as a hard “limit” to acceptability

“There is really nothing more to be said…no limits to be set or even hoped for in Holocaust representation… except perhaps in extreme cases like

concentration camp pornography.”

-Berel Lang, Art Within The Limits

House Of Dolls/בית הבובות

A 1953 novella published as the true account of a Jewish woman held in a “Joy Division”- a ‘brothel’ for Nazi guards
Added by the Israeli Ministry of Education to all standard high school Holocaust curricula
Widely regarded as a work of fiction by researchers and institutions such as Yad Vashem
Remains a core tenet of Israeli Holocaust education

“Many children of holocaust survivors who write would agree . . . that House of Dolls represents violence and sexuality in a manner which borders on the pornographic"

-Ronit Lentin

I Was Colonel Schultz’s Private Bitch/הייתי כלבתו הפרטית של קולונל שולץ

First published in Israel in the early 1960s as part of a series of Stalagim
Gained tremendous popularity around the time of Eichmann trial
All Stalags were banned by an Israeli court soon after their emergence on the literary market
By 1963, most published copies of the books had been seized by authorities,-Israeli authorities fined the publishers of Stalag books for the printing obscenities
Tells the story of Nancy, a French non-Jewish woman who is brought to an SS base in order to be the concubine of a Nazi colonel

According to Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jewish studies Professor Yechiel Szeintuch, House Of Dolls differs from “smut literature” such as Stalagim because of its “basis in historical fact”

Similarities in Characterization

The character of Elsa is a an unattractive, dominatrix-esque figure who oversees the Joy Division

Nazi officer

Derives pleasure from sadism

“Cleanses” Jewish prisoners by whipping them

Queer attraction hinted at

House of Dolls

The character of Hilda is described as matronly, yet domineering

Nazi officer

Derives pleasure from sadism

Repeatedly attempts to seduce Nancy

Is a sexual ringmaster of sorts- arranges orgies and sexual logistics for Nazi guards

Private Bitch

Similarities in Language Use

The character of Elsa is a an unattractive, dominatrix-esque figure who oversees the Joy Division

Nazi officer

Derives pleasure from sadism

“Cleanses” Jewish prisoners by whipping them

Queer attraction hinted at

House of Dolls

The character of Hilda is described as matronly, yet domineering

Nazi officer

Derives pleasure from sadism

Repeatedly attempts to seduce Nancy

Is a sexual ringmaster of sorts- arranges orgies and sexual logistics for Nazi guards

Private Bitch

Critical Receptions & Publicization

House of Dolls

“As real as the Diary of Anne Frank…far more relentless…the most important story yet to appear out of these ultimate depths.”

-NYT review of House of Dolls

Emphasis on authenticity & veracity claims

Private Bitch

Sensationalizing language-

“the most horrifying story of abominations to appear In Hebrew”

“traumatizing in its cruelty.”

1962 ad for Stalag 13 uses a modern Hebrew Idiom that loosely translates to "don't let the opportunity sour/expire" (referring to the chance to buy a stalag before it is banned.)

Aesthetic Imagery

House of Dolls

Feld-Hure- “military whore”

Features aforementioned NYT review quote

Exposed body parts are the focal point of the cover

Private Bitch

features writing on women- Swastikas, not words- and bare chests

Exposed body parts are the focal point of the cover

Jewish Representation (Or Lack Thereof)

House of Dolls

The “beautiful Jewess" stereotype, as characterized by Andrea Dworkin, is one of a character who suffers degrading sadism due to her appearance
Features a number of characters who resemble the “beautiful Jewess" stereotype- namely the “Jewish whores”- women in joy division- are often beaten by Elsa as punishment for their beauty .

Private Bitch

Jewish people are mentioned only briefly in the Stalag, as Colonel Schultz tells Nancy of his plan to bring about the final solution.
Stalags do not feature any Jewish characters- according to some accounts, Stalag authors avoided the mention of Jewish names entirely, as the presence of Jewish characters in the novellas may have been too “controversial.”

Emasculation & Homoeroticism

House of Dolls

Elsa's queerness is alluded to, though never explicitly stated
Female Nazi guards are often (with a few notable exceptions) described as masculine and domineering

"The {Joy Division} girls suffer under an ardent and brutal lesbian boss named Elsa, who forces them to strip naked, then bends them over a chair and lashes them."

-Tablet Magazine Review of "House of Dolls"

The character of Colonel Schultz, as well as several other high-ranking Nazi officer characters, are openly and proudly Bisexual
"Gay Nazi myth" plays a prominent role in plot development- a stark contrast with stereotypes regarding emasculated Jewry
Nancy is saved by Franz, an effeminate, canonically queer Nazi soldier

Private Bitch

""Let me show you how a real Aryan man asserts his manhood....we have developed past the need for women"

-Colonel Schultz, "I Was Colonel Schultz’s Private Bitch."

Vos Makht Iz Mir Oys- Who Cares?!

The respective pornographic contents of House of Dolls and I Was Colonel Schultz’s Private Bitch resulted in critical acclaim for one work and near-utter censorship for the other.

Pornography & The Holocaust have long been a ‘third rail’ of sorts in Holocaust media studies- it exists at or beyond the edge of what is deemed acceptable use of Holocaust aesthetics and collective memory. it is only through the study of these works that we can understand how and why this cultural perception of Holocaust erotica came to be

Stalags remain banned in Israel, and House of Dolls remains integral to Israeli Shoah curricula; these strikingly similar works exist at cultural polar opposites for reasons still unclear.