Description:

PRINTED RULES FOR A WEHRMACHT BORDELLO - LOCATED NEAR A JEWISH DEATH CAMP
Very rare and provocative poster, the printed rules for a bordello operated by the Wehrmacht, located very close to a notorious Jewish camp in Nazi-sympathetic Croatia. The poster measures 10" x 14 1/2" and was folded at one time, most likely by a German soldier who kept it as a souvenir of sorts. The poster bears large type at top: "HOUSE RULES WEHRMACHT BORDELLO SEMLIN ORACKA #8", along with its hours of operation, 1600 to 2400. It also notes that the price, inclusive of room charge, would be 2.5 RM. Among the rules listed: "intercourse allowed only with a condom...women having intercourse without use of condoms will be incarcerated for eight days...proper washing is required before and after intercourse...intoxicated people are not allowed...inappropriate behavior at windows, including leaning outside windows or sitting on window ledges, is forbidden...singing, making noise, vandalism of the building or its contents is forbidden...officers are excluded from visiting...". It is signed in type by a local military doctor and dated Jan. 2, 1942. Semlin is a outlying section of Belgrade, presently part of Serbia. Following the surrender of Yugoslavia in April, 1941, Semlin, along with the rest of the Syrmia region, was given to Nazi ally, Croatia. The town became the site of the Semlin Judenlager, a ghetto housing the Jewish women, children and elderly who were not held as hostages in reprisal shootings. Wehrmacht and SS soldiers were stationed there as well, guarding the Jews housed in a vacant exhibition grounds, and in town as it was a key border crossing between Croatia and Serbia. Only fifty Jewish women survived their imprisonment - over 7,000 were dispatched in notorious "gas vans". The Judenlager at Semlin was located only about one-half mile from the brothel from which this poster was pilfered. Of course, the German armed forces maintained brothels throughout Europe, largely staffed by prostitutes who had plied their trade before the war, and were forced to continue in business but working for a mere pittance, most often under duress and in extreme poverty. This is the first such poster we have encountered, and it is particularly horrifying when one considers the "customers" who visited the establishment.

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September 27, 2012 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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