I can only suggest that most books written about the subject came from men who, as boys, had been 'incarcerated' in Public Schools... with all the parallels that existed with these (illicit pursuits, hiding of contraband, baiting of teachers, temporarily absconding etc) and, as such, found themselves in a situation reminiscent of their much younger days... and so the tales of the doings in places like Colditz have sometimes taken on some of the nostalgic charm of a "Boys Own" adventure.
As officer prisoners they also had a sworn duty to try to escape, so this was the perfect recipe for what followed and, when writing after the war, these escapades were often dismissed (with the mixture of bravado and understatement that characterises these gentlemen) as more in the nature of "japes" and "hi-jinks"
That's not to ignore the sometimes brutal realities, the privations and general insanitary existence a lot of them must have known, but these writers had usually been imprisoned in officers camps, where the Geneva Convention was supposed to afford them less harsh treatment (for example, prisoners were supposed not to be forced into working for their captors)... you'll probably find that life in the 'other ranks' camps was far more unpleasant
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