Bruno Schulz
Bruno Schulz (1892-1942)
Bruno Schulz was shot in the streets of Drohobycz in November of 1942. He was bringing home a loaf of bread when he was killed by a Gestapo officer who had a grudge against another Nazi, Schulz's temporary "protector" who liked his paintings.
excerpt from - Streets of Crocodiles
I sat on the floor. Spread out around me were my crayons and buttons of paint: godly colors, azures breathing freshness, greens straying to the limits of the possible. And when I took a red crayon in my hand, happy fanfares of crimson marched out into the world, all balconies brightened with red waving flags, and whole houses arranged themselves along streets into a triumphant lane. Processions of city firemen in cherry red uniforms paraded in brightly lighted happy streets, and gentlemen lifted their strawberry-colored bowlers in greeting. Cherry red sweetness and cherry red chirping of finches filled the air scented with lavender.
And when I reached for the blue paint, the reflection of a cobalt spring fell on all the windows along the street; the panes trembled, one after the other, full of azure and heavenly fire; curtains waved as if altered; and a joyful draft rose in that lane between muslin curtains and oleanders on the empty balconies, as if somebody distant had appeared from the other side of a long and bright avenue and was now approaching, somebody luminous, proceeded by good tidings, by premonitions, announced by the fight of swallows, by beacons of fire spreading mile after mile.
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