An Open Letter Endorsing the Foundation of an International Bruno Schulz Center

The highly-respected painter and writer, Bruno Schulz, a Polish Jew, who has been translated into more than 26 languages, was temporarily able to save his own life during the Germans’ reign of terror in the Galician city of Drohobycz by painting frescoes for the children of Felix Landau, an SS officer from Vienna, in the villa he was occupying.

The discovery of those frescoes by filmmaker Benjamin Geissler in February 2001 as well as the international controversy in May 2001, following their partial removal and exportation to Israel by representatives of the Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem, significantly raised worldwide interest in this brilliant graphic artist and writer. Without a doubt, Bruno Schulz, whose native tongue was Polish, is one of the most eminent writers of the 20^th century, but he was also a tragic victim of the Holocaust.

The work of Bruno Schulz belongs to the cultural heritage of eastern Central Europe, a region which has experienced a kaleidoscopic and often dramatic history.

Schulz is now a symbolic figure, who embodies both the multicultural and multilingual features so characteristic of his surroundings as well as the horrors of the holocaust. The fate of that man - together with his artistic and literary work - deserves not only to be commemorated. It could also be of great importance in the future. His story and the cultural heritage of his native region can help to unite people of different cultural backgrounds and reduce the likelihood of conflicts when dealt with and presented in a competent, sensitive, future-oriented manner.

Thus the idea - which was first propagated by the discoverer of the paintings - of establishing an international research center in Drohobycz for the study of Schulz’s artistic and literary work and the examination of the area’s complex history.

The Bruno Schulz Center should, on the one hand, be the starting point for interdisciplinary studies by historians, literary specialists, psychoanalysts, political scientists, etc. from that particular region of Europe and, on the other hand, a meeting place for people of all nationalities who are particularly interested in the subject. Of course, emphasis must also be placed on giving an opportunity to the descendants of those people who were directly affected by the region’s history and the ideological insanity of the past to reduce hatred and stereotypes and to look forward to a common future.

Starting in May 2004, the historically significant urban triangle of Drohobycz - Boryslav - Truskaviec will be located just 70 kilometers away from the outer border of the European Union, along the northeastern foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the eastern Galician oilfields of the Ukraine.

Before World War II, Drohobycz was one of the most important centers of Jewish culture in Eastern Europe. Bruno Schulz was born in that small town in the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia in 1892. He thought and wrote in Polish and refused every offer to leave Drohobycz, because he felt that he couldn’t be creative anywhere else. In 1939, Drohobycz had a population of 36,000, of which 17,000 were Jewish. During German occupation, most of the Jews were killed in the concentration camp at Belżec and in the forest of Bronica. By 1944, there were only 400 Jews still alive in Drohobycz.

Even today, Drohobycz still conveys a feeling of the morbid beauty one can sense in Schulz’s stories and drawings. The city and its surroundings are full of monuments to the past. For example, the extraordinary Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko was a native of the region, just as was the eminent Jewish painter Maurycy Gottlieb or the wonderful Polish poet Kazimerz Wierzynski, who all illustrate the cultural wealth and variety experts are eager to investigate. At the same time, however, Drohobycz is the seat of a rapidly developing university with an open attitude to the future.

We, the signatories, demand that:

- in consideration of its historical background, this project should be actively promoted by the governments of Germany, Austria, Poland, the Ukraine and Israel.

- constructive talks must be facilitated with the Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

- Bruno Schulz’s frescoes must be restored in their entirety at the place of their origin, thus providing various experts and art historians the opportunity to evaluate the hypothesis formulated by Benjamin Geissler and enhanced with examples, that the picture depicts the Shoah in Drohobycz.

We propose that the above-mentioned countries award three 12-month scholarships to persons who are qualified to work together with the University of Drohobycz and who would lay the scientific and economic foundation for the Bruno Schulz Center in cooperation with internationally renowned scholars. Specific projects which emerge during that period should be financially supported for an additional two years.

Practically speaking, that means:

1. An association or a foundation should be created with an international board of trustees, including notable Jewish and non-Jewish personalities of Ukrainian, Polish and German nationality who are interested in Drohobycz’s multicultural heritage. Government authorities and cultural agencies should be involved in the planning right from the start. The Ukrainian government’s approval of a project supported by local and county authorities can certainly be obtained more easily and much sooner, since the people in charge of protecting historical monuments and financing such projects are found at the local and county level.

2. The association or foundation would search for and purchase property on which the Bruno Schulz Center could ultimately be situated. The villa in Vul. Tarnavs’koho 14, Drohobycz, would be the ideal location and should be given top priority. However, it is essential that the interests of the present tenants are respected. It should be possible to find equivalent living space elsewhere.

3. In order to realistically finance the project, one must consider the cost of purchasing the villa and the substitute living space as well as the costs for restoration and repairs, the cost of maintaining the house (electricity, heating, water, garbage collection, security) and personnel costs, which would depend on just how the house would actually be used in the future. Judging from the plans at present, at least two to three people would be required (a director with a university degree, an administrator, a caretaker). The need for more personnel might increase, depending on how intensely the facilities are used (various exhibitions, seminars, readings).

By enlisting the support of the University of Drohobycz and the region’s cultural institutions, their staff members could be involved in planning and carrying out the center’s activities (synergetic effects, cost reduction).

Signed:

1) Benjamin Geissler, Director and discoverer of the Schulz murals

2) Jerzy Ficowski, writer, Warszawa

3) Prof. Dr. Phil. Frank Golczewski, Dept. of East-European History, Hamburg University

4) Günter Grass, writer, Nobel prize

5) Marek Podstolski, Administrator of the estate and last relative of Bruno Schulz, Köln

6) Padraic Kenney, Professor of History; Director, Central and East European Studies; University of Colorado, Boulder

7) Prof. Claudio Magris, Schriftsteller und Publizist, Trieste, Italia

8) Krzysztof Czyzewski, President Borderland Foundation, Sejny, Poland

9) Dr. Dieter Bingen, Direktor des Deutschen Polen-Instituts, Darmstadt

10) Fred Gehler, Festivaldirektor, International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film

11) David M. Luebke. Associate Professor, Department of History, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, University of Oregon, Eugene

12) Prof. Dr. Bogdan Osadczuk-Korab, emeritierter Prof. für osteuropäische Geschichte FU Berlin, und Publizist

13) Denise V. Powers, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Iowa

14) Marianne Brentzel, Autorin, Dortmund

15) Ulrich Lampen, Regisseur, Strasbourg

16) Klauspeter Sachau, Grafiker, Dortmund

17) Prof. Jerzy Jarzebski, Professor of Polish Literature, Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, Krakow

18) Prof. Dr. Siegfried Zielinski, Professor für Kunst- und Medienwissenschaften, Kunsthochschule für Medien, Köln

19) Marguerite Feitlowitz, Literature Faculty Bennington College, Bennington, VT

20) Tuhviah Friedman, Institute of Documentation in Israel for the Investigation of Nazi War Crimes Haifa, Israel

21) Agnieszka Kijowska, art conservator, Warsaw, Poland

22) Shlomit Gorin, Consumer Advocate, San Francisco, USA

23) Michael Banos, Ortvereinsvorsitzender ver.di, Michael Banos, Fachbereich Medien und Kunst, Dortmund

24) Dorothee Lottmann-Kaeseler, director, Active Museum Of German Jewish History In Wiesbaden, (Aktives Museum Spiegelgasse für Deutsch-Jüdische Geschichte in Wiesbaden e.V.)

25) Laurie Koloski, Assistant Professor of History, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA

26) Hans Burkhard, Schlichting, Chefdramaturg (SWR Hoerspiel ), Badaen Baden, Germany

27) Michael Graubart, composer, lecturer and writer (and was a refugee from Austria in 1938), London, UK

28) Patricia Reimann, Munich, Germany

29) Krzysztof Gierat, Festival Director, Cracow Film Festival, Poland

30) Dr Mira Salska-Bünsch, Journalistin, Hamburg, Germany

31) Edwin Langberg, PhD, former Schulz-student, New York, USA

32) Barbara Wozniak, Foto-designerin, Dortmund, Germany

33) Keith Griffiths, Independent Film Producer, UK

34) Jocelyne Gervais, Montréal, Québec, Canada

35) Helmut Weiss, Stellvertretender Bezirksvorsitzender ver.di, Dortmund, Germany

36) Brothers Quay, Filmmakers

37) Suzanne Robert, writer, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

38) Gilles Parent, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

39) Sandra Ewers, Warszawa, Poland

40) Natalka Filevych, Curator of Bruno Schulz Murals Exibishion in Lviv, Galery of Arts, Lviv, Ukraine

41) Alfred Schreyer, former Schulz-student, Drohobycz, Ukraine

42) Wolodymyr Kaufman, Kuenstler, Lwiw

43) Wolodymyr Kostyrko, Kuenstler, Lwiw

44) Jurko Koch, Kuenstler, Lwiw

45) Prof. Marija Subryc'ka, Vize-Rektorin, Uni Lwiw

46) Jewhen Sacharow, Charkiwer Menschernrechtengruppe, "Memorial", Charkiw

47) Andrij Mokrousow, exekutiver Redakteur, Zeitschrift "Krytyka", Kiew

48) Dr. Maksym Stricha, Schriftsteller, Mathematiker, Kiew

49) Krzysztof Penderecki, Composer, Krakau, Poland

50) Walter Mossmann, Autor, Freiburg/Lwiw

51) Kateryna Botanova, art critic, Mirror Weekly, Kyiv

52) Andriy Bondar, writer, Kyiv

53) Mariya Tytarenko, Journalist, Lviv

54) Mykola Rjabczuk, Publizist, Kyiv

55) Prof. George G. Grabowiecz, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Review "Krytyka", Kyiv

56) Prof. Michal Pawel Markowski, Professor of Polish Literature, Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, Krakow, Poland

57) Maria Hutsylo, Studentin, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Gießen, Germany

58) Dr. Johann Biedermann, Akademischer Oberrat, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Gießen, Germany

59) Norbert Ludwig, freier Journalist, Dolmetscher, Osnabrueck, Germany

60) Grzegorz Linkowski, director, Lublin Film Festival "Europe's Point of Divergence/Convergence", Poland

61) Dr. Elzbieta Foeller-Pituch, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

62) Carolin Gschwilm, translator, Freyung, Germany

63) Sasa Drach, journalist and antiquarian bookseller, Zagreb, Croatia

64) Kang Tchou, East-West Comparative Hermeneuticist, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, USA

From "JI":

65) Jurij Andruchowycz, Schriftsteller

66) Taras Wosniak, Herausgeber der Zeitschrift "Ji"

67) Taras Prochasko, Schriftsteller

68) Jurko Prochasko, Publizist, Übersetzer

69) Iryna Magdysz, Publizistin, Ji-Redaktuerin

70) Iwan Borynskyj, Beamter

71) Tetiana Artuszewska, Ukrainisches Öffentliches Radio (Warszawa)

72) Wolodymyr Pawliw, Radio Liberty (Warszawa)

73) Witalij Ponomarow, Journalist (Kiew)

74) Swiatoslaw Jarynycz (Kiew)

75) Wolodymyr Szczerbaczenko, Leiter Ostukrainisches Zentrum öffentlicher Initiativen (Luhansk)

76) Tamara Tracewycz, Ratsvorstand, Zentrum für Menschenrechte "Lebensbaum" (Charkiw)

77) Marija Krywenko, Schriftstellerin (Lwiw)

78) Halyna Tomkiw (Zeitschrift Ji)

79) Mykola Jakowyna, Schulz-Übersetzer, Ex-Kulturminister (Kiew)

80) Ihar Krawziw, Zeitung "Molodyj Bukawynec'" (Czernowitz)

81) Wadym Pelech, Radio Bukowina, Zeitung Doba (Czernowutz)

82) Jaryna Borenko, Publizistin, Politikwissenschaftlerin (Lwiw) <www.dialog.lviv.ua/schulz>

83) Oles' Sawenok, Frauen-Informations- und Beratungszentrum (Kiew)

84) Olena Suslowa, Frauen-Informations- und Beratungszentrum (Kiew)

85) Andrej Chadanowicz, Dichter (Minsk, Weißrussland)

86) Natalia Jakowenko, Historikerin, Prof. an der Kiew-Mohyla-Akademie

87) Oles' Pohranycznyj, Journalist (Lwiw)

88) Andrij Sadowyj, Direktor, Institut für Stadtentwicklung (Lwiw)

89) Inna Bulkina, Schriftstellerin, Publizistin (Kiew)

90) Myroslawa Prychoda, Doz. an der Uni-Lwiw, Redakteurin

91) Dmytra Redko, Journalist, Politikwissenschaftler (Kiew)

92) Jurij Demkowycz (Lwiw)

93) Oleh und Zoriana Rybczynski (Lwiw)

94) Orest Drul, Journalist, Publizist, Verleger (Lwiw)

95) Andrij Szkrabjuk, Essayist, Theologe (Lwiw)

96) Artem Zamoznyj, Goethe-Institut-Kulturzentrum (Kiew)

97) Oleh Chawycz, Institut der Stadtentwicklung (Czernowitz)

98) Branislava Stojanović (Beograd) <www.brunoschulz.prv.pl>

99) Wolodymyr Fedyna (Lwiw)

100) Jurij Iwanow (Lwiw)

101) Kiryla Ilnicki (Minsk)

102) Oksana Gorelik, Journalist (Lwiw)

103) Julija Serdjukowa, MOLODIST 2003, Kiew International Film Festival

104) Denis Iwanow, MOLODIST 2003, Kiew International Film Festival

105) Maryna Szuch, MOLODIST 2003, Kiew International Film Festival

106) Jaroslaw Hrycak, Historiker, Prof. Leiter Institut für Geschichtsstudien, Uni Lemberg

107) Olena Turianjska, Künstlerin (Lwiw)

108) Andrzej Turowski, professeur d'histoire de l'art, Universite de Bourgogne, Dijon, France

109) Oleksij Obolenskij, aspirant KNU im. T. Szevczenko, Übersetzer

Thursday, September 18, 2008

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www.brunoschulz.prv.pl