May 28, 1938, Saturday

Drohobych. Bruno Schulz writes a letter to Romana Halpern, in which he raises the topic of the trip to Paris and considers avoiding the Third Reich on his way to France. The letter also mentions the article by Emil Breiter, the showcase of Wiadomości Literackie and a few current affairs.

Schulz confides in his friend about his fears about the itinerary: “I wouldn’t want to go through Germany, it would upset me. Despite the higher costs, I would prefer going via Italy and stay maybe two days in Venice”1. On the map of rail connections with France, you can see that such a journey would run through Budapest, bypassing Vienna, which, under the Anschluss, from March that year was the capital of the Eastern March, a part of the Great Reich. From Venice to Paris, Schulz could travel via Switzerland. The planned trip is scheduled to start at the end of June. Schulz hopes that he will get the help of Maria Chasin, who plans to stay in Paris at the same time, “because”, as he writes, “she knows many French writers and intellectuals, among them great celebrities”2 (cf. her letters dated 10 and 26 July 1938). Regarding the departure, Schulz also asks her to find out about the possibility of obtaining a train discount in the Polish Literary Union.

Answering Halpern’s question, Schulz writes that he would not come to Warsaw for the green holidays, which is on June 5 that year. He asks about Witkacy (“What is he doing, how is he? Has he already grown a bit?”3). He devotes a lot of attention to the article by Emil Breiter*, where Witold Gombrowicz* is included among his literary followers. He also asks for information about the showcase of Wiadomości Literackie*, arranged by Marian Eile. (sr) (transl. mw)

See also: [before May 19, 1938] Early June 1938, around July 12, 1938*, July 31, 1938*, August 26, 1938*; on the correspondence with Halpern – August 16, 1936, September 19, 1936, September 30, 1936, October 1936, [beginning of November 1936], November 15, 1936, November 29, 1936, December 5, 1936, April 30, 1937, July 24, 1937, August 3, 1937, August 16, 1937, [between August 20 and August 26, 1937], August 30, 1937, September 29, 1937, October 13, 1937, November 16, 1937, January 12, 1938, January 18, 1938, January 23, 1938, February 6, 1938, [around mid-February 1938], February 21, 1938, March 3, 1938, March 10, 1938, March 20, 1938, March 31, 1938, April 17, 1938, May 15, 1938, May 19, 1938, June 8, 1938, [after June 12, 1938], June 23, 1938, July 12, 1938, August 29, 1938, October 13, 1938, October 29, 1938, December 26, 1938, January 21, 1939, [June 1939]. (ts) (bt) (transl. mw)

  • 1
    Letter from Bruno Schulz to Romana Halpern dated May 28, 1938, [in:] Bruno Schulz, Dzieła zebrane, volume 5: Księga listów, zebrał i przygotował do druku Jerzy Ficowski, uzupełnił Stanisław Danecki, Gdańsk 2016, p. 175.
  • 2
    Ibid., p. 176.
  • 3
    Ibid.