[to Be An Artist,] This

I Had An Uncle Who Was A Postal Official At The Polish Post Office In Gdansk. He Was One Of The Defenders Of The Polish Postal Service And, After It Capitulated, Was Shot By The Germans Under The Provisions Of Martial Law. Suddenly He Was No Longer A Member Of The Family, And We Were No Longer Allowed To Play With His Children.

People Have Always Told Tales. Long Before Humanity Learned To Write And Gradually Became Literate, Everybody Told Tales To Everybody Else And Everybody Listened To Everybody Else's Tales. Before Long It Became Clear That Some Of The Still Illiterate Storytellers Told More And Better Tales Than Others, That Is, They Could Make More People Believe Their Lies.

I Did Not Volunteer For The Waffen Ss, But Was, As Were Thousands Of My Year Group, Conscripted. I Did Not Then Know As A 17-year-old That It Was A Criminal Unit. I Thought It Was An Elite Unit.

Everyone Is Born Into A Certain Era. I Wouldn't Want To See Anyone Faced With The Circumstances That Prevailed At The Time, When There Were Few Or No Alternatives.

Art Is Uncompromising, And Life Is Full Of Compromises.