Propaganda on the Margins: Bruno Schulz's Soviet Illustrations, 1940-41

In 2016, Ukrainian historians uncovered a previously unknown set of propaganda illustrations produced by the Polish-Jewish writer and artist Bruno Schulz (1892-1942) for the Soviet newspaper, Bil'shovits'ka Pravda (Bolshevik Truth) in 1940-41 during the occupation of eastern Poland. This article presents the first comprehensive interpretations of the newly discovered materials in their social, political and historical contexts. The article uses a range of contextual evidence and interpretive approaches to argue that the illustrations represented a type of artistic mimicry, as Schulz resituated himself in new social and political circumstances. The article also argues that Schulz may have included subversive content in some of the illustrations.