This is a poignant and graphic telling of the life of a young German Jewish woman taken and killed during the holocaust. Charlotte Salomon (Berlin, 16/04/17 - Auschwitz, 10/10/43) was an artist from a prosperous family whose mother committed suicide when she was just nine-years-old. One of several suicides within her family. She attended the School for Pure and Applied Arts until 1938 when the increasing antisemitic policies caused her to escape to the south of France to live with her grandparents. It was not the best of times. In 1941, now living alone she began painting what became over 1000 gouaches which she edited and added captions and overlays to create her life's work 'Leben? Oder Theater?' consisting of 769 of the paintings depicting a somewhat fantastical autobiography preserving the main elements of her life. She also made notes on appropriate music to accompany the art. In 1943 she handed the work over to the local doctor in a large suitcase with the wish that he "Keep this safe, it is my whole life." She had addressed it to wealthy American, Ottillie Moore in whose property she had stayed. By September that year she had married another German Jewish refugee, Alexander Nagler, and the two of them were arrested and she was transported to Auschwitz to the gas chambers when five months pregnant.
About the Author: Gian Marco De Francisco is an architect, cartoonist and illustrator from Taranto he worked on 'Zartana lo stregone Blues' (Cut Up Publishing) and on the graphic novels 'Ragazzi di scorta' (BeccoGiallo), 'Nostra madre Renata Fonte' (001 Edizioni), 'Un caso di stalking' (Violier) and on the comic book 'Da grande' (Lilliput). As national illustrator he has cooperated with the review Libra Narcomafie, creating some covers. For the region of Puglia he created the signs for Parco delle Civiltà di Grottaglie. For the BBC Banca Credito Cooperativo di San Marzano of San Giuseppe he realized the illustrations for the integrated annual report 2015. He is the creator and one of the two co-founders of the comic school Grafite situated in Taranto, Bari and Lecce. In fact he created the first regional learning center for comic art in the Puglia and continues as its co-ordinator. Ilaria Ferramosca is a scriptwriter and author. She has realized scripts for publishers BeccoGiallo, Tunué, 001 Edizioni and Edizioni Voilie. Co-author and creator for Treccani - an educational comic supplement of Grammatica. She also wrote the script of the short animation 'Mustache and the magic Books' for "Biblioteca dei Musei Napoleonici sull'Isola d'Elba". In fiction she has published tales and anthologies for which she has won various prizes. She has been among those mentioned for the National Prize Italo Calvino (XXV edition). In 2014 she was among the ten finalists for the Tedeschi Prize for "Il Giallo Mondadori". She teaches scriptwriting at the premises of Lecce and Taranto of the comic school Grafite where she also tutors the formation course for professors