Art For Life -An Incredible Story of Survival

Bill Salamon was only sixteen years old when he and his entire family were forced into cattle cars like livestock to forgo a horrendous three day train ride without food, water or toilets. When the train finally came to a stop, the doors opened and the prisoners found themselves in the infamous Nazi death camp Auschwitz. Smoke was pouring out from chimneys and the stench of Human flesh filled the air. The prisoners were ordered to form into two lines. Standing tall at the front of the two lines was Dr. Josef Mengele. He ordered all the elderly and all the young children straight to their deaths. Bill and his father were sent to the men's barracks. At one point in Salamon's journey, he was ordered to paint a mural of a Nazi soldier sitting on a park bench with his arm around a pretty girl. As others were outside freezing to death, starving and dying of Typhoid fever, Salamon kept his captors amused by painting inside a cafeteria and as he did, he was shielded from the bitter cold. Nazi guards threw Salamon pieces of bread and the young artist always saved half for his father. After surviving the Holocaust, Bill Salamon came to America then went on to support U. S. Forces in the Korean War as a Language Specialist and manual illustrator for U. S. Military Intelligence. He studied at the famous Chicago Art Institute then relocated to California where he attended the prestigious Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. Salamon went on to win hundreds of awards for his brilliant work. He created over 800 paintings and was featured in newspapers, radio and television. Steven Spielberg's SHOAH Foundation filmed Salamon's testimony of the Holocaust for the Visual History Archives which are currently housed at the University of Southern California. Salamon only painted six paintings of the Holocaust. After that, he dedicated his life to his family and to painting images of peace, beauty and tranquility. www. BillSalamonArt.com