This amazing man is not forgotten, no, but still his era has already receded to such an extent into the past and is so alien to modernity that we rarely remember Evgeniy Schwartz (1896-1958), on his anniversaries, and even less often do we recognize report how much they owe him in a moral sense - even if not directly, but through intermediaries, through those who experienced in their hearts his meek and weighty appeal to all living. In terrible, pitch-black, hopeless times, during the times of “stolen air,” he found the opportunity to speak quietly but clearly, with a childish smile, inimitable humor and amazing accuracy, about the most important thing: about enduring human values, contrasting ideology with love and kindness.” Do not be afraid! Have pity on each other. Have regrets - and you will be happy! Honestly, this is the truth, the pure truth, the purest truth that exists on earth...” This is the ending of the Dragon; in 1944 it was said, when the slogan of the day was murder, war, the legalized murder of every German: “the number of times you see him, the more you kill...” With the same half-childish smile, in a fairy tale, in a parable, Schwartz decided to condemn tyranny, all tyranny, - and this was back under Stalin... In life he was timid, he entered literature with timidity, he revered the Russian classics, and when he got to the main thing, his own, he turned out to be incredibly bold, to the point of insolence. “What does it mean these days to be unparalleledly courageous? Call black black, and call white white..." These words of Friedrich von Logau (1604-1655), a German poet during the Thirty Years' War, fit Schwarz perfectly. It was a terrible war, a terrible time, but compared to the Gulag era, its cruelties seem plush...