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The Color of Courage: A Boy at War: The World War II Diary of Julian Kulski
Julian E. Kulski
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Description for The Color of Courage: A Boy at War: The World War II Diary of Julian Kulski
Paperback. Follows Kulski, 10-year-old Boy Scout when WWII begins, as he is recruited into clandestine Polish Underground Army by his Scoutmaster, undertakes secret mission into Warsaw Ghetto, is captured by the Gestapo, sentenced to Auschwitz, rescued, fights in the Warsaw Uprising and ends as a 16-year-old German POW. Num Pages: 304 pages, 11 black & white illustrations, 141 black & white halftones, 12 maps. BIC Classification: YNH; YNJ; YXZW. Category: (J) Children / Juvenile. Dimension: 230 x 154 x 30. Weight in Grams: 810.
If there is going to be a war, I do not want to miss it. So writes Julian Kulski a few days before WWII begins, in this remarkable diary of a boy at war from ages 10 to 16. As the war unfolds through his eyes, we are privileged to meet an inspirational soul of indomitable will, courage and compassion. At age 12 Kulski is recruited as a soldier in the clandestine Underground Army by his Boy Scout leader, and at age 13 enters the Warsaw Ghetto on a secret mission. Arrested by the Gestapo at age 14 and ... Read moresentenced to Auschwitz, he is rescued and joins the commandos. At age 15, Kulski fights in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. He ends the war as a German POW, finally risking a dash for freedom onto an American truck instead of waiting for Soviet liberation. Show Less
Product Details
Publisher
Aquila Polonica
Place of Publication
Los Angeles, United States
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
About Julian E. Kulski
Julian E. Kulski was born in 1929 in Warsaw, Poland. A graduate of Yale University (M.Arch) and Warsaw Institute of Technology (Ph.D. Urban Planning), Kulski is a semi-retired architect who as taught at U.S. universities and consulted for World Bank. He has been published multiple times and is a frequent speaker. Kulski resides Washington, D.C.
Reviews for The Color of Courage: A Boy at War: The World War II Diary of Julian Kulski
An exceptional coming-of-age story. Julian Kulski's true-life adventure as a teenage resistance fighter in Warsaw during World War II leaps off the page in this riveting diary. He is an amazing man and a real hero for freedom.
Rita Cosby, An exceptional coming of age story. Emmy-winning TV host and bestselling author of 'Quiet Hero' ... Read more In World War II, Warsaw rose against the Nazi occupation not just once but twice... Kulski provides a remarkable account of sacrifice and personal courage as remembered through his eyes and personal experience (including participation in the major 1944 uprising). Compelling, readable, and very moving!
Zbigniew Brzezinski, Compelling, readable, and very moving! Center for Strategic & International Studies An inspiring read. The Color of Courage is for everyone
but particularly for young people, as they are maturing and searching for meaning in life and for the strength to stand up for what is good and meaningful. Kulski reminds us that freedom and human dignity transcend race, religion and age, and that our vigilance can never be relaxed.
Michael Schudrich, An inspiring read. Chief Rabbi of Poland This account, written from the heart and by the hand of an adolescent boy, gives us unique and moving insights into World War II. A superb lesson of humanity and patriotism.
Lech Walesa, A superb lesson of humanity and patriotism. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate There is an entire world that separates war while it is raging around you, and war that is analyzed years or decades later while looking through orderly archives and sitting at one's computer. As a boy, Julian witnessed the German takeover and saw everything he ever knew as liberty taken away. It was not just the material destruction of the city, but the calculated destruction of society, the debasement of the people, that made a huge impression on him. That he, his friends, and all Poles, were condemned to live without an education, were dispossessed, their educational, cultural, and historical institutions destroyed, his family and friends arrested or killed, these are the experiences that put an end to childhood. It was a very young human being who joined the resistance, but he was no longer a boy. War is not just a killer but also a thief; it steals all your possessions, including your childhood. In the aftermath, young Julian ended up the youngest prisoner in a POW camp and finally in a hospital in England where he was treated for PTSD. His doctors suggested he write about his experiences, as therapy; For Julian it was like reliving the nightmare, but it had to be done. This book is the dramatic, heartrending result. Published by Aquila Polonica with their usual high production values, The Color of Courage includes dozens of wartime maps and photographs, plus a list of digital extras, archival wartime films, that you can access either on your smartphone or by entering the URL as indicated with each entry. Some of footage provided with these links has rarely, if ever, been available to the public. Highly recommended for history buffs. www.polandww2.com/images/MEDIA_ROOM/NewsAndReviews/2014/ColorofCourage-CosmopolitanReview-2014-11-16.pdf
Dramatic, heartrending...Highly recommended. Cosmopolitan Review, Fall 2014 Kulski, a renowned architect, wrote the original manuscript in 1945 at age 16 as a means of dealing with post-traumatic stress. In a diaristic format, it chronicles his experiences as a child soldier in the Polish Army. Kulski's father was the acting mayor of Warsaw during the occupation, and, at the time, he had a Jewish girlfriend, with whom he remained in close contact until the Nazis isolated the Jewish ghetto from the rest of the city. Because of those two relationships, Kulski was able to give shape to the wider context of the Resistance movement, including the heroic fight of the Jewish insurgents in the monthlong Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of spring 1943. The story culminates with Kulski's participation, at age 15, in the 60-day Warsaw Uprising of August and September 1944. Kulski's youthful patriotism and optimism is evident throughout his story, which is at once absorbing, inspiring, and tragic. Designed to be useful in a classroom, this new edition includes links to relevant online material and includes a list of discussion questions classroom settings. B&w photos. www.polandww2.com/images/MEDIA_ROOM/NewsAndReviews/2014/PublishersWeekly2014-9-15.pdf
At once absorbing, inspiring, and tragic. Publishers Weekly, September 15, 2014 This gripping personal account brings a deeply moving and unique perspective to World War II Poland. Kulski's utterly wrenching, heartfelt, and visceral narrative spans the war years, 1939-1945. Kulski's writing style is not lyrical or literary, yet it includes thought-provoking philosophies and musings and is refined beyond any need to use its war-diary genre as excuse. In all, The Color of Courage is a compelling and polished read with its own irresistible momentum. Supporting photographs, maps, and documents interspersed throughout his chronicle make it quicker andfaster-paced than its 400 pages would indicate. Poignant, haunting, gritty, and bursting with realism, Julian Kulski's diary of seven years in World War II Warsaw is a powerful eyewitness and participant accounting of a singular experience. Obviously for the fan of military history, The Color of Courage will likewise appeal to readers of memoir and broader-scope credible histories, and its emotional impact is sufficient to enthrall a diverse audience. www.polandww2.com/images/MEDIA_ROOM/NewsAndReviews/2014/Foreword-WinterIssue-2014-10-28Highlighted.pdf
Julia Jenkins, Poignant, haunting, gritty, and bursting with realism. Foreword Reviews, November 7, 2014 Written in 1945, soon after he was released from a POW camp run by the Germans, Kulski's war diary is immensely accessible today and the account of a young teen's coming of age. How do we communicate to today's young people, especially the privileged in the Western world, about the threats of totalitarianism, racism, extremism? How can they who live lives with safe spaces understand what it is to take up the rifle at age 15? Kulski's account is fascinating because of its blend of attention to the persecution of Jews and his descriptions of the issues that non-Jewish Poles faced...Memoirs like this serve an essential purpose in binding together the history of the Holocaust and the countries in which it took place. The persecution of Jews was not some isolated event in a vacuum but part of the destruction of Europe. It is not a Jewish issue only, as this book reminds us, but one that crosses boundaries of family and life. This account binds together Jewish and Polish history and speaks to the common struggle against tyranny and the fight for freedom that people sought in the 1940s and are still seeking today. www.polandww2.com/images/MEDIA_ROOM/NewsAndReviews/2016/JerusalemPost-Review2016-7-11-Highlighted.pdf
Seth J. Frantzman, Immensely accessible today and the account of a young teen's coming of age. Jerusalem Post, July 11, 2016 The writing is youthfully straightforward with a sense of wonder over the growing horror... Julian had Jewish friends; he himself claimed Jewish ancestry (great-great grandson of Rabbi Dov Beer Meisels.) The Polish resistance is presented here as largely sympathetic to the Jews, with whom he had clandestine dealings. He describes a harrowing secret mission to Warsaw Ghetto... Accounts of the Poles' sophisticated planned attacks are riveting. There are maps and photos; readers are directed to YouTube links of footage from German and Polish propaganda reels. Although this diary might do best in a general public library collection, Holocaust libraries might find this book useful for its insights into the role of the Polish underground. www.polandww2.com/images/MEDIA_ROOM/NewsAndReviews/2016/ColorofCourage-AJLReview-MayJune2017-highlighted.pdf
Hallie Cantor, Yeshiva University, NY, Riveting...Holocaust libraries might find this book useful for its insights into the role of the Polish underground. Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews, May/June 2017 Haunting and powerful the unforgettable true story of a boy soldier in World War II.
Susan Eisenhower, Haunting and powerful. President, Eisenhower Group Might be considered a companion piece to Anne Frank's Diary, juxtaposing the constant question of survival with a child's fresh adolescence. Stirring account of the will to live and to fight.
Might be considered a companion piece to Anne Frank's Diary. Montgomery Advertiser Heartening account. A touching story, one which shows a side of the Polish resistance not often reported.
A touching story. Los Angeles Times Deeply moving.
Deeply moving. Jewish News An amazing story.
An amazing story. The Jewish Veteran Show Less
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