The Color of Courage: A Boy at War: The World War II Diary of Julian Kulski

This new edition of Kulski’s 1979 narrative (originally titled Dying, We Live) describes his experience in occupied Warsaw during WWII. 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 and his own position in the resistance, 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. [em](Nov.) [/em]