The Color of Courage
News, Reviews & Events

This page contains News, Reviews & Events dealing with The Color of Courage, either in whole or in part. It is a subset of the complete What's Happening section on the Home page. 

December 7, 2023 - Author Julian Kulski Featured in New Netflix Series - The inspiring story of Polish WWII hero Julian Kulski, author of The Color of Courage, is set to reach a global audience through the upcoming Netflix series "World War II: From the Frontlines." The first episode of the series will highlight Kulski's extraordinary bravery during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Germans. Click here for the series trailer. Read the entire article online or in pdf....

November 5, 2023 - The Color of Courage Presented at Polish Museum of America - A copy of The Color of Courage by Julian Kulski was presented to Scoutmaster and President of the Board of the Polish Museum of America, Richard Owczesny, by Bozena Bienias who had filmed an interview with Kulski for a documentary about Poland in World War II.

 August 12, 2021 - Passing of Julian Kulski - It is with great sorrow that we report the death of Julian Kulski, author of The Color of Courage—A Boy at War: The World War II Diary of Julian Kulski. Mr. Kulski died at home in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, August 12, 2021 at age 92, after a year-long illness. We are privileged and honored to have known and worked with Mr. Kulski. Funeral services will be held in Washington, D.C. at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle on September 17, 2021. Additional funeral ceremonies will be held in Poland in early October, and will be official, with a military honor guard accompanying burial of Mr. Kulski's ashes in the Kulski family tomb at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.

This indomitable, courageous and gracious gentleman was recruited into the Polish Underground Army at age 12, undertook a secret mission into the Warsaw Ghetto with his commander to liaise with Jewish resistance leaders at age 13, was arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo at age 14, fought as a commando in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising at age 15, and ended the war in a German POW camp from which he escaped at age 16. He made his way to England, where he had to learn English, then to the U.S. where he worked his way through Yale University, obtaining both his bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture, followed years later by a doctorate in Urban Planning from the Warsaw Institute of Technology.

Mr. Kulski built a successful career as an architect, in both his own private practice and working around the world on projects as a consultant for the World Bank. He is the author of several books and more than 100 articles in professional journals. Mr. Kulski led the urban and regional planning programs at Notre Dame University and at George Washington University, and later established the first city planning program at Howard University.

He is the recipient of numerous awards from the Polish government, including the highly prestigious Cross of Valor, the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit, Silver Cross of Merit with Swords, the Home Army Cross, the Polish Army Medal (four times), and the Cross of the Warsaw Uprising.

Julian Kulski was a lifelong patriot of both his birth and adopted homelands, Poland and the U.S., and a fervent champion of freedom and democracy. In his Epilogue to The Color of Courage, Mr. Kulski concludes: "The fight for freedom does not cease with the winning or losing of individual battles, but is timeless. It does not take long to turn freedom-loving people into slaves under a totalitarian dictatorship....This makes me certain that no amount of effort, no amount of resistance, and no amount of tears is too much in defense of liberty."

We salute this great hero of WWII. RIP after a life well-lived, Julian Kulski.

January 28, 2020, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm, 3310 Turlington Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7342 - Julian Kulski's book The Color of Courage is the subject of a symposium hosted by the Center for European Studies at the University of Florida, titled "Childhood Agency in Julian Kulski's WWII Diary." This symposium is part of the "WWII: Beyond the Battlefields - CES Series Marking the 75th Anniversary of the End of WWII," and is open to the public. This talk by Corinne Matthews, Ph.D. Candidate, explores how Kulski demonstrates childhood agency as he fully participates in, and even leads, acts of resistance to the German occupation. Ultimately, Kulski's record demonstrates the efficacy of children working both alone and in conjunction with adults to resist tyranny. More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/1498202083672141/?active_tab=about

 August 3, 2017 - Polish Foreign Ministry awards Julian Kulski - We have even more to be proud of! Julian Kulski, author of The Color of Courage, was just awarded the Bene Merito Award by Deputy Foreign Minister Jan Dziedziczak in Warsaw today. More congratulations to Julian!

July 31, 2017 - Polish President awards Julian Kulski - We're so proud of Julian Kulski, author of The Color of Courage, who was awarded the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta by Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw today. Congratulations, Julian!

July 4, 2017 - WWII Warsaw Mayor Julian S. Kulski Honored - Julian S. Kulski, Mayor of Warsaw during WWII (and father of Julian E. Kulski, author of our book The Color of Courage) was honored with a memorial plaque at the headquarters of Bank Citi Handlowy w. Warsaw on July 4, 2017. The bank's headquarters building is located on the site of pre-war Warsaw City Hall. Calling Mayor Kulski one of the "heroes who can today inspire next generations," Slawomir Sikora, president of City Handlowy, said "During the occupation, his administration was refuge for thousands of people...He saved many Polish Jews. He helped commanders and soldiers of the Polish Home Army and provided shelter for hundreds of families with children." [Photo: Kulski family, 1939. L-R: daughter Wanda, wife Eugenia, Julian S. Kulski, son Julian E. Kulski.] Read the entire article online or pdf...

May/June 2017 - Association of Jewish Libraries reviews The Color of Courage - In its publication AJL News & Reviews, the Association of Jewish Libraries reviews the award-winning book The Color of Courage by Julian Kulski. Calling Kulski's account "riveting," the review concludes: "Holocaust libraries might find this book useful for its insights into the role of the Polish underground." Read the review in pdf ....

September 13, 2016 - Brazilian edition of The Color of Courage - We just received our copies of the Brazilian edition (translated to Portuguese, of course!) of The Color of Courage by Julian Kulski, from the publisher, Editora Valentina, to whom we licensed the Portuguese translation rights for Brazil. Released in August, the book has garnered great reviews so far!

July 11, 2016 - The Jerusalem Post reviews The Color of Courage - "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," says the Jerusalem Post in its review of The Color of Courage. Calling Julian Kulski's wartime diary "immensely accessible today," the review concludes, "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 the 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." Read the entire review online OR pdf...

February 10, 2016 - Washington, D.C. - National Press Club - Julian Kulski, author of The Color of Courage, spoke at the Washington, D.C. National Press Club luncheon meeting of American Legion Post 20. Speaking to an enthralled audience, Mr. Kulski described his wartime experience as a boy soldier in the Polish Underground, illustrated with a short clip from his documentary film Legacy of the White Eagle. (Photo: Rex Stucky)