Dying, we live: The personal chronicle of a young freedom fighter in Warsaw, 1939-1945

by Julian E. Kulski, Julian Eugeniusz Kulski

150 PHOTOS,

Genres: History, World War II, Poland

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Julian E. Kulski, born in 1929 in Warsaw, Poland, is descended from a 19th century Chief Rabbi of Warsaw, Dov Beer Meisels, and an 18th century King of Poland, Stanisław Leszczyn ́ski.

After the war, Kulski studied architecture in England and the U.S., receiving his B.Arch. in 1953 and M.Arch. in 1955 from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Urban Planning in 1966 from the Warsaw Institute of Technology. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) (an honor bestowed upon less than 2 percent of American architects) and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).

Now semi-retired from a distinguished architectural career, 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. For twenty years he served as a consultant to the World Bank, traveling around the world designing buildings in twenty-
nine developing countries.

Kulski has authored several books, published more than a hundred articles in professional journals, and produced an award-winning documentary about World War II, titled Legacy of the White Eagle. Kulski is a frequent speaker to audiences ranging in age from junior high school to adult. A member of the Board of Trustees of the Kos ́ciuszko Foundation, Kulski is the recipient of numerous decorations awarded by 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.

Kulski and his wife live in Washington, D.C

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad I read this book, even though I'm likely to lose sleep due to the final passages. Anyone who knows their history knows this story ends with a lot of tragedy, and while the author obviously lived to tell the tale, it was a near thing. Not that it's all despair - there's much here about the importance of family & country & duty, and actual adventure, and a lot about the combination of bravado & foolishness that the very young use to deal with situations beyond any ability to tolerate or control.
The author was 10 when his account begins, barely 16 when it ends, and during that time he trained with an underground army, spent time as a prisoner of the Gestapo, survived a number of close calls, and ultimately fought in the doomed 1944 Warsaw uprising. Considering how American WW2 stories focus so much on the Western front, "Dying, We Live" makes for a valuable spotlight on another part of the war, as well as being a fascinating personal account.

[Paul Darcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting something other than what I got with this one.

I was looking for something ala Anne Frank . . . but this is not the case. You see, this diary was all written months after the war ended, and it shows.

The entries on specific dates have a good dose of foreshadowing which would not happen if it was actually written on the date and not after the war was over.

Does this make this recollection invalid . . . not really. It still does give a good account of life in occupied Warsaw, but a slightly warped account seen from the perspective of knowing how everything turns out in the end.

Overall a pretty decent read, but more an after-the-war memoir than a account of as-it-happened.

[Lynn Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author was only 10 years old when the Nazis overran Poland. He soon joined the resistance - the Polish Freedom Fighters - and faced incredible danger and hardship. Through his own journal entries, he tells the story of the Warsaw ghetto uprising from the view of an outsider who tried to help the Jews trapped inside and fighting for their lives. He also participated in the Polish uprising - then spent the final few months in a labor camp, before his release by the Allied troops in 1945. He was then 15 years old.

[Marie Sontag · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very helpful book for me because I'm researching first-hand information about the 1944 Warsaw Rising for my fictional novel, "Rising Hope". Kurski gives dates for specific events and first-hand accounts of what happened to him, personally, on those dates, while living in Warsaw (1939-1945). The book also includes b&w pics, as well as a map of Warsaw between 1939-1944.