Julien Pappé was born in 1920 in Rzeszow, Poland. From a very young age, he was interested in meticulous craftsmanship and joined a model-making club. He later put his talent to use in the manufacture of wooden puppets. When war broke out, he was enlisted as a young officer and formed a puppet theatre troupe with his fellow officers. This gave him the opportunity to satirise the absurdity of war.