There are times when bear and man are friends. What makes the difference is the way you meet and the possibility of establishing a relationship. Wojtek, the soldier bear, has become a WWII hero and, at the Liberation of Bologna on 21 April 1945, he was there too.
Wojtek was a puppy originally from Syria, who was orphaned: it was adopted by Polish POW soldiers who were being transported from a Siberian gulag across the Middle East to Alexandria, Egypt. Lieutenant Anatol Tarnowieckikept decided to keep it, after seeing how his presence improved the mood of his men, who fed him with a bottle of vodka used as a baby bottle. The little bear was fed fruit, jam, honey and syrup, but he also showed a particular appreciation for beer, which became his favorite drink. As he got older, he also began to like cigarettes (which he ate) and coffee.
He slept with the other soldiers when they were cold at night, he liked to fight with them and, since he liked to imitate them, he also learned to return the greeting. With the 22nd Company he moved to Iraq, and then went through Syria, Palestine and Egypt.
From Egypt, with the Polish Army Corps he left to fight the Italian campaign. The regulation of the ship that was to take them to Italy, however, forbade the transport of pets: to allow Wojtek to get around the law, the bear was officially drafted into the Polish army as a simple soldier, complete with documents and pay slip.
During the battle of Montecassino, Wojtek helped his unit to carry ammunition by moving 45 kilo crates of artillery shells, without ever dropping any. The bear imitated the soldiers: when he saw them lifting boxes, he copied them. But he could haul crates that normally required the strength of four men. His self-sacrifice earned him the promotion to the rank of corporal and the official emblem of the 22nd Company became a bear carrying a large projectile.
At the end of the Second World War, the Company was transferred to Scotland, and on 15 November 1947, when the Polish unit was demobilized, the bear-soldier was taken to Edinburgh Zoo. Accustomed to the adventurous life among the troops, he spent the rest of his life in constant sadness. But when the former soldiers of the 22nd Company visited him, Wojtek he stood on his hind legs to give them a military salute. He died in December 1963, at the age of twenty-two.
Four years ago, in Cassino, in Piazza XV February, a statue was inaugurated in his memory.
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Source: Vanity Fair
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