Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War

During War-time all throughout history, you read accounts of soldiers bringing in or bringing with various animals, stray cats, dogs, pigeons or what have you. It's a way to boost morale, and bring a little bit of joy to an event that seldomly brings anything but misery. Some division pets became rather well known. But, the Polish 2nd corp went well beyond what most others did. Oh yeah, they went hardcore, and when you go hardcore, you go extreme, so far as to recruited a Brown Bear into their army. Yeah, can't get much more badass then that. But, the tale of this isn't particularity well known, and a somewhat obscure part of history, but not today. In this video, we will be looking at Wojtek, the Solider Bear.

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Following the German and Russian invasion of Poland. Thousands of Polish civilians and military members were imprisoned in Soviet Gulags, in accordance with the German-Soviet non aggression pact. However, following the start of operation Barbarossa. The Soviets renaged on this treaty, and released thousands of Polish prisoners, the Polish government in exile, managed to get a military treaty signed on August the 14th of 1941, that allowed a Polish army corp to be established on Soviet Soil. Its first commander, General Michał Tokarzewski, began the task of forming this army in the Soviet town of Totskoye on 17 August. Władysław Sikorski, the prime minister of Poland at the time, ultimately chose Lieutenant General Władysław Anders to lead this new army. The Polish Second corp would be made up of all Polish military contingents that were fighting in the allied theaters of war. With a large section being on men aiding the British in the middle east, and Polish army units that had escape through the Persian corridor, and their, is where our story takes place.

At a railroad station at Hamadan, Iran, on 8 April 1942, Polish soldiers encountered a young Iranian boy who had found a bear cub whose mother had been shot by hunters. One of the civilians with them, took a liking to the cub, prompting Lieutenant Anatol Tarnowiecki to buy the young bear, which spent the next three months in a Polish refugee camp established near Tehran. In August the bear was donated to the 2nd Transport Company, which later became the 22nd Artillery Supply Company, and he was named Wojtek by the soldiers. Meaning, Happy Solider. From the beginning he became a popular member of the Company spending most of his time with the soldiers of the 4th Platoon. Two of his closest friends were two young soldiers, Dymitr Szawlugo and Henryk Zacharewicz, later, his caregivers.

Wojtek initially had problems swallowing, and was eventually fed condensed milk from an old vodka bottle with a twisted handkerchief. The vodka bottle contained a few drops of alcohol which were accidentally mixed into the milk. The soldiers later thought that this may have been the reason why Wojtek had developed a taste for alcoholic beverages, namely for beer, in his later years. He was subsequently given fruit, marmalade, honey and syrup, and was often rewarded with beer, which became his favorite drink. He later also enjoyed eating cigarettes, because that's what you give a bear obviously, as well as drinking coffee in the mornings. Interestingly, the cigarettes had to be lit in order for him to consume them. When offered an unlit cigarette he was quick to spit it out.