Can. Times Jan. 2015.Indd

THE CANADA TIMES January 2015 As it happened Wojtek, the Polish Soldier Bear Jeanie Johnston Educational Foundation Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jeruslem 155,du Buisson, Pierrefonds, P.Q.H8Y 2Z5 Tel.: 514-341-7777 Email: [email protected] Wojtek*, the Polish Soldier Bear By Irene Tomaszewski (*pronounced Voytek) veteran with 26 months service, Private Voytek joined the orn in a Soviet gulag to Polish A Polish II Corps in Syria, and went on to see action at Monte Bparents, in 1942 Tomaszewski Cassino, Ancona, Loretto, and Bologna. He was a genuine hero, and her mother were evacuated from loved and respected by his comrades. As one Italian headline the Soviet Union. After six years in later put it: Wojtek l’orso che libero l’Italia (Wojtek, the bear an East Africa refugee camp, the that liberated Italy). family were reunited. In 1949, they immigrated to Canada. This raises a few questions: What was a Syrian brown bear doing in the Polish army in the Middle East? How did the Polish Irene Tomaszewski was a founding army even get to the Middle East? How did Wojtek officially president of the Canadian Foundation enlist and get the rank of Private? And why did he journey for Polish Studies. She has co- on with his comrades into battle and, in the end, even to be authored, with Tecia Webowski, a demobilized in Scotland? book Żegota: The Rescue of Jews in Wartime Poland, published in Canada When we in the West speak of the Allied victory over Nazi in 1994, a non-fiction account of a Germany, the principal allies are generally understood to be clandestine organization in occupied Britain, the US, and the USSR. It is often overlooked that the Poland. The subject of her book, Soviet Union’s participation did not start that way. Indeed, Żegota, was a Polish-Jewish council after signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939, the operating from 1942 to 1945 under USSR and Nazi Germany agreed to jointly invade, partition the umbrella of the Polish Government and occupy Poland, and collaborate in the suppression of in Exile or more precisely under the all resistance. During this period, the Soviets annexed huge Government Delegate’s Office at tracts of eastern Poland, arrested, and executed thousands, and Home (Delegatura Rządu na Kraj), deported hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens to the Gulag, the only such organization in World thereby changing “the facts on the ground.” War II. The book was reissued in 1999 as Żegota: The Council for Aid to It was only when Hitler turned on his erstwhile ally in June Jews in Occupied Poland, 1942-45. 1941 that Stalin suddenly needed help. And the West was Irene Tomaszewski is the screenwriter prepared to offer it, but with conditions, among them that Stalin of a documentary of the same name. release his Polish prisoners and allow the formation of a Polish army. Tomaszewski is also the editor and translator of I’m First a Human The Poles emerged from the Soviet prisons and camps, Being: The Prison Letters of Krystyna streamed from the far reaches of Siberia and headed south to Wituska (1997). In 2006 the book the new headquarters of their own army under the command was published in the United States as of General Wladyslaw Anders. He too had just been released Inside a Gestapo Prison: The Letters from the infamous Lubyanka Prison in Moscow. Having met of Krystyna Wituska, 1942-1944. these conditions of the new alliance, Stalin only grudgingly and meagerly supplied the Polish army with food and arms. The For over twenty years, Leo Delaney Poles opted to negotiate their way out of Russia to regroup in has been a good friend of Irene the Middle East to fight under British command. and her husband, Alex. They spent many hours together at the Troika in It was during the long trek from Russia to Iraq that some young Montreal. Polish soldiers came across a bear cub whose mother had been killed. For these very young men, having just endured captivity and forced labour, sick, emaciated and most of them mourning … 2 … the loss of parents and siblings, the little bear was a light-hearted presence in their traumatized young lives. They loved him, cared for him, and called him Wojtek. And for some time, they concealed his presence from their officers. But cubs grow; Wojtek could not remain a secret for long. Of course Wojtek charmed the officers too so now it was just a matter of concealing the bear from senior officers, but they too were quickly charmed by the little bear and noted the boost in morale that the bear provided. They knew from their own experience what these young soldiers had just lived through, and that many had lost family in the Gulag. Wojtek was needed. At first, the men fed the cub condensed milk, gradually adding fruit and honey. As Wojtek grew bigger, he acquired a taste for other food not normally a part of a bear’s diet including beer and cigarettes, which he ate. He enjoyed wrestling but, once he got bigger than the men, he seemed to understand that his size gave him an advantage so he wrestled more gently. He also enjoyed games of tug-of-war. But he was no idler and often helped out carrying heavy equipment. All went well until the Polish II Corps got orders to prepare for a landing in Italy, and the battle of Monte Cassino. While Wojtek Wojtek having fun with a friend had become an accepted fixture on the army base, getting past the British officers to board ship required more creativity. The regulations were strict: the transport was for the army, and only for the army. Disciplined soldiers that they were, the Poles decided the only solution was to follow regulations. They enlisted Wojtek, complete with rank, serial number and a paybook, and men even taught him to salute. Still, a British officer did notice that Private Wojtek did not respond to a roll call. “He only speaks Polish and Persian,” the men explained and brought him forward. Once again there were no objections. Wojtek boarded the ship with his comrades, ready for battle. His engagement at Monte Cassino is the stuff of legends. An enormous bear, he carried heavy equipment and great artillery shells. Cheerful, cooperative and energetic, he not only helped with the work but was a boon for the spirits of the men. After the battle, an image of Wojtek carrying an artillery shell became the official badge of the 22nd Transport Company. When the war ended, the men and women of the Polish II Corps had no homes to return to. Even as the men were fighting, their allies turned their country over to Stalin. Returning to Poland under Moscow’s control would likely have ended in being deported again to the Gulag. Or worse. Churchill and other former wartime comrades ensured that the Polish veterans were brought to Britain to be honorably discharged. Some were sent to Scotland where they were warmly welcomed and, with the help of Wojtek, made many friends. For two years they lived in barracks in a camp in nearby Winfield, in Berwickshire, where they took classes in English and in a variety of trades to adapt them to civilian life, whether in the UK or in other countries that would accept them. Many would eventually go to Canada. But meantime, they still had Wojtek. Official badge of the 22nd (cont. p.4) … 3 … Wojtek (cont.) By all accounts, Wojtek was a girl magnet. The soldiers were often invited to socials and dances and they soon noticed that having a bear with them meant that they would be surrounded by admiring young Scottish girls. Wojtek enjoyed this social life. He would sit and drink a beer, often swaying to the music as he watched the festivities. He left the dancing to the men. Compared to Scottish Calvinists, Polish Catholic men could dance like Fred Astaire. At first the clergy from both sides looked askance at this early ecumenism, but the young people took the matter in their own hands and a lot of girls traded in names like MacDonald or Campbell for the more challenging Wojciechowski or Szypowski. In time, the men were resettled in new jobs or left for new countries and the barracks were closed. Voytek, meanwhile, remained a great concern to all. He could not be abandoned. The Edinburgh Zoo offered him a home and Wojtek became the most popular attraction. There, Wojtek lived out the remaining years of his life, the friendliest bear that ever lived outside a storybook. For years, his old comrades visited and broke all rules, jumping over the fence for a bit of wrestling. The zoo officials were tolerant, the playful antics enjoyed great popularity. One day, a little girl joined a school trip to the zoo. Her grandfather, who had known the Polish soldiers, told her about the bear and told her to greet him in Polish, pronouncing his name properly. “Czesc, Wojtek!” She did, and Wojtek responded joyfully. Today the little girl, Aileen Orr, is a member of the Scottish Parliament. Ms Orr has established the Wojtek Memorial Trust to honour him and his comrades from World War II, and to strengthen the bonds between Scotland and Poland. The Trust raised funds for Wojtek’s memorial statue to be erected in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, and registered Wojtek’s very own tartan. Ms Orr is the author of Wojtek the Bear: Polish War Hero.

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