January 25, 2008
Honour sought for ‘Soldier Bear’
When Polish forces were deployed to Europe the only way to take the bear with them was to “enlist” him.
So he was given a name, rank and number and took part in the Italian campaign.
He saw action at Monte Cassino before being billeted – along with about 3,000 other Polish troops – at the army camp in the Scottish Borders.
The soldiers who were stationed with him say that he was easy to get along with.
more on bbc
comments
Leave a Reply
I note that a teacher is at work on a book about Voytek.
In truth, the story strikes me as the germ of an archetypal work of twentieth-century fiction from Mittel Europa.
great post.
So haunting, the reminiscence of the veteran — one of Voytek’s ‘brothers-in-arms’ — who after the war visited the bear in the Edinburgh Zoo. That Voytek responded to the Polish language and on hearing his name “would sit on his backside and shake his head wanting a cigarette”.
The specificity of the recollection, “It wasn’t easy to throw a cigarette to him – all the attempts I made until he eventually got one.”
I will not be surprised if tonight I meet Voytek in my dreams.