It’s Spring 1942 and Polish Armed Forces are on the move to Iran with thousands of Polish civilian refugees. It’s a long trip and en-route to Tehran they took a stop outside the city of Hamadan. While resting a young Iranian boy appeared with a Syrian bear cub who had lost his mother to hunters.
One of the refugees, 18-year-old Irena Bokiewicz became very fond of the cub. The young bear was purchased and travelled on with them and spent three months in the Polish refugee came, cared for mostly by Irena.
In August 1942 he was donated to the 2nd Transport Company (that would later become the 22nd Artillery Supply Company). It was the soldiers in the Company that finally named him Wojtek.
Wojtek suffered from swallowing problems initially and had been fed condensed milk from an old vodka bottle. However, he progressed well and eventually the soldiers began to reward him with beer, which he took to, and it quickly became his favourite beverage. Wojtek was also partial to a cigarette. He interacted well with his soldiers and wrestled with them often, something both soldiers and bear enjoyed. He was also taught to salute, which would prove useful later on.
Wojtek was drafted into the Polish Army so he could travel to Egypt with the Company on a British Transport Ship. The Company was headed there to fight along side the British 8th Army in the Italian campaign. He officially became a Private in the Polish Army, with his own rank and serial number as well as his own pay book. His handlers were Henryk Zacharewicz and Dymitr Szawlugo. He continued to live and work with the men and is said to have helped carry ammunition for the soldiers. This and his popularity in the army led to a change in emblem for the 22 Company — its new one had a bear carrying an artillery shell.
After World War II the 22nd Company ended up stationed in Berwickshire, Scotland, Wojtek was with them. For the next couple of years Wojtek became very popular with the locals and local press and was made an honorary member of the Polish-Scottish Association.
In November 1947 22nd Company was demobbed and Wojtek went to live in his final home, Edinburgh Zoo. He stayed there until his death on December 2 1963. He was 21 years old.
Wojtek has a plaque memorial in the Imperial War Museum in London as well as a sculpture by David Harding in the Sikroski Museum in London.
On the 70th Anniversay of the Battle of Monte Cassino, 18 May 2014, a statue of Wojtek was unveiled in Park Jordana in Krakow, Poland.
In September 2013 The Wojtek Memorial Trust launched a campaign to have a permanent memorial statue to Wojtek erected in Edinburgh at a site in Princes Street Gardens. The campaign was successful and on 7 November 2015 the statue was unveiled.
Sitting behind the main statue is a relief detailing Wojtek’s journey with the Polish Army from Egypt to Scotland.
Inscribed on the memorial are the words: In memory of the Polish men and women who fought for your freedom and ours.
