Maybe you read this story in The Reader or somewhere else a long time ago, and you doubt its truth.
Indeed, a long time ago, I thought the same thing.
......
On April 8, 1942, near Hamadan, Iran, a group of Polish soldiers stationed here met an Iranian boy with a bear. ......
You ask why there are poles in Iran? They are from the Soviet Union. To be precise, they came from Poland, and their territory was divided between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Under British diplomatic pressure, refugees were organized into what has always been called "Anders' army" (with commander W? Addis? Aw Anders) organization. 1942, he came to Iran from the Soviet Union and was in charge of the British.
Still talking about the bear. The bear's mother has been killed by the hunter, so the little boy brought the bear back. Such a cute little thing naturally attracted the love of Poles, so someone bought this bear, and this little bear with a hairy head became a small pet of local Polish soldiers and refugees. And named it "Wojtek", which means "people who enjoy the war" in Polish (only one word is needed for such a long meaning? )。
When Vojtek Jr. arrived, he became the darling of Polish exiles, and everyone wanted to hug him.
At first, Vojtek had some swallowing problems, so everyone fed him condensed milk. Later, he was given fruit, jam, honey and syrup. In short, it eats whatever the soldiers feed it. Fortunately, it is a bear. If it's a tiger, it's not easy to feed.
Later, someone fed it beer, and Vojtek often wandered around the camp dizzy.
In this way, Vojtek grew bigger and bigger, and his usual hobby was wrestling with soldiers (it is estimated that no one can beat him), and he also learned to salute.
During the war, everyone was displaced. Vojtek moved from Iran to present-day Iraq, then moved to Syria, moved to Palestine and stayed in Egypt. Finally, Vojtek will land in Italy with the Polish Second Army.
When Alexander, the commander of the port, saw Vojtek, he should have thought that he had seen many battles, but he had never seen a bear in the army and wanted to go to Italy together! So he refused Vojtek on the grounds that wild animals were not allowed to board, and said that only official soldiers could board.
For Polish soldiers, Vojtek has long been one of them. How could he abandon it? So Vojtek gloriously joined the 22nd artillery transport company and became a private soldier. The company also applied for its service number, rank and payroll. Later, its good friend Narun Buschi joked in an interview: "Vojtek actually got paid, but it never received any money. Who told him to always eat twice as much food? "
In this way, Vojtek successfully boarded the transport ship to Naples. If Wojtek used to be just a mascot, now it has become a real ulfsaar!
It can "blend in" with everyone
She is especially popular with ladies.
"What are you looking at?"
"Look at you."
With the fierce fighting in the monastery of Mount Cassino, the Polish troops transferred to southern Italy were naturally put into the battlefield, and from mid-May, they began to replace the exhausted and heavy casualties of the British 78th Infantry Division. Because of his great strength, Vojtek was trained to carry all kinds of important materials, especially heavy materials such as artillery shells. Vojtek has never lost any materials he carried, nor has he been intimidated by gunfire and explosions. Therefore, the headquarters specially praised him for replacing the badge of the 22nd artillery transport company with a bear with a shell and renaming it the 22nd transport company.
1945, with the end of World War II, the 22nd Transport Company was moved to Hutton, Beric, Scotland, and Vojtek immediately gained the favor of local residents and media. Therefore, the Polish-Scottish Cultural Association awarded Vojtek honorary membership to show his love and reverence. 1947165438+1October 15 After the war, with the dissolution of the army, Vojtek was sent to Edinburgh Zoo, where he spent the rest of his life.
After retiring, Vojtek's life is still wonderful, and his style is more popular than that of celebrity artists. It is very popular in the zoo. Because it can understand Polish, it will wave to Polish tourists who greet it, and soldiers of World War II often cross the fence to catch up with it. People sometimes throw tobacco at him, but no one lights it for him. He can only chew tobacco to amuse himself.
196365438+February, Vojtek died. That year, I was 22 years old.
For Vojtek's former comrades-in-arms, he is a partner who can bring comfort in the cruel war. Is a comrade-in-arms who can fight side by side in a fierce battle. It is unique.
This is the legendary story of Wojtek, a Syrian brown bear in World War II.