History | Animals | Humor
The True Story of The Bear Who Fought in World War II
His name was Wojtek. He enjoyed cigarettes and beer.
Polish soldiers were at a railway station in Iran, headed back to Europe to fight in the second world war. Poland was being ravaged by the holocaust and the outside world was unimaginably violent.
At the train station, the soldiers saw a young boy standing with a bear cub. He’d found the bear by itself, which probably meant its mother was killed (bears don’t leave cubs unattended).
One of the Lieutenants adopted the bear at the behest of a young girl, a refugee, who was traveling with them. She begged the unit leader to bring the bear cub with them for fear it would be killed or abandoned.
Minutes later, the bear cub boarded a train with these Polish soldiers and began one of the most unique and compelling stories in military history.
His promotion through the military ranks
Lieutenant Wojciech Narebski was his caretaker and reflected, “He was like a child, like a small dog. He…
