This presentation is a part of an eTwinning project "Wojtek the Soldier Bear"

1. Wojtek the Soldier Bear
AND ANDERS’ ARMY

2. 1st September 1939 –
Germany invaded Poland

3. 17th September 1939-
the Soviet Union invaded
Poland

4. Soviets arrested hundreds of thousands Polish
people. Whole families were deported to the Soviet
Union to Siberia, Kazahstan, Kolyma,…

5. 22nd June 1941-
Germany invaded the Soviet Union

6. 30th July 1941, London – treaty between
the Soviet Union and Poland
 the Soviets granted "amnesty"
to many Polish citizens
imprisoned just for having
Polish nationality,from whom a
40,000-strong army (Anders
Army, later known as the Polish
II Corps) was formed under
General Władysław Anders.

7. August 1941-March 1942: Anders
Army created in the Soviet Union
Polish volunteers to Anders' Army,
released from a Soviet Gulag camp Forces of Polish Army in Russia 1942

8. March 1942 – based on the British-Soviet-Polish
understanding, Anders’ Army was evacuated from
the Soviet Union and made its way through Iran to
Palestine.
 There were about 120 000
Polish people, including 43
000 civilians with 18 000
children.
Polish people who left the Soviet Union with
Anders’ Army in March1942. Photo: IPN
Polish children in Iran in 1942. Photo: IPN

9. April 1942, near Hamadan in Iran – Polish
soldiers bought a brown bear cub which was named
Wojtek.

10. Wojtek was subsequently given fruit, marmalade, honey and syrup, and
was often rewarded with beer, which became his favourite drink. He later
also enjoyed smoking (or eating) cigarettes.

11. Wojtek loved wrestling with the soldiers and was taught to salute when greeted.
Wojtek became quite an attraction for soldiers and civilians alike, and soon became an
unofficial mascot of all units stationed nearby. With the 22nd Company he moved to
Iraq and then through Syria, Palestine and Egypt to Italy and finally after the war to
Scorland.

12. To get Wojtek onto a British transport ship when the unit sailed with the rest of
the Polish II Corps from Egypt to fight alongside the British 8th Army in the Italian
campaign (December 1943), Wojtek was officially drafted into the Polish Army as
a Private and was listed among the soldiers of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company.

13. As an enlisted soldier of the company, with his own paybook, rank
and serial number, he lived with the other men in tents or in a special
wooden crate, which was transported by truck. According to
numerous accounts, during the Battle of Monte Cassino (May 1944)
Wojtek helped by carrying ammunition – never dropping a single
crate.
The badge of the 22nd Artillery
Support Company of the 2nd
Polish Corps. The unit made a
design of Wojtek (Voytek) the
bear carrying a heavy artillery
their emblem after his work in
such a role during the
campaigns in the Middle East
and Italy.

14. 18th May 1944
Monte Cassino

15. After the battle of Monte Cassino Wojtek
played in the sea. Wojtek loved water.

16. After the war in September 1946 Wojtek with the
rest of the 22nd Company went by ship from
Naples (Italy) to Glasgow (Scotland).
Statue of Wojtek in Imola in Italy

17. They were stationed at Winfield Airfield on Sunwick Farm, near the
village of Hutton, Scottish Borders. Wojtek soon became popular
among local civilians and the press, and the Polish-Scottish
Association made him one of its honorary members.

18. Following demobilisation on 15 November 1947, Wojtek
was given to Edinburgh Zoo, where he spent the rest of his
life, often visited by journalists and former Polish soldiers.

19. Wojtek died in December 1963,
at the age of 21 in Edinburgh ZOO.

21. Wojtek Journey map from Wojtek the
Bear… by Aileen Orr, 2012

22. About Wojtek some books were written. One of
them is Wojtek The Bear: Polish War Hero
by Aileen Orr

23. The are some statues and monuments
of Wojtek in many countries.
In Edinburgh in Scotland At Sikorski Museum in London in England

24. In Imola in Italy
In Cracow in Poland
In Żagań in Poland

25. Anna Szczepaniak & Diana Linford
eTwinning project „Wojtek the Soldier Bear”
Resourses:
Wikipedia
Wikimedia
Pinterest
http://www.powiatzaganski.pl/PL/550/2374/Delegacja_z_ZSTH_na_uroczystosciach_odsloniecia_pomnika_niedzwiedzia_Wojtka__w_Imoli__
we_Wloszech/k/
http://www.scotiana.com/wojtek-the-bear-a-beloved-polish-veteran-in-scotland/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojtek_(bear)