During World War II, many brave people fought in their armies, but one of the most surprising soldiers was not a person, but a bear named Wojtek. He was a brown bear who became a member of the Polish Army. Brown bears usually live in the wild, where they spend their time hunting for food like berries, fish, and small animals. In nature, bears stay far away from people but when a bear is raised by humans, it can grow friendly and form a bond with people. That’s exactly what happened with Wojtek. 

Right in the middle of WWII, after being released from a prisoner of war camp in the Soviet Union, some Polish soldiers were going through Iran. They met a boy who had a bear cub and they bought him. The cub was still very small, and the soldiers had to feed him just like a human baby. Wojtek grew up thinking he was just one of them. Although he became large enough to hurt the soldiers, he was very gentle and loved to play and wrestle with the soldiers. 

When the soldiers went to fight in Italy, they found out there would be a problem with taking the bear with them. Pets weren’t allowed on the ship, so they enlisted him as a soldier. He helped during battles by carrying heavy boxes of supplies and artillery shells. Wojtek is often remembered as a war hero, though in a very unusual way. He wasn’t a general or a soldier with medals, but he was part of the Polish Army, and his bravery and loyalty made him important.

At the end of WWII, the Polish soldiers were afraid to return to Poland. Many of them had already been in a Soviet Union prisoner of war camp and they found out the Soviets had taken over their country. Many returning Polish soldiers were treated badly by the Soviets in Poland because the Soviets were worried that the soldiers might want Poland to be independent and democratic, instead of being controlled by the Soviet Union. Some were watched closely, some lost their jobs, and sadly, some were even arrested. Instead of returning home, the soldiers took Wojtek and moved to Scotland where he lived in the Edinburgh zoo. The soldiers knew he would be taken care of in the zoo and they went to see him often. During the war, the soldiers had taught Wojtek to salute, so when visitors at the zoo waved at the bear he would stand up like a human and salute the visitors. 

Wojtek the bear died in 1963 at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. By then he was about 21 years old, which is a long life for a bear in captivity. Even after his death, people remembered him as more than just a zoo animal—he was the bear who went to war. Veterans who had served with him never forgot their unusual comrade, and today his story is still told around the world.