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Soldier-bear during World War II
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Scottish campaigners are calling for a memorial to a soldier-bear which joined Polish troops on the front line during World War II and died in Edinburgh, media reported Saturday. Voytek, a 113-kilogram, 1.8-metre (249-pound, nearly six feet) brown bear, was adopted by the Poles after they found it in Iran in 1943.
They gave the animal beer and cigarettes, trained it to carry mortar shells and even enlisted it as a soldier so that it could keep travelling with them.
At the end of the war, the troops were billeted to southern Scotland and Voytek went along too, before being sent to Edinburgh Zoo when they were demobilised.
The animal remained at the zoo until its death in 1963.
Now a teacher from southern Scotland, Garry Paulin, is writing a book about the bear and a campaign has started to have Voytek's life commemorated in a statue.
Campaigner Aileen Orr said she first heard about the bear as a child from her grandfather, a Scottish soldier.
"The story is totally amazing and it would be good if we could have some memorial in Scotland, to celebrate the bear's life," she told the Scotsman newspaper.
Polish veteran Augustyn Karolewski, who still lives in Scotland, added: "He was like a big dog -- no-one was scared of him.
"He liked a cigarette, he liked a bottle of beer -- he drank a bottle of beer like any man."
(Agencies) |
据媒体上周六报道，苏格兰社会活动人士日前呼吁为一只“熊大兵”修建纪念碑，这只熊于二战期间加入波兰前线军队，后来在爱丁堡去世。
这只名叫“沃耶泰克”的棕熊重113公斤，高1米8，它于1943年在伊朗被波兰部队发现并收养。
波军士兵给它喝啤酒、教它抽烟，训练它运送追击炮弹。后来为了能让它随部队同行，军队索性将其“征召”入伍。
二战快结束时，波军到苏格兰南部驻扎，沃耶泰克也随部队来到了这里，之后因军队被遣散，它被送往爱丁堡动物园，直到1963年去世。
苏格兰南部的一名教师盖里•鲍林目前正在撰写一本讲述“沃耶泰克”事迹的书，苏格兰当地也兴起了呼吁修建沃耶泰克纪念雕像的运动。
运动参与者艾琳•奥尔说，她小时候听身为苏格兰军人的祖父说过这只熊的故事。
她在接受《苏格兰人》报的采访时说：“沃耶泰克的故事让人惊叹，如果我们在苏格兰能有个纪念物来纪念他，那就太好了。”
仍居住在苏格兰的波兰老兵奥古斯汀•卡洛勒维斯基说：“他就像一只大狗——大家都不怕他。”
“他喜欢来根香烟和一瓶啤酒——他就像人一样，会喝上一瓶啤酒。”
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（英语点津姗姗编辑）
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