History, cinema, and books are replete with stories of animals displaying exemplary courage and loyalty. The tale of Private Wojtek, the soldier bear, is no different. In fact, it is nothing short of awe-inspiring, more so because it’s a true story.
The legend of Wojtek begins in 1942, when he was found in Iran by a local boy and traded for a few tins of food to soldiers of the Polish Army stationed nearby. The soldiers cared for the Syrian brown bear cub and fed him milk from empty vodka bottles, fruits, honey and marmalade. Over time though, he began imitating his caretakers, consuming beer and cigarettes. Of course, he ended up mostly chewing the cigarettes instead of smoking them. Soon, the endearing bear became an unofficial mascot of all the Polish units stationed in the area. He moved with the company to various countries.
When the bear traveled with the Polish army to Europe to fight alongside the British in the Italian Campaign, they soon figured out that having animals as mascots was banned. This was when the bear came to be enlisted as Private Wojtek (smiling warrior) among the soldiers of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Polish II Corps. It was in the Battle of Monte Cassino that Wojtek achieved the status of a war hero. Several accounts have been provided of his services in transporting numerous crates of ammunition, without dropping a single one. When the war ended in 1945, the bear was sent to Berwickshire in Scotland, along with a few of his fellow soldiers.
The role played by Wojtek in the war against the Nazis has been widely recognized and remembered over the years. An effigy of the bear holding an artillery shell was adopted as the official emblem of the 22nd Transport Company. A book titled “Wojtek the Bear, Polish War Hero,” written by Aileen Orr, was published last year. This year, a £200,000 bronze statue is being erected in his honor in Edinburg, where he lived after the war ended.
Wojtek spent his last days at Edinburg Zoo, visited by former Polish soldiers and several journalists. He died in December 1963, at the age of 22. Today, Wojtek is not only considered a war hero, but also a symbol of the part played by the Polish in WW2.
Cartoon Of The Day
The Irena Sendler Story
The Irena Sendler Story
There recently was a death of a 98 year old lady named Irena.
During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist.
She had an ulterior motive…
She KNEW what the Nazi’s plans were for the Jews, (being German).
Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of her tool box she carried, and she carried in the back of her truck a Burlap sack, (for larger kids).
She also had a dog in the back, that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in, and out of the ghetto.
The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.
During her time and course of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants.
She was caught, and the Nazi’s broke both her legs, and arms, and beat her severely.
Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out, and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard.
After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it, and reunited the family.
Most of course had been gassed.
Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes, or adopted.
Last year Irena was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize….
She LOST.
Al Gore won, for doing a slide show on Global Warming.
Try to Guess WHO I AM.
I was born in one country, raised in another. My father was born in another country. I was not his only child. He fathered several children with numerous women.
I became very close to my mother, as my father showed no interest in me. My mother died at an early age from cancer. I became close with my grandmother.
Later in life, questions arose over my real name.
My birth records were sketchy and no one was able to produce a legitimate, reliable birth certificate.
I grew up practicing one faith but converted to Christianity, as it was widely accepted in my country, but I practiced non-traditional beliefs & didn’t follow Christianity, except in the public eye under scrutiny.
I worked and lived among lower-class people as a young adult, disguising myself as someone who really cared about them.
That was before I decided it was time to get serious about my life and I embarked on a new career.
I wrote a book about my struggles growing up. It was clear to those who read my memoirs that I had difficulties accepting that my father abandoned me as a child.
I became active in local politics in my 30’s then with help behind the scenes, I literally burst onto the scene as a candidate for national office in my 40s. They said I had a golden tongue and could talk anyone into anything. That reinforced my conceit.
I had a virtually non-existent resume, little work history, and no experience in leading a single organization. Yet I was a powerful speaker and citizens were drawn to me as though I were a magnet and they were small roofing tacks.
I drew incredibly large crowds during my public appearances. This bolstered my ego.
At first, my political campaign focused on my country’s foreign policy. I was very critical of my country in the last war and seized every opportunity to bash my country.
But what launched my rise to national prominence were my views on the country’s economy. I pretended to have a really good plan on how we could do better and every poor person would be fed & housed for free.
I knew which group was responsible for getting us into this mess. It was the free market, banks & corporations. I decided to start making citizens hate them and if they were envious of others who did well, the plan was clinched tight.
I called mine “A People’s Campaign” and that sounded good to all people.
I was the surprise candidate because I emerged from outside the traditional path of politics & was able to gain widespread popular support.
I knew that, if I merely offered the people ‘hope’, together we could change our country and the world.
So, I started to make my speeches sound like they were on behalf of the downtrodden, poor, ignorant to include “persecuted minorities” like the Jews. My true views were not widely known & I needed to keep them unknown, until after I became my nation’s leader.
I had to carefully guard reality, as anybody could have easily found out what I really believed, if they had simply read my writings and examined those people I associated with.
I’m glad they didn’t. Then, I became the most powerful man in the world. And the world learned the truth.
Who am I?
I am . . . ADOLF HITLER.
WHO WERE YOU THINKING OF?
Scary isn’t it?
Billboard Of The Day
An Iowa tea party group’s billboard comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin has been taken down.



