馃攳
The Adorable Bear That Served In WWII - YouTube
Channel: BuzzFeed Multiplayer
[0]
- Welcome to Ruining History.
[1]
This week, we're talking
about Corporal Wojtek,
[4]
a Polish war hero.
[5]
- What was his first name?
[6]
- You shouldn't be asking
questions like this
[7]
so early in the episode.
[8]
- Isn't that what the intro's for,
[9]
so we can get context?
[10]
- Yeah, but this is a mystery.
[11]
You get to mystery.
[12]
(rousing patriotic music)
[19]
Have any of you heard of him at all?
[20]
- I couldn't even place the era
[22]
that he would exist in.
[23]
- His name sounds very modern.
[24]
It sounds like a startup.
[25]
Wojtek, protect your loans.
[27]
(laughing)
[30]
- [Shane] Early 1944,
[32]
the port of Naples.
[33]
In the thralls of the second world war,
[35]
British courier Archibald
Brown was processing
[38]
a newly arrived ship of Polish soldiers.
[40]
They had arrived at the port from Egypt,
[42]
and were set to join Allied
British Forces in combat
[45]
against the Germans and Italians.
[47]
As Archibald Brown processed the soldiers
[49]
of Poland's 22nd artillery supply company,
[51]
he accounted for every
last name on the roster,
[54]
save for one, Corporal Wojtek.
[56]
Brown called for him by name,
[58]
and received no answer.
[59]
One soldier stated,
[60]
"Well, he only understands
Polish and Persian."
[63]
- Oh, he's a spy.
[64]
- Think he's a spy?
[65]
- Yeah, why would you
know Polish and Persian,
[67]
in 1940s Poland?
[69]
I don't know.
[70]
It seems suspicious.
[71]
I'm just gonna say --
[72]
- Even if you don't know a language,
[73]
if you hear your name,
[74]
you're gonna turn around.
[76]
- As a guy with a silent J,
[77]
I've heard a lot of versions of my name,
[80]
when people have tried to call roster.
[82]
- So you think maybe they
were mispronouncing it?
[83]
- Yeah.
- [Sara] Yeah.
[84]
- [Andrew] Totally.
[85]
- But you would still have
those in your head, though.
[87]
- Is an Italian guy calling the roster?
[90]
- Uh, it's a British courier.
[91]
- Oh, British.
[92]
- No way they could pronounce his name.
[94]
- Copral Voj-tah.
[96]
(laughing)
[98]
- [Shane] It would seem
that the soldiers knew more
[99]
than they were letting on,
[100]
but it's unlikely that Archibald Brown
[102]
could conceive the true
nature of Corporal Wojtek.
[105]
Corporal Wojtek, raised in the mountains,
[107]
with a penchant for arm wrestling, booze,
[109]
and cigarettes.
[110]
Corporal Wojtek, who was
known to pick new recruits up
[113]
by their feet.
[115]
Corporal Wojtek, the very sight of whom
[117]
had been known to send enemies fleeing.
[120]
- I don't think the
image of a single soldier
[122]
could actually scare
people into surrendering.
[126]
I don't buy it.
[127]
(whimsical music)
[129]
- What the fuck?
[130]
- Now this is getting really suspicious.
[132]
- [Shane] It was then that Brown was shown
[134]
Corporal Wojtek.
[135]
He was six feet tall,
[136]
and he weighed 485 pounds,
[139]
and he was in a cage,
[140]
on account of the fact
that he was an actual bear.
[144]
He's a bear!
[145]
This is a story about a bear.
[149]
- A bear!
[150]
You're a trickster!
[153]
(laughing)
[154]
You tricksed us!
[155]
- He's just a big bear.
[156]
- An actual bear?
[157]
- He was a brown bear.
[158]
- As you know, bears are the
deadliest animal on earth,
[160]
and if you give a bear a gun,
[161]
that's double, if not triple trouble.
[163]
- And so he doesn't have a first name,
[164]
because he is a bear.
[165]
- Because he's a bear.
[167]
That's why I was so angry
[168]
that you guys were asking that question
[169]
right from the start.
[170]
Exactly how a military unit enlists a bear
[173]
probably needs some explaining.
[174]
So let's backtrack to April of 1942,
[177]
when the 22nd artillery supply
company of the Polish army
[181]
were making their way through
the Iranian mountains,
[183]
on a lengthy trek from the
Soviet Union to the Middle East,
[186]
where they were meant to
ally with British forces.
[188]
These soldiers were
previously prisoners of war,
[191]
and had only recently been
released from Siberian gulags
[193]
when the Allied powers
[194]
had successfully brokered their freedom.
[196]
So these guys were escaping Russia
[199]
to go join the fight with the Allies.
[201]
They were in prison,
[203]
and going through the Siberian mountains.
[205]
Some mountains.
[206]
- Iranian.
[206]
- Iranian mountains.
[208]
What's that?
[209]
- They went down, instead of --
[211]
- Is your knowledge of
geography that vast,
[213]
that you actually are
picturing the terrain
[215]
in your brain right now?
[216]
- Yes.
[217]
- [Shane] Taking a break
[218]
from their presumably grueling journey,
[220]
Lance Corporal Peter
Prendys and his soldiers
[222]
had stopped at a roadside,
[224]
when they were approached by a young boy
[225]
carrying a sack.
[226]
The child appeared to be starving,
[228]
and the soldiers offered him some meat.
[230]
Once the boy was fed,
[231]
he became more at ease with the soldiers,
[233]
who had noticed that the
sack around the boy's neck
[235]
seemed to be moving.
[237]
According to author Aileen Orr,
[238]
who founded the Wojtek
Memorial Trust, quote,
[241]
"To the men's immense surprise,
[242]
"when they cautiously
loosened the bag's ties,
[245]
"the small black snout
of a bear cub pushed out.
[249]
"He was a scrawny, unkempt little thing,
[251]
"obviously not properly fed."
[253]
- Like Paddington.
[254]
- Stop shoehorning Paddington,
[256]
look, I love that funny
little Paddington bear.
[259]
- This story's irresponsible, by the way.
[260]
- Why is that?
[261]
- Because it's painting
bears in a positive light,
[262]
and they're dangerous animals.
[264]
- How small could that bear have been?
[266]
- Must've been just a little guy.
[267]
- Yeah.
[268]
- [Shane] It would be revealed to the men
[269]
that the boy had found the
cub abandoned in a cave,
[272]
after its mother had presumably
been killed by hunters.
[275]
Likely knowing the boy would
part with the boy for a price,
[277]
but having little to
no money to their name,
[279]
the men gathered what they could.
[281]
According to Aileen Orr, a chocolate bar,
[283]
a Swiss army knife, and
a tin of corned beef,
[285]
among other goods,
[286]
and they made an offer.
[287]
The boy accepted,
[288]
and the men of the 22nd
artillery now had a pet bear.
[292]
They named him Wojtek,
[293]
Polish for smiling warrior.
[295]
- So you just leave the boy in the woods?
[296]
- The boy is fine.
[298]
He's got a village.
[299]
- How do you know that?
[300]
Did you interview him?
[301]
- No, I didn't interview the boy.
[302]
- He was probably a swindler.
[303]
He probably had a whole
barn full of bears.
[305]
- Of starving, a barn
full of starving bears.
[308]
- What is this slander
on this poor boy here?
[309]
What is going on?
[310]
(laughing)
[311]
- Waiting for the next
regiment to march through,
[312]
and get another chocolate,
[314]
he's probably got a fridge
full of chocolate bars.
[315]
- They love these starving bears.
[317]
- You're blinded by your
love for this weird bear.
[320]
- It's the old bear trick.
[323]
- By Orr's telling, Lance
Corporal Peter Prendys
[325]
and his men didn't do a great job
[327]
of hiding their new compatriot
from senior officers.
[329]
In one account, after being scooped
[331]
by birds circling overhead, aw,
[333]
Wojtek ran directly into a sergeant
[335]
during morning inspection,
[336]
and though the men might have
been understandably concerned,
[339]
the officer was allegedly
won over by the cub
[342]
in a heartbeat, because of course.
[344]
Isn't that cute?
[346]
- Yeah.
[347]
- That's not bad.
[347]
- Spooked by birds.
[348]
What a dream.
[349]
- He's gonna be a real dream
[350]
when he starts ripping out people's spines
[352]
from their back.
[353]
- [Shane] And when Major Chelminski,
[354]
an even higher ranking
officer discovered Wojtek,
[357]
Orr states that, quote,
[358]
"he was very taken with the little chap
[360]
"and for several weeks even
let him sleep overnight
[363]
"in his tent in a portable wash basin.
[365]
"Major Chelminski realized the bear cub
[367]
"was an extremely valuable asset.
[369]
"More than just a military mascot,
[370]
"around Wojtek,
[371]
"the men's morale was sky-high."
[373]
- Adorable.
[374]
- This is working, though,
[375]
the little sleeping in
a little wash basin.
[378]
- Oh, an adorable sight.
[379]
- It's great.
- Very good.
[380]
- You ever see a cat sleep in a sink?
[381]
- No.
[382]
- Oh, yes.
[383]
- Is it good?
[384]
- It's very good.
[385]
- Like a little cinnamon roll.
[386]
- I am not coming over
to your apartment anymore
[387]
if you get a bear.
[388]
(laughing)
[389]
That's a good loss for you to take there.
[391]
- Let's get a bear.
[392]
- And then it'll eat you in your sleep.
[393]
- [Shane] The soldiers raised
Wojtek as best they could,
[395]
nursing the cub with milk
in an old vodka bottle.
[398]
Lance Corporal Peter
Prendys, in particular,
[400]
seems to have taken on the biggest role
[402]
in caring for Wojtek.
[403]
It was Peter's bed that the
young cub would sneak into
[405]
late at night for comfort,
[406]
and Prendys would allegedly
even button his army coat
[409]
around the little bear
to protect them both
[411]
from the cold.
[412]
This is too adorable.
[414]
- Are there artist's
interpretations of this?
[417]
- There's photos of him.
[418]
- [Sara] Oh there are?
- You have photos?
[420]
- Wait, let's get 'em,
[421]
I need to get my peepers on this bear
[422]
Where?
[423]
- Here's a photo of the
bear you can look at.
[426]
- Oh.
[427]
(laughing)
[428]
- Oh.
- Oh God.
[430]
What is that react?
[431]
I have no idea what that reaction is.
[432]
- That was just, it's overwhelmingly cute.
[434]
- It's the cutest bear
I've ever seen in my life.
[437]
- Look at him just sitting
flat on the ground.
[439]
- I do love the way it sits.
[441]
- [Shane] As he grew, the
bear became accustomed
[444]
to the routine life of a soldier.
[445]
It was said that he
would rise most mornings,
[447]
leave the lance corporal's tent,
[449]
and amble around a bit before
heading to the cookhouse,
[452]
where he'd scrounge up some cereal, milk,
[454]
marmalade, whatever was available.
[456]
- Are you kidding me?
- Marmalade, yes!
[459]
- No, he didn't eat marmalade.
[461]
- There it is!
[461]
- He did.
[462]
Maybe there's some truth
to the Paddington legend.
[465]
- I love that fucking bear.
[466]
- [Shane] His day might
be spent running around,
[468]
chasing after oranges
[469]
the soldiers used for grenade practice.
[471]
He was even known to box and
wrestle with the soldiers.
[474]
According to Orr, quote,
[475]
"groups of soldiers would try to rush him
[477]
"and knock him over.
[478]
"Roaring with delight,
[479]
"Wojtek would take on all-comers,
[481]
"batting them around like skittles."
[483]
- Now I'm seeing some
first signs of trouble.
[485]
- Now you're getting concerned?
[486]
- I'm just saying there's no
play fighting with a bear,
[488]
because a bear likely doesn't
know its own strength.
[490]
It's not gonna be like,
[491]
let me cool my punch here,
[492]
because I don't want to
knock this guy's head off.
[493]
- I think animals do that.
- I think they do.
[495]
- You think so?
[495]
- Yeah, because they play with each other.
[497]
- What about that video of that person
[499]
who raised a lion,
[500]
and then they --
[501]
- Oh, he comes back to the wild with them.
[502]
- And then the lion gives a big hug?
[504]
- Yeah.
[504]
Every time I watch that video,
[505]
there is a sick part of me
[506]
that just wants the lion to
just chomp that guy's head off,
[510]
and everyone's like, ah, shit!
[512]
Camera goes down to the grass.
[514]
- What were we thinking?
[515]
Of course!
[516]
(laughing)
[517]
As you might expect,
[518]
having a bear around
wasn't all fun and games.
[520]
Wojtek got into his fair share of trouble.
[522]
He was known to enjoy
cigarettes, for instance,
[524]
lit cigarettes, specifically,
for eating, not smoking.
[527]
The bear loved to eat lit cigarettes.
[530]
In fact, it was said he
could tell the difference
[532]
between a lit and unlit cigarette,
[533]
reportedly spitting out the unlit ones.
[536]
- He's got a refined palette.
[537]
- He's got a refined gentleman's palette.
[538]
- Like flaming hot Cheetos for a bear.
[540]
- [Shane] In one instance,
[541]
after joining his Polish comrades
[543]
for their Christmas Eve celebrations,
[545]
and possibly indulging in too much wine,
[547]
the bear snuck into the
storehouse late at night,
[549]
and feasted upon anything he could find,
[551]
leaving the men to clean
up his mess in the morning.
[553]
What a naughty bear.
[554]
He also learned not only how
to break into the showers,
[557]
but also how to turn them on,
[558]
which occasionally resulted
in water shortages,
[561]
but despite being a nuisance,
[562]
this would actually work
to the unit's advantage.
[564]
In June of 1943, Wojtek once
again broke into the showers,
[568]
and happened upon an Arab spy,
[571]
who had been hiding out in their camp
[572]
on a reconnaissance mission
for an impending raid.
[575]
The spy was fittingly terrified,
[577]
and quickly surrendered the
identities of his party,
[579]
effectively stopping the raid.
[582]
As a reward for his valiant efforts,
[584]
Wojtek was given sweetmeats, and beer,
[586]
and allowed to take an extended shower.
[589]
I think we undervalue the reward appeal
[592]
of a nice, long, hot shower.
[593]
- [Andrew] Yeah.
[594]
- I was actually about to say,
[595]
I think he deserves a
little bit more than that.
[596]
- Maybe a conjugal visit from a lady bear?
[600]
- Jesus.
- Jesus Christ.
[601]
- Good Lord.
[603]
- Well, what if sweetmeats
was the name of his --
[605]
- A female bear?
[605]
That's kind of what I was thinking too.
[607]
- You done good, Wojtek.
[608]
- Here's sweetmeats.
[610]
I'll light your cigarette for you.
[611]
- [Shane] Wojtek's love of aquatics
[612]
wasn't limited to bath time, either.
[614]
One account states that when the company
[616]
was driving along Italy's coast,
[618]
Wojtek, spotting the sea,
[619]
leapt out of the vehicle,
[620]
and started bounding toward the beach,
[622]
where some Italian girls
happened to be bathing.
[624]
They presumably thought
they were about to die,
[627]
but a soldier from the
company yelled to them, quote,
[628]
"Girls, don't be afraid.
[630]
"This bear is good."
[633]
(laughing)
[634]
- This story keeps
getting better and better.
[636]
Driving down the Amalfi Coast --
[637]
- Bear's got sunglasses on.
[639]
- [Andrew] Scarf blowing
in the wind on the bear.
[640]
- [Sara] He's got a button up shirt,
[642]
but it's open halfway.
[643]
- I'll tell you one thing.
[645]
If I'm on the beach,
[646]
and a car full of soldiers yells,
[648]
"Don't worry, he's a good bear,"
[650]
I'd be like, hey, buddy, fuck you!
[652]
I'd piss myself immediately,
[654]
and then once I've got over that,
[656]
I'd start running away,
[657]
and it's hard to run in sand,
[658]
so I'd probably fall,
[659]
and then I'd probably end
up just crying and praying.
[662]
- Oh.
[662]
That sounds right.
[663]
- Wait a second.
[664]
Oh, God, is this just their shtick?
[665]
Like when a guy takes a pretty dog
[667]
to the dog park, and goes, I'm sorry --
[668]
- A pretty dog.
[670]
(laughing)
[671]
- I couldn't get a hold of him.
[672]
- A pretty dog?
[673]
- By the way, my name's Larry.
[674]
- Have you seen my pretty dog?
[676]
- My name's Larry.
[678]
- You know when guys use little puppies
[679]
as a shtick to pick up women?
[681]
- Yeah.
[682]
Maybe that's what they're doing here.
[683]
- I think it's an unintended
benefit, for sure.
[685]
- They're probably not saying,
[686]
look at my pretty bar.
[687]
- Look at my pretty, pretty bear.
[688]
Surprisingly, Wojtek wasn't the only bear
[691]
fraternizing with the Polish army.
[693]
I know, crazy times.
[694]
There was actually an infantry battalion
[696]
that had allegedly received a bear
[698]
as a gift from the shah of Iran.
[700]
His name was Michael,
[701]
and he was not like Wojtek.
[704]
Michael was known for
his vicious temperament,
[707]
and it was on full
display when he met Wojtek
[709]
in September of 1943 while the
unit was stationed in Iraq.
[713]
Orr writes of the encounter, quote,
[714]
"As he approached Wojtek,
[716]
"Michael went into a berserker rage.
[718]
Within seconds, the animals
were enveloping each other
[721]
"in deadly bear hugs,
[722]
"slashing out with terrifying claws,
[724]
"and each trying to rip
out the other's throat
[727]
"with his fangs."
[728]
When the dust settled,
[730]
Wojtek remained victorious,
[732]
nearly snapping Michael's neck.
[733]
Holy shit.
[734]
- Deadly bear hugs does
sound pretty cute, though.
[737]
- Yeah.
[738]
It sounds cute, but it's not.
[739]
- Until it's crushing your exoskeleton.
[741]
- Exoskeleton?
[742]
- I was about to say --
[743]
- Do you think bears have exoskeletons?
[744]
- No, I was about to say,
[745]
I just realized we
don't have exoskeletons.
[746]
I meant just skeleton.
[747]
I'm surprised he won that fight,
[748]
because you would think a bear
[749]
that's spending his time finding oranges,
[752]
taking showers, drinking beer,
[754]
being a cute little bear,
[755]
he would get his ass kicked.
[756]
- But also, he's, they're
feeding him sweetmeats, beer,
[759]
oranges, this bear's big.
[762]
This bear's getting big.
[763]
- No, this is just a fat bear.
[765]
- Bear is thick.
[766]
- [Shane] Michael's unit
attempted to hand the bear off
[769]
to the 22nd, but considering the bad blood
[771]
between the two bears,
[773]
Wojtek's friends thought it best
[774]
to find a home for Michael
at the Tel Aviv Zoo.
[777]
The owner of the zoo responded in kind
[778]
by giving him a small monkey as a gift.
[782]
(laughing)
[783]
- The 1940s is like Pokemon.
[786]
- They, yeah, they had so many animals,
[787]
and they didn't really know
what to do with them yet.
[789]
- You just trade 'em,
[790]
you battle 'em,
[791]
you do cute stuff with 'em.
[794]
- I mean, who wouldn't be
stoked to get a monkey?
[796]
- Yeah.
[797]
- I just imagine the monkey going around,
[798]
like playing with the guns.
[799]
Like, put that down!
[800]
(laughing)
[801]
Despite being a 500 pound pet,
[802]
Wojtek did earn an actual military title.
[805]
En route from Naples to Egypt,
[807]
port officials allegedly
denied the bear passage,
[809]
allowing only soldiers to board the ship.
[811]
His company, thinking fast,
[813]
issued him a service
number, rank, and pay book,
[815]
and Private Wojtek was cleared for travel,
[818]
and in addition to providing
all around moral support
[820]
to the beleaguered soldiers,
[822]
Wojtek did, in fact,
assist them in combat.
[825]
Annie, are you expecting
this bear to kill people?
[827]
It seemed like you were waiting for it.
[829]
- I feel like it's a wild animal.
[831]
It can turn on you.
[832]
It's just animal nature, right?
[834]
- [Ryan] That's what I'm thinking.
[834]
- Yeah.
[835]
This bear's too good.
[836]
It must be a human.
[838]
(laughing)
[839]
- It must be.
[839]
It must be a human in a costume.
[841]
- That would be the best long con,
[842]
if it was actually a spy
inside of a bear suit.
[844]
- Holy shit!
[845]
- [Shane] Oh wow.
[846]
- The ultimate Trojan horse.
[847]
- And he wasn't really
eating the lit cigarettes,
[849]
he was just like, inside.
[851]
- He was just putting
them in his bear costume.
[853]
- Oh my God.
[854]
You're a goddamn genius.
[855]
- I know.
[856]
(laughing)
[857]
- [Shane] When the 22nd
found themselves involved
[859]
in the Battle of Monte Cassino,
[861]
Wojtek was right there with them.
[863]
With the Allies under fire,
[864]
and requiring supplies and artillery,
[866]
the bear went right to work.
[867]
According Orr, quote,
[869]
"Although Wojtek had never been trained
[871]
"to handle the unloading
of 100-pound boxes
[873]
"of 25 pounder shells, the
fuses and other supplies,
[876]
"he simply observed
what the men were doing,
[879]
"and joined in.
[880]
"Standing upright, he
held out his front paws,
[883]
"into which men loaded
the heavy boxes of shells.
[885]
"Effortlessly, he carried the munitions
[887]
"to their storage areas beside
the artillery positions,
[890]
"and returned to the lorries,
[891]
"to collect more."
[893]
One of the bear's caretakers
backs up this story,
[895]
claiming that Wojtek
often did carry munitions,
[898]
but that, quote, "usually
he was a lazy thing,
[900]
"and looked for the empty boxes to carry.
[902]
"At Cassino, he carried the full ones."
[904]
- Oh Wojtek.
[905]
- Even when he's being heroic,
[907]
we still get a fun fact
about being a little rascal.
[910]
- I love him.
[911]
- I mean, that's gonna take
the edge off the battle
[914]
a little bit.
[915]
- [Shane] Yeah.
[915]
- Sure, you're rushing to shoot things,
[916]
and blow stuff up.
[918]
Cute bear comes over with an empty box,
[920]
you're just, come on, Wojtek.
[922]
- Get outta here.
[923]
The Allies would come out victorious
[924]
in the hard fought battle,
[925]
and it was estimated that Wojtek's company
[927]
supplied approximately
17,300 tons of ammunition,
[931]
1200 tons of fuel, and 1100 tons of food
[935]
for Polish and British
troops, according to Orr.
[937]
In the aftermath of the battle,
[938]
the company adopted a new emblem,
[940]
Wojtek carrying a shell.
[942]
(folk accordion music)
[945]
After his time in battle,
[946]
Wojtek's service was rewarded
with a peaceful retirement.
[949]
For a short while,
[950]
he resided on a farm
in a Scottish village,
[952]
where he was known to
attend community dances,
[954]
and was a guest at local
children's parties.
[956]
- I love him!
[957]
- Wow.
- Holy shit.
[958]
- Wow.
[959]
- That is so quaint.
[960]
I wonder if they just let him
loose around the children.
[963]
- I don't know.
[964]
Probably.
[965]
He seemed chill around people.
[966]
- Is there anybody there at the dance
[967]
that didn't know him,
[968]
and was just like, looking over.
[969]
I'm gonna go get some punch,
[970]
and they look and fucking
bear standing right there.
[973]
Holy shit!
[973]
- [Shane] In 1947, Wojtek
was given in a home
[976]
in the Edinburgh Zoo,
[977]
where we was often visited
by his fellow soldiers.
[979]
One soldier recalls
visiting his comrade, quote,
[982]
"As soon as I mentioned his name,
[983]
"he would sit on his backside,
[985]
"and shake his head, wanting a cigarette."
[987]
Many years later, in 1963,
[989]
at the ripe old age of 22,
[991]
Wojtek passed away,
[992]
partially due to issues
with his esophagus.
[995]
He did, after all, have a
habit of swallowing cigarettes.
[998]
Aw, that bear sure did
love his cigarettes.
[1000]
- What a shock.
[1002]
- I guess if you swallow lit cigarettes,
[1003]
the fact that you live to
close to your expectancy
[1007]
is, you know, not bad.
[1009]
He went out doing what he loved.
[1011]
- Yeah, you could say that, yeah.
[1012]
- Swallowing lit cigarettes.
[1013]
Wojtek seems to have earned
himself a special place
[1016]
in the heart of the Polish people.
[1017]
In November of 2011, his
memory was celebrated
[1019]
with a parade, and if this country's love
[1022]
of this boozing, smoking war
bear seems at all comical,
[1025]
consider this quote
from Dr. Tomasz Trafas.
[1028]
"The most significant
fact in the whole story
[1030]
"of Wojtek the bear was that
he was adopted by people
[1033]
"who were also orphans in some way.
[1035]
"They lost their families,
their homes, and their country,
[1038]
"and there was no chance
of returning to it.
[1040]
"They didn't have anything
or anyone to return to.
[1043]
"The bear and the soldiers bonded
[1045]
"because he had been abandoned,"
[1047]
and that sentiment is echoed
by one of Wojtek's comrades.
[1049]
Quote, "In times of great suffering,
[1051]
"not just our terrible
experiences in the USSR,
[1054]
"but also fear of the horrors
[1055]
"of what was happening to
our families back in Poland.
[1058]
"Where did they live?
[1059]
"Would we see them again?
[1060]
"Wojtek the bear provided us with joy,
[1062]
"comfort, and boosted our morale.
[1064]
"Why?
[1065]
"I don't know.
[1066]
"But he was real.
[1067]
"He really helped us."
[1069]
- I'm gonna cry.
[1070]
- I know.
[1071]
It's making me sad.
[1072]
- It's very touching.
[1073]
- He was real.
- He is Paddington.
[1074]
He's Paddington.
[1075]
- I almost choked up
when I was reading that.
[1076]
- I did, I was getting choked up too.
[1078]
It reminded me I have a heart.
[1079]
- We can pass it around,
give it little hugs.
[1081]
Give him a little hug, Ryan.
[1082]
- Nah, 'cause then tears will fall out.
[1083]
(laughing)
[1084]
- [Shane] What do you
think of this bear overall?
[1086]
Final thoughts?
[1087]
- Oh, I love him.
[1087]
- I feel like a lot of times,
[1088]
we take animals for granted,
[1091]
so I like that we showed that something
[1094]
that is traditionally
thought of as violent,
[1096]
can be really sweet and nice,
[1098]
and you know, it just
depends on the environment
[1101]
that it's in?
[1102]
So obviously I don't
think we should take bears
[1104]
out of the wild and put them in our homes.
[1106]
- Okay.
[1107]
(laughing)
[1108]
- Possibly one of the greatest animals
[1110]
to ever have lived.
[1111]
- And Ryan, the man who hates bears
[1112]
more than anyone else I know.
[1114]
- Here's the thing.
[1115]
I think this bear is perhaps the sweetest,
[1118]
most amazing animal to have ever lived.
[1120]
That being said,
[1121]
I would like to issue a disclaimer.
[1123]
If you go into the woods,
[1124]
and you go, hey, Wojtek,
[1126]
you try to give a bear a big old bear hug,
[1128]
you're gonna die.
[1129]
That's just,
[1130]
that's the facts right there.
[1132]
Bears, as a general rule of thumb,
[1136]
very dangerous, furry
tanks, killing machines.
[1139]
This guy, he's an exception to the rule.
[1141]
His DNA was written
different than most bears.
[1143]
Him and Paddington.
[1144]
- How's the cigarette
staying so readily in there?
[1147]
- I cut a hole in his mouth.
[1148]
(laughing)
[1149]
- Jesus.
[1149]
- [Shane] And that is the
story of Wojtek the bear.
[1152]
I don't know about you guys,
[1153]
but I got genuinely
emotional there at the end,
[1155]
which I did not expect,
[1156]
considering most weeks,
[1158]
this show is just ooh, Ben Franklin,
[1160]
really likes to crank it in a cave.
[1162]
That's been Ruining History.
[1164]
Thank you for learning with us.
[1165]
(upbeat music)
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage