Soldier Bear by Bibi Dumon Tak

During World War II, Poland was invaded by the Germans from the west and the Russians from the east, dividing the country in two. After the country was conquered, Polish soldiers were sent either to a German or Russian prison-of-war camp depending on what part of the country they were in.

Two friends, Peter Prendys and Stanislav Lubanski were in the Russian-occupied part of Poland and were sent to work in different Russian factories. They had tried to stick together and promised to try to find one another if they ever became separated.

Two years later when Germany invaded Russia, the Polish soldiers were freed in the hopes they would join the Russians in fighting the Germans. However, although the Polish soldiers  wanted to fight Germany they wanted to also free Poland from both the Germans and the Russians.So many Polish soldiers tried to escape, among them both Peter and Stanislav. They crossed the Russian border into Iran along with hundreds of other Polish prisoners.

Peter and Stanislav found one another and reported to a British army camp. In the camp they met Janusz and Lolek who served the food as well as another Polish soldier named Pavel. After completing a short military training course with the British, the Polish soldiers were put into groups of five. This was perfect for Peter, Stanislav, Janusz, Lolek and Pavel who formed a group that was to be part of a convoy taking equipment to the British camp in Palestine.

Peter and his group drove tents, cots, oil and artillery parts through the miles of sandy desert in their truck. One afternoon, fed up with the heat, Stanislav stopped to rest. Just as they were about to take a nap, Peter spotted a very young boy coming towards them, dragging a sack. Despite Lolek's fear that this might be a trap, Stanislav gave the little boy a chunk of break. It was at this point that the men noticed the sack moving. To their amazement, from the sack crawled a bear cub. The soldiers were delighted and immediately taken with the little furry cub, who did not appear to be doing well. The soldiers offer the boy money and a tin of corned beef for the small bear. After rigging an empty vodka bottle, they get the bear to drink milk and christen him Voytek which mean "smiling warrior".

Sergeant Kowalski questions the Polish soldiers about the bear and although he was initially skeptical about keeping the animal, he soon fell in love with the little cub telling  the men that the commanding officer in Palestine will have to decide.

Voytek with his Polish friends.

When they arrive in Palestine, the C.O. sends for the five Polish soldiers and their bear. Expecting the C.O. to make them give up Voytek, they add vodka to his milk to the cub quiet. Instead, Voytek bites the C.O. and repeatedly misbehaves. To their surprise, the C.O. is impressed with Voytek's spiritedness and has the bear cub added to the list  of new soldiers as Private Voytek!

It was decided that since Peter was the one who cuddled Voytek, had fed him milk and protected him, and was really Voytek's new mother, the bear cub should sleep in his tent. Peter put a blanket in a washtub for Voytek's bed but the cub insisted on sleeping in Peter's bed. Even when he outgrew the but and Peter made a wooden box, Voytek preferred curling up next to his new mother, Peter.

In the camp Voytek won over the cook. He had a harder time with Kaska, a troublsome monkey who drove everyone crazy and who enjoyed tormenting Voytek. Kaska was often seen riding on the back of a dog named Stalin. To protect Voytek, Kaska was sent to the other side of the camp but this didn't help much. Peter decided Voytek needed a playmate so they brought Dottie, a Dalmatian pup belonging to a British soldier into the mix. And so began Voytek's amazing adventures with a group of Polish soldiers as they traveled through Palestine, Egypt and onto Italy.

Discussion

Bibi Dumon Tak has taken the real life adventures of a Iranian brown bear who served as a mascot and helper to Polish soldiers during World War II and written an engaging and decidedly humorous account that young readers will thoroughly enjoy.

Voytek, the "soldier bear" is portrayed as a lovable bear who manages to endear himself to the soldiers despite his many misadventures. He steals all the water for the soldiers' shower and he loves to drink beer. Voytek loves peaches so much he breaks into the cook tent before Christmas, stealing an entire can of peaches, bringing down the tent and waking the entire camp in the process. Yet despite this, soldiers and commanding officers alike find themselves taken with the furry animal.

Anything Peter does, Voytek copies. Peter smokes cigarettes but Voytek "didn't actually smoke the cigarettes. He ate them all up, the whole cigarettes but only if they were lit. And if the cigarette wasn't lit he's ask someone for a light before shoving it into his mouth."  This is all done with subtle humour that makes the story so enjoyable. For example, Voytek is such a favourite on the Batory, a boat transporting the" Polish soldiers to Italy, that Peter must watch him. "Everyone was happy to give up a cigarette for him or a bottle of beer. Peter had to keep a close eye on Voytek, because otherwise the bear might become a chain-smoker or a drunkard, or even worse: both."

Through her characters, Tak portrays the influence of Voytek on the Polish soldiers who take him in as a bear cub. Voytek helps the Polish soldiers cope with the long years away from their homeland, the threat of facing action at the front and missing their families. For example, when Peter's thoughts turned dark in the middle of the night, he is comforted by the presence of Voytek lying next to him. When the Polish soldiers are challenged about taking Voytek and their menagerie of dogs, a monkey, a pig and a parrot that says "Nazis go home." onto the boat to Italy,  Peter feels he needs to explain how the animals are necessary to the men because they " cheered them all up and even comforted them at times."  When Lolek lashes out at Stanislav for treating the death of soldiers so lightly, Voytek knows he is upset and comes to sleep in his tent that night to comfort the distraught soldier who saw two men blown up by a shell. Voytek offers a distraction to soldiers and civilians alike when he climbs a crane and begins doing acrobatics.

There's no doubt that Voytek considers himself a part of the Polish unit. This is demonstrated when the Polish Corps moves to Italy. After arriving, the men from the 22 Company of the 2nd Polish Corps line up to unload heavy ammunition- artillery shells. Voytek too lines up with Stanislav and Peter to help move the shells one at a time along the line, not even stopping when a colonel attempts to intervene.

In her Afterward, Tak fills in her readers on what happened to Voytek in the postwar years. Animals have been in mankind's wars for centuries whether it was Hannibal and his elephants in the Punic War, horses in World War I or soldier dogs in Afghanistan. Tak writes about Voytek's contribution to the Polish Corps. "During World War II, Voytek gave the 120 soldiers in his company the courage to go out every day and help to liberate Europe. Not only did he make it easier for the soldiers of the transport compay to feel brave and to keep up their courage, but everyone who saw him forgot the misery around them for a moment, whether it was a high-ranking colonel or a ten-year-old Italian boy. He was a friend and a mascot who made the war easier to bear."

Soldier Bear is a funny, endearing account of a much-loved animal who helped a small group of soldiers cope with the horrors of war. Black and white  pictures at the very back allow readers to see Voytek as well as Kaska and Kubus.





Photo credit: https://culture.pl/en/article/one-photo-one-story-wojtek-the-soldier-bear

Book Details:

Soldier Bear by Bibi Dumon Tak
Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Books For Young Readers  2008
145 pp.