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Aujourd’hui, j’aimerais vous raconter l’histoire d’un soldat polonais ayant combattu durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale et dont la nature disons…. poilue pourrait en surprendre plus d’un ! Aussi farfelu que cela puisse paraître, le soldat en question est… un ours ! Mais attention, c’est du sérieux hein : cet ours a été enrôlé, décoré, gradé, et a même servi d’emblème à son régiment ! Découvrez avec moi l'histoire de Wojtek !

Erratum : Deux erreurs se sont glissées dans l'iconographie de cet épisode : à 3:34 et à 5:47, on voit un ours en compagnie de soldats… allemands ! Ce sont en réalité des photomontages !

Merci à Lucie Terreros d'avoir écrit cet épisode !

Merci aussi à Kinmeki d'avoir réalisé les dessins et les animations de l'épisode ! Découvrez son compte Instagram juste ici : https://www.instagram.com/kinmekii/

Enfin, merci également à Loïc de Studio Pluriel pour avoir réalisé le mixage ! Pour en savoir plus sur Studio Pluriel, c'est juste là : https://www.studiopluriel.fr/

Montage par V pour Valentin : https://www.youtube.com/Salveus

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Catégorie

📚
Éducation
Transcription
00:00 My dear comrades, good morning!
00:01 Today I would like to tell you the story of a Polish soldier of the Second World War
00:06 and whose, let's say, hairy nature could surprise more than one.
00:09 As crazy as it may seem, the soldier in question is a bear.
00:14 But be careful, it's serious!
00:16 This bear has been rolled up, decorated, graded and even served as an emblem to his regiment.
00:21 [Music]
00:33 Our story begins far from Poland, in Amadan, Iran.
00:38 In April 1942, the 2nd Corps of the Polish Army,
00:42 then mobilized in the Middle East and making its way to Tehran,
00:45 crosses the road of a young boy accompanied by a bear.
00:48 One of the lieutenants falls under the charm of the little beast
00:51 and swaps the animal for a few cans of meat.
00:54 He is then entrusted to the 22nd Artillery Supply Company,
00:57 a company of which he almost immediately becomes the mascot.
01:00 So what is the Polish Army doing in the Middle East, you might ask?
01:04 Well, to understand that, you have to go back a long way in time.
01:07 [Music]
01:12 On August 23, 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact,
01:17 which allows them to share Central Europe.
01:20 In September 1939, the Third Reich subsequently annexed the Sudetenland
01:25 and the entirety of Czechoslovakia,
01:27 then continued its expansion by invading Poland with the help of the Soviets.
01:31 Caught in the act, the Polish government then had to flee the country
01:34 and took refuge in Angers, France.
01:37 Exiled but not defeated, he continued the war effort alongside his allies
01:41 and formed an army of 85,000 men, the first corps of the Polish Army.
01:45 A great effort, right?
01:47 Unfortunately, in June 1940, after the invasion of France
01:50 and the armistice signed by Marshal Pétain,
01:53 it was a new exile, to London this time.
01:56 But luck turned a year later.
01:59 On June 22, 1941, Germany broke the German-Soviet pact
02:03 and launched Operation Barbarossa, the surprise attack of its former ally, the USSR.
02:09 And then Poland made a very brave decision,
02:12 to re-establish diplomatic relations with the USSR,
02:15 yet its former enemy was responsible for its occupation.
02:19 And this is how the second corps of the Polish Army was formed,
02:22 made up of former soldiers detained by the USSR during the invasion of Poland.
02:27 General Anders, who commanded this military unit,
02:30 had been detained by the Soviets for 18 months.
02:33 Soberly called "Army Anders",
02:36 it was initially supposed to fight the Nazis alongside the Red Army.
02:39 But General Anders was wary of Stalin
02:42 and ended up getting the army evacuated to Iran
02:45 to make the junction with the British troops.
02:48 And that's how we end up with Poles buying a bear on the edge of a tyrannical road.
02:53 It is affectionately called "Wojtek",
03:02 literally "the smiling warrior" or "the one who amuses the war".
03:06 And it becomes, of course, a huge star within the company.
03:10 First, the bear is fed concentrated milk with a bottle of vodka,
03:14 then with fruits, molasses and jam.
03:18 But Wojtek grew up.
03:21 It's war, it's a good man thing, we're at the Polish soldiers!
03:24 So he will soon be drunk on beer.
03:27 And he is also particularly fond of cigarettes, which he swallows whole.
03:32 Gradually, the bear becomes a full member of the company
03:36 and learns to salute, to guard and to fight with his little comrades.
03:41 But in February 1944, the "Army Anders" is mobilized to fight alongside the British,
03:46 who are struggling on the Italian front.
03:49 Since the landing in Sicily and the capture of Naples by the Allied forces in July 1943,
03:53 the progression to the north of Italy is in full swing.
03:57 Indeed, the Allied major states are focusing on the gigantic Operation Overlord,
04:01 code name for the Normandy landing.
04:04 As a result, the Italian campaign becomes a secondary theater of operations.
04:08 And it is in this burbide that our brave Polish soldiers,
04:10 accompanied by their war bear,
04:12 will demonstrate their bravery and triumph where the French and the British will fail.
04:17 Wojtek is on this occasion officially enrolled in the army with a first-class degree.
04:22 He is not paid in silver, but his food ration is doubled.
04:27 The Italian campaign
04:31 The objective of the Italian campaign is to break through the Gustave line,
04:35 a series of fortifications that extend over 150 km
04:39 to the most restricted level of the Italian peninsula.
04:43 Its key point is a Benedictine monastery located at 516 meters altitude,
04:47 Monte Cassino.
04:49 An important German garrison is truncated in this real lock that opens the road to Rome.
04:55 As long as it holds, the Allies cannot make the junction with their troops from the north and the south.
05:00 And this lock holds. The Germans make the Allies pay the high price.
05:04 The 8th British Army, the 5th French Army under the orders of Marshal Jouin,
05:08 as well as some New Zealand, Indian and Moroccan divisions,
05:12 launch three assaults in vain.
05:15 The Germans fear nothing and especially not the arrival of the Polish contingent.
05:19 Quiet, they may sell a little bear skin before killing it.
05:23 The German army
05:26 Indeed, on May 11, 1944, the men of Enders launch the assault.
05:30 The fighting is rough, the losses are numerous,
05:33 the German resistance is fierce and the topography plays in their favor.
05:37 The vegetation, almost non-existent, deprives the Poles of natural shelters or hidden ones
05:41 and forces them to advance unnoticed.
05:43 But fortunately, Wojtek is there.
05:46 He cannot use firearms, but he has an amazing strength.
05:50 He carries with him, 11 kg of ammunition boxes full of artillery shells,
05:54 boxes that normally require the strength of 3 or 4 men.
05:57 After a good week of fierce fighting, the monastery eventually falls.
06:01 On May 18, 1944, the Poles plant the flag of the 12th Polish Regiment on the ruins of the monastery.
06:09 Their losses are so numerous that a chant, "The red cockles of Mount Cassin",
06:13 says that there, the cockles are always redder because they are choked with the blood of the Poles.
06:19 After the Monte Cassino is liberated, the valley of Liri is cleared,
06:23 the Allies can advance in Europe.
06:26 As a reward for his weapons, Wojtek becomes corporal
06:36 and even inspires the emblem of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company.
06:40 A bear holding a shell.
06:42 The Polish troops follow the progression of the Allied armies
06:45 and go to Scotland, where they are stationed until the end of the war.
06:48 The victory will have a very bitter taste for the 2nd Army Corps,
06:51 which fought so courageously.
06:53 Because Poland, liberated by the USSR, becomes Soviet overnight.
06:58 In order to please the demands of Moscow,
07:00 the soldiers of the Polish army are not allowed to participate in the Victory Parade
07:04 organized in London on June 8, 1946.
07:08 The unit could not even return to its country as a liberator.
07:11 Most of the soldiers lost their nationality
07:14 and were forced into exile by the communists reigning in Warsaw,
07:17 who tried to return, but were punished by imprisonment and torture.
07:22 Rest assured, Wojtek will not be tortured or imprisoned,
07:28 but simply demobilized from 1947
07:31 to prevent him from becoming a propaganda tool in the hands of Stalin.
07:35 He spent the rest of his life at the Edinburgh Zoo
07:38 and died in 1963 at the age of 22.
07:42 Late tributes were erected in honor of the hairy hero of Monte Cassino,
07:45 including two statues, one in Edinburgh, in the Prince Gardens Park,
07:50 and another in Krakow in 2014, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the famous battle.
07:56 Thank you to Lucie Terreiros for the preparation of this show.
07:59 Don't forget to subscribe to this bonus channel if you haven't already.
08:03 And then a little like, a comment, a share, it's always a pleasure.
08:08 Thank you all and see you soon for new episodes.
08:11 [Music]
08:14 [Music]
08:18 [Music]
08:21 [Music]
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