A decision to this effect has been approved by the Warsaw Centre district councillors.
The memorial is to be financed by the Polish-Scottish Foundation, which is dedicated to the preservation of the memory of Wojtek.
The history of Wojtek started in April 1942. It was discovered in Iran by a group of Polish POWs, who were being transported from Siberia through the Middle East to Egypt, from where they were shipped off to Europe. The soldiers treated Wojtek, then a small cub, as a baby, nursing him with a bottle of condensed milk.
After the battle of Monte Cassino of 1944, in which Polish soldiers played a decisive role in the allied victory, Italian media described Wojtek the Bear as “a true soldier”, with eyewitness reports saying that the bear was seen on the front lines carrying empty ammunition crates and used shells.
Wojtek the Bear has been honoured with memorials in several Polish towns, in Cassino and Imola in Italy, as well as in London, Grimsby, Edinburgh and Duns.
In 2017, Polish Post issued a stamp commemorating Wojtek the Bear.
(mk)