Krakow, Cracow, Cracovie...
Krakow, Cracow, Cracovie...
The Story of Dżok, the DogClose to Wawel Hill, at the Vistula embankment, there is a small but very interesting monument representing a dog hidden in opening human hands. The place is often visited by tourists, especially children who love climbing up the dog’s statue and caressing its metal fur. However, this place is something more than just a tourist attraction. It is a monument to the faithfulness of an animal represented by one of the most famous Polish dogs – Dżok. The story of this amazing creature is well known to all inhabitants of Krakow. Although some people consider Dżok’s story the latest legend of Krakow, all the events described below happened in reality.
In 1991 there was a turning point in Dżok’s life as he decided to trust a woman who fed him for the entire year. Dżok again found home and a friend. He died in 1998, but Cracovians could not forget him. His story touched many people who decided to commemorate the faithful dog and built a monument to him. Unfortunately, the idea was not accepted by the municipal authorities. At the time the media, many organizations (for example Cracovian Association of Friends of Animals), famous people ( Zbigniew Wodecki, Jerzy Połomski) and inhabitants of Krakow organised an energetic action to built the statue. Eventually, the monument was created by a famous Cracovian sculptor, professor Bolesław Chromy, who is also the author of the dragon statue. The dog’s monument was set in 2001, in the tenth anniversary of leaving the roundabout by Dżok. It was unveiled by one of the dogs, sheepdog Kety. The inscription on the monument briefly describes the entire story: Dżok, the dog Dżok’s monument was placed as the third monument to a dog in Europe. The first one is located in Russia and commemorates Łajka, the dog who travelled in Space, and the second in Switzerland to St Bernard dog which saved over 40 people in the mountains. The similar monuments are also located in other continents. The dog which is commemorated this way is for example Balto, a Siberian Husky, which in 1920’s led a sled dog team with a half-conscious master for over 1000 km of snowy land in Alaska to bring medicines for children dieing of diphtheria. Balto, apart from the monument in Central Park of New York, can boast a couple of films telling his story. Nowadays monuments to dogs are much more common, and it is possible to find a few more in Poland. Perhaps our Cracovian Dżok will inspire film directors one day. Today, however, it is possible to read the touching story of Dżok in “Dżok - the latest Legend of Krakow. Anthology of Children Stories” and “Dżok. The Legend about Faithfulness of a Dog” by Barbara Gawryluk. |
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Cracovians met Dżok in the year 1990 when the dog appeared at the Rondo Grunwaldzkie Roundabout. In the beginning very few people knew why the animal kept coming there, but it soon turned out that the dog’s owner tragically died of heart attack in that very place. Missing his master, Dżok waited in the spot where he had seen his owner for the last time. Nobody could catch him or take him home. Regardless bad weather or hunger, the dog waited for a friend who could not return to him. Deeply touched by Dżok’s story, Cracovians tried to help the animal. They made him a shelter for the winter months and they were bringing him some food, but Dżok did not want to leave the Rondo Grunwaldzkie Roundabout for an entire year. At the time he became a symbol of dog’s faithfulness and friendship between an animal and a human.