Once upon today...in Europe Once upon today...in Europe | Page 15

And yet, it is not the end of the story of love and loyalty. Dżok lived with Mrs Maria and Kajtek for six years, and when it seemed that the old dog
would live his days by the side of a loving owner, Mrs Maria died. She left nothing behind except for two mourning dogs. The flat had to be emptied
immediately. Dżok and Kajtek were taken to the shelter with the intention of finding a new home for them. But Dżok did not wait. At night, he dug a
tunnel under the fence and escaped. Sometime later he was found dead on railway tracks several kilometers away.
Some say that in that way Dżok wanted to meet his mistress because he did not want to ever love another human. How true this is – we will never
know. The fact is that a dog’s love is unconditional.
There appeared an initiative to build a Dog’s Monument, based on the story of Dżok. The location chosen was not accidental – at the foot of the Wawel
Castle, by the Vistula River, only a few hundred metres from the place where Dżok spent a year, waiting in vain for his master. The monument is
embraced by human hands, which, in the words of the artist, shows the loving and caring relationship between the two.
Illustrated by Daria Petrochenko and Maria Chernai , Smila Lyceum , Ukraine