A dog’s loyalty, attachment and love to a human has many faces, or rather mouths. In Japan, the figure of Hachikō is invoked as a model of loyalty and virtue, in New Zealand George is remembered with admiration, and with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the whole world heard of Patron, the mascot artificers. In turn, a dog named Dżok went down in history as the most faithful dog known to Poles. Unfortunately, the story of a quadruped from the country on the Vistula is touching, but also marked by suffering.
Every resident of Krakow knows the legend of the dog Dżok. He once had a man he loved more than his life
The beginnings of the story of the “most faithful of the faithful” are no different from the fate of hundreds of thousands of stray animals living in Poland. The dog’s temporary home called Dżok was a shelter box, where he could at most observe the world behind bars and dream about the life of a full member of the family, whom he had not been able to meet previously. The breakthrough came at the end of the last century, when Mr. Nikodem from Krakow began to suffer from loneliness and, as we know, nothing cures a thirsty heart for closeness like a wet nose and a wagging tail.
A man came to the animal shelter looking for a friend who would fill the void with his presence and give new meaning to his life. However, the guest had certain requirements that the future pet had to meet in order to live with him under one roof. The necessary condition to finalize the adoption of the dog was a gentle disposition and an average size. Fortunately, the volunteers had a suitable candidate to accompany Mr. Nikodem.
Thanks to his conciliatory nature, Dżok was selected among all the dogs in the shelter as Mr. Nikodem’s kindred spirit. The mixed breed resembling a cross between a German Shepherd dog and a Doberman with a mix of a Rottweiler quickly won the sympathy of the man with whom he quickly moved to their shared apartment.
A dog of undetermined breed fell in love with an unending love for an elderly man who saved him from homelessness. From the moment of the move, Dżok accompanied Mr. Nikodem in almost all daily activities – from tutoring the children to long walks around Krakow. In addition, the dog often surprised its owner with its sharpness of mind and innate courage. Dżok was supposed to wake up his master and the rest of the building’s inhabitants when a fire broke out in the building. In turn, on another occasion, he helped find the girl’s mother when she got separated on a school trip to the playground.
How did the black dog deserve the adoration of the Poles?
At the end of the summer of 1991, things took an unexpected turn. Dżok was walking alongside his guardian, passing through the Rondo Grunwaldzkie neighborhood in the very center of Krakow, when Mr. Nikodem suddenly grabbed his heart and passed out. An ambulance was called to the scene, but the animal didn’t know why the man was lying motionless on the ground, and a crowd of anxious passers-by grew steadily around him with every passing second. Mr Nikodem was put on a stretcher and although the dog tried to get as close to his master as possible, the doctors chased him from the ambulance. The ambulance headed with screeching tires to the nearest hospital, and Dżok tried to catch up with the moving vehicle for a while.
The dog’s owner died of a heart attack, which the confused animal could not understand. Dżok remained at the place where he last saw his master, searching for a familiar face among passing tourists and local residents. After dark, he fed on waste from nearby garbage cans, and during the day he invariably remained at his post.
Months passed and the quadruped did not lose hope of being able to see each other again soon. Regardless of inclement weather and honking motorists, Dżok stood at a busy intersection for an entire year. The Krakóws came specially to see him, but he
He was not taken in, but only accepted gifts of food and fresh water. In the end, it was decided that he would stay on the roundabout, and over time he would also gain a secluded shed, where he could hide from heavy rain, snowstorms or direct sunlight. dazzling.
As the weeks passed, news of the dog who only gave his heart to one person spread throughout Krakow. The animal, fed by the inhabitants, aroused surprise and sympathy. The topic was picked up by the media, and the Krakow branch of Telewizja Polska produced material dedicated to the history of the most famous quadruped living in the capital of Lesser Poland.
Although Dżok has found a new keeper, the story has come full circle
The suffering of loneliness and mourning after the loss of a beloved man has long been observed by an old lady – Maria Müller, who, together with her adopted dog Kajtek, was involved in feeding the animal of no one. Much good could be said of the 60-year-old retired teacher, widow of Polish radio journalist Władysław Müller. Mrs. Maria may not have been a wealthy person, but she gladly shared her food with Dżok. Moreover, an unusual bond of friendship was established between the two mestizos – Dżok and Kajtek were lying together on the grass and enjoying the sun and the nature around them.
Although the stray dog avoided the tenderness offered by strangers, with Mrs. Maria he no longer had to create the appearance of self-sufficiency. He trusted the woman and even let her pet him. After a year of timid tracking, one day a fireworks display was organized on the banks of the Vistula. Noises accompanied by lightning in the sky frightened Dżok. Taking advantage of this situation, the retiree led the frightened dog to her apartment on Dietla Street. At first he refused to cross the threshold, but the reluctance soon gave way to the long-awaited sense of security and stability.
From then on, Dżok lived with his new guardian and four-legged siblings. It looked like he could live happily ever after with care, but after 6 years he received another blow. A tragic episode in the life of a black mixed race occurred on April 8, 1998, when Maria died. The apartment had to be emptied immediately and Dżok and Kajtek had to be evicted.
A beautiful story with no happy ending. The story of a quadruped from Krakow is moving despite the passage of years
Employees of the Krakow Animal Protection Society transported the dogs to a shelter and began looking for a home where they would spend the autumn of their lives. While Kajtek posed no problem, in Dżok’s case the task was a bit more difficult. After losing his closest friends twice, the dog wasn’t going to sit idly by in the box until someone took pity on him. Dżok smelled the letter with his nose and when no one paid attention to him, he dug a hole under the fence and then escaped from the shelter. The silhouette of the animal rushing in blindly was the last thing the volunteers saw.
All of Krakow joined in the search for the four-legged escapee. Although earlier, when Dżok camped at the Grunwaldzkie roundabout near the tram tracks, he avoided all obstacles, this time his luck left him. After a few days, the dog’s body was found on the railway tracks in Borek Fałęcki. Witnesses’ hearts broke at the sight of his motionless body. He died under the wheels of the train. Some still say that Dżok’s death was no accident – there are voices that say he committed suicide because he didn’t want to love anyone else! It is almost impossible to find out the truth after so many years.
Jok was buried in a symbolic grave at the Krakow Animal Sanctuary, ul. Rybna 3 and you can visit it to this day. The tomb was decorated with colorful windmills, many in animal cemeteries. Nearby, the residents of Krakow planted flowers and over time decided to erect a monument to him, despite the fact that the then city council had an unfavorable attitude towards this initiative. Although permission to build in the Grunwaldzkie roundabout area was not granted and there was a lack of funds, the fight was successful. This would not be possible without the support of pro-animal organisations, national media, as well as well-known and respected Poles: Zbigniew Wodecki, Jerzy Połomski, Krzysztof Piasecki and Krzysztof Cugowski.
After many vicissitudes, a monument dedicated to the dog Dżok was finally unveiled. The unveiling ceremony took place on May 26, 2001 on Czerwieński Boulevard in Krakow, where the honors were given by a German Shepherd named Kety trained by Jacek Lewkowicz. Thus, the work commemorating Dżok became the third dog statue in the world.
The monument depicts a dog with a worried expression on its face surrounded by human hands. Dżok in a touching gesture extends his left paw towards the watcher and sadly gazes into the distance, waiting for his owner. The author of the monument is the sculptor Bronisław Chromy, to whom we owe, among others, The Wawel Dragon or the works of Park Decius.
Under the sculpture, an inscription in Polish and English reads “Dog Dżok. The most faithful of the faithful, a symbol of canine loyalty. For a year /1990-1991/ he waited at the roundabout in Grunwaldzkie for his master, who died in this place”.
Jok and his fate have become an urban legend, and the monument itself is a frequently visited spot on the map of Krakow. Dogs fully deserve the title of man’s best friend, setting an example of loyalty and dedication that we humans often lack. Nurturing the memory of the “most faithful of the faithful”, the story of Dżok remains eternally alive and makes you reflect on the values currently professed.
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