04/07/2022
They called her a witch, because she chatted with animals andowned a terrorist-crow, known for stealing goldand attacking bicyclists. A lynx slept in her bed, and she shared her roofwith a tamed boar. Simona Kossak was a scientist, ecologist and theauthor of award-winningfilms - as well as an activist whofought to protect Europe's oldest forest.
Janusz R.Kowalczyk, Jul 2015
She was thegreat-granddaughter of Juliusz Kossak,the granddaughter of Wojciech Kossak, andthe daughter of Jerzy Kossak - threepainters who loved both Polish landscapesand history. She was also a niece of MariaPawlikowska-Jasnorzewska the poet and MagdalenaSamozwaniec, the writer. Simona was meant to be a son and the fourth Kossak - carrying easels and carrying on her famous surname.
Instead, she spentmore than 30 years in a wooden hut in the Białowieża Forest - without electricity or accessto running water. Simona believed thatlife ought to be simple and close to nature.Living amongst animals, she foundsomething that she never could with her fellowhumans.
>> Janusz R. Kowalczyk, Jul 2015 [Culture]
Episode:
Release Date: April 8 2022
Researched and presented by Cayla
Simona Kossak completed her degreein Zoology at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków in 1970,with a specialization in psychology and animal ethology (i.e.animal behaviour). Her dream was to settle down in the Bieszczady mountains, in the Hulski Valley, which was still wildat the time. She was promised the position of curator at a yet non-existentmuseum in a yet non-existent national park. As the matter was beingconstantly delayed, Simona, an admirer of the Bieszczady mountains (she had been spending her holidays there for thepast 10 years) abruptly changed direction, packed her suitcase, and afterseveral hours of train travel, got off in...
Białowieża. It was the middle of winter, 1st February1971, when she started a job at the Mammal Research Institute of thePolish Academy of Sciences there. She moved into a guest room, yetquietly still had dreams of Bieszczady. But one day, anacquaintance and later good friend, Barbara Ewa Wysmułek, who was a Polishlanguage scholar and wife of a National Park and PalacePark forest ranger, said: "Simona dear, Dziedzinkawould appeal to you. Perhaps the place is a bit haunted, but you are quitebrave. You must go see this wonderful spot."
'Simona first saw Dziedzinka in moonlight',Ewa Wysmułek remembers:
Wedecided we would go there at night time. The four of us went down the road withtorches: my husband, a hired carter, myself and Simona. >> JanuszR. Kowalczyk, Jul 2015 [Culture]
As they approached the location of the hut, a large creature cross theirpath
Simona:It was the first aurochs that I ever sawin my life - I am not counting the ones in the zoo. Well, and this greetingright at the entry into the forest - this monumental aurochs, thewhiteness, the snow, the full moon, whitest white everywhere, pretty [...] andthe little hut hidden in the little clearing all covered with snow, an abandonedhouse that no one had lived in for two years. In the middle room, therewere no floors; it was generally in ruins. And I looked at this house, allsilvered by the moon as it was, romantic, and I said, 'it's finished, it's hereor nowhere else!' >> Janusz R. Kowalczyk, Jul 2015 [Culture]
The next day she showed up at the office of the director of BiałowieżaNational Park, as the forest lodge was located within its boundaries, andproceeded to request that it be assigned to her as staff housing. The directorat the time, engineer Józef Budzyń, interrogatively eyed the slendergirl, who had this whim to commute six kilometres to work winteror summer, of her own free will; he agreed, yet noted that a prominentphotographer from Warsaw, Lech Wilczek, was also making effortsto occupy Dziedzinka.On 24th March 1971, on herown name day, Simona moved in. About a fortnight later, her neighbourmoved into the second part of the house.
Dziedzinka
The next day she showed up at the office of the director of BiałowieżaNational Park, as the forest lodge was located within its boundaries, andproceeded to request that it be assigned to her as staff housing. The directorat the time, engineer Józef Budzyń, interrogatively eyed the slendergirl, who had this whim to commute six kilometres to work winteror summer, of her own free will; he agreed, yet noted that a prominentphotographer from Warsaw, Lech Wilczek, was also making effortsto occupy Dziedzinka [Je-jean-yetz]. On 24th March 1971, on herown name day, Simona moved in. About a fortnight later, her neighbourmoved into the second part of the house.
Before Simona went to live in Dziedzinka, the house had tobe renovated. The employees of the Białowieża National Parkrepaired the roof, changed the joists, got rid of the fungus, and said thatought to suffice for five years (and indeed it did). After therenovations, Simona started to arrange her part of Dziedzinka. She plastered the walls with wallpaper, washed the windows,placed the sofa and bench, and upholstered the armchairsthat were brought over from Kraków.
She brought clocks, decorations, oil lamps and furniture fromKossakówka. And she didn't care when Jacek Wysmułek said to her:'You won't make a Kossakówka out of Dziedzinka'.
A large tile stove in the old style stood in the corner of Simona'sroom, and a large table was placed in its middle - it was her workshop study,where she worked by an oil lamp. Her mother, Elżbieta Kossak,would bring books and furniture from Kossakówka when shecame to visit.
The road to the cabin wasn't in the greatest shape. For a long timehorse and/or horse and carriage was the most common access, but eventually automobilescould make the trek. But for Simona? Well she was known to useFiat Maluch a little all-terrain car and cross-country skies to move about theforest, but most famously was her 'komar' motorbike.
The roads of the forest were filled with mud andwere regularly destroyed by vehicles carrying wood out of the forest, herlittle 'komar' was the most reliable form of transportation
Simona'sneighbor was Lech Wilczek, an authorand photographer whose primary passion was nature and its preservation.With similar interests and goals you would think they would've immediately goton. But that was not the case, both thinking the other was full of themselves,but living the same building, they had to tolerate each other's presence
Tomasz Werkowski, a hunter from Białowieża, recalls:
'Once I saw this phenomenon advancing on a komar- wind in the hair, a pilot-cap, rabbit pants, and eyegoggles. It passed me by and I had to turn around, because I didn't knowwhat it was. This was in 1974, the very first time that I saw Simona'.
Nomatter what the season, the komar was her ride. In the winter, she rode her komarto work, with her hands freezing to the handles. ProfessorKajetan Perzowski, a colleague of Simona from her university yearsin Kraków, says
Once, with a friend, I was going across the Białowieża Forest in a small truck. Suddenly, we see someone pushing through the snowdrifts carrying a motorbike on their back. It was Simona. We packed her together with this motorbike onto our truck. She thanked us later, heating up a big pot of bigos at Dziedzinka.
Simona's mother, Elżbieta,would come and spend the summers with her daughter. For the winter, she wouldreturn to the hut in Kossakówka. She had problems with her hip and oftenrequired crutches to walk, getting about Dziedzinkawastricky, especially with the outdoor privy. But for this woman,who grew up homesteading, this was true paradise, this washome.
Life on Dziedzinkadid resemble an atmosphere of a manorin the summer. There was reading by the light of oil lamps,keeping hens, and with time, also spinning wool. On top of that,the chime clocks from Lech Wilczek's collection resounded everyhour.
Simona's love of animalsof all kind, naturally led to the property quickly becoming a zoo between animalsshe rescued, domestic animals she had acquired and the wild crittersshe had befriended. Early on she had an owl and three buzzards,so when Lech came across four abandoned owl chicks, he broughtthem over in a basket. This would begin their joint animal menagerie
It only made sense. They both loved the isolation of the ancient forestand the connection it gave them with nature. With Simona's workfor the Mammal Research Institute and Lech's wildlife photographyand writing it was the perfect place. And both adored their animalcompanions.
The animals they rescued, weren't captive. The owls would eventually gotheir own way. The buzzards? When she released them, they came back and wouldescort Simona to and from the little hut for sometime before finally goingtheir own way.
Zabka, The Boar
It was a baby boar that would be named Zabka [Froggy] thatwould bring them together.
Zabka had been found, one-day old and was brought to Lechto care for, he brought the piglet home to Simona's delight and together theywould raise the boar. They'd alternate nights, as due to the cold, the piglethad to sleep in their beds and even if one of them had to go away for a reason,someone was always there for the little boar.
Zabka hated being alone, and behaved more like a dog than a boar,following her owners around and she would often steal things from her parentsjust to make them chase after her. She was also very affectionate andfrequently demanded cuddles and chin scratches.
Through this co-parenting, Lech and Simona got to knoweach other, and eventually to liking each other. They would be together for therest of their lives.
At dinner, Simona says jokingly: "Lech loves our animals,but I think he likes me a bit too, because I'm the only woman within a range offive kilometres."
"But I have a motorcycle, love, and besides, Ihave plenty of other women only four kilometres away," retorts Lech.
Written by Zbigniew Święch [przekroi]
Andtheir hairy love-child? Zabka grew into a massive boar, while Idon't have the exact dimensions of Zabka, it's common for adult boars of herspecies to weigh between 130-220 lbs, with reports of boars that have reachedover 400 lbs. Zabka would be with them for 17 years. Despite hersize, she's as gentle as can be with her parents, though she can be shy aroundguests, and will aggressively defend the property from strangers.
Hepunia, The Donkey
On April 1973, Janusz Kocięcki, head of breeding at the PoznańZoo, came to Dziedzinka and declared: "I'm sure youneed a donkey."
And thus they acquired Hepunia. Hepuniawas mischievous and loved to travel. She was known for wandering off to thewoods sometimes on grand adventures, even attempting to cross into the SovietUnion twice, but the border guards turned her away and called her parents.
Korasek, The Crow
But Zabka was far from the only wild animal Simonabefriended. Terror flew on black wings, and his name was Korasek. The corvidwas known to terrorize half of the Białowieża area. Hestole cigarette cases, hair brushes, scissors, cutters,mouse traps and notepads. He attacked people. He toreup bicycle seats. He stole documents, he stole lumberjacks'sausages in the woods, and made holes in grocery bags. Heclung at men's pant legs, pulled at women's skirts, and prickedtheir legs. People thought that he was some kind of a punishment fortheir sins. And he was Lech's favorite companion
Stanisław Myśliński, who has scars fromthe bird to this day, recalls:
He would even steal workers' payin the woods. He once stole my permit for entering the woods.He pulled it out of my pocket and notoriously tore it apart. He loved toattack people who rode bicycles, especially girls. It wasvery impressive - he would attack the rider's head with his beak, theperson would fall off, and he then would sit on the seat triumphantly,looking the at the spinning wheel. >> Janusz R. Kowalczyk, Jul2015
Simona's friend says:
Once he stole my car keys. And Lech[Wilczek] said: 'Don't worry, he'll bring them back'. He took a metal rod and scaredthe crow: 'You sonofabitch, you took keys from a friend?!'He and I said to Korasek that if he brings them back, he'll get an egg,and if he doesn't, he'll get a blow with the rod. And the crow perhapsunderstood this, because after a moment, he flew up to me, furious, with the keysin his beak and threw them onto a table! >> Janusz R. Kowalczyk, Jul 2015
Bożena Wajda recalls:
Once, I was walking around the reservewithout a permit, and the guard saw me, he followed me to Dziedzinkaand started to fill in a fine penalty. When he was handingthe print to me, the crow appeared. He took the paper in hisbeak, flew onto the roof of Dziedzinka with it, and toreit up with his leg, on top of that roof. I had such a laughing attackthat I couldn't control myself, the guard didn't know what to do, and finally, hejust shrugged his shoulders at the whole thing. >> Janusz R. Kowalczyk, Jul 2015
Before I even make it to the porch, Korasek the crow first pecks at my legaround my ankle and then proceeds to steal a pen from my pocket; fortunately,he is open to bribes and returns it in exchange for an egg
Allthe lumberjacks and sawmen in the area need to constantly keep an eye on theirpower saws; otherwise Korasek nicks the screws and spark plug boots and stealstheir lunches. In spite of it all, people like him
Written by Zbigniew Święch [przekroi]
And it wasn't just people that had to worry about Korasek'smischief, he also liked to harass the animals, with the exception of Zabka,whom he was afraid of. He'd often ride on Hepunia's back and heckle the chickens.But while devious and almost malicious with outsiders, Korasek lovedhis parents.
When Simona would ride her motorcycle, he would sit on her heador the back seat, making sure she got to her destination safe
For the locals of Białowieżait was a common sight to see Lech walking down main street and Korasek flying overhead, frequently flying down low, landing on Lech's shoulder and cuddling up against his face.
In the forest though, Korasek isn't the only one to follow Lech, with Zabka and Hepunia regularly at his side.
The Deer
Simona had hand-raised a pack of deer that would go on to live in thewoods
Simona recalled:
One day, the pack of my deer [...] manifested signs of fright,and did not want to go out onto the forest field to graze. And I startedto approach the young forest, because this was the direction in whichthe deer started, their ears raised, and the hair standing up on their buttocks,apparently something very threatening had to be there in the young forest.I crossed about half of this open space, and I stopped, because I heard a choirof terrified barking behind me, so I turned around, and what did I see?[...] Five of my deer stood up on their stiffly straightened legs,looking at me, and calling with this bark: don't go there, don't gothere, there's death over there!
I must admit, I was dumbstruck, and thenfinally I did go. And what did I find? It turned out that there were freshtraces of a lynx that had crossed the young forest. I went indeeper, and I found lynx faeces; it was indeed warm, because I touchedit. What did that mean? It meant that a carnivore had entered the farm,the deer noticed him, then ran and they were scared, and what did theysee? They saw their mother going unto death, completely unaware,she had to be warned, and for me, I will honestly admit, this day was abreakthrough. I crossed the border that divides the human world fromthat of the animals. If there was a glass that divided us from humans, awall impossible to knock down, then the animals would not care about me. We aredeer, she is human, what do we care for her? If they did warn me[...], it meant one thing and one thing only: you are a member of our pack,we don't want you to get hurt. I honestly admit, I relived this event for manydays, and in fact today, when I think about it, there is sense of warmtharound my heart. It proves how one can befriend the world of wildanimals.
>> Janusz R. Kowalczyk, Jul 2015 [Culture]
Other Animals
With time, more animals appeared in Simona's den by thehouse: a doe who approached the window and ate sugar, a blackstork for whom Simona created a nest in a chest in herroom, a dachshund and a female lynx that slept in the same bedwith Simona, as well as peacocks. Dziedzinka quicklybecame an experimental laboratory which Simona consequently expanded asa zoo psychologist - with a hospital and a waiting roomfor sick animals.
Here, she healed, hugged, and observed the animallot together with Wilczek, who photographed them. Here, as amother she raised moose twins, Pepsi and Cola, washed theneck of the black stork, took the female rat Kanalia into hersleeve (as the animal panicked in open spaces). She let the befriended doegive birth on the patio, took in lambs with their mother, keptand observed the rats Alfa and Omega, and keep crickets ina glass container. It was here that she checked on the weather by observingbats in the basement. The menagerie grew with each year.
>> Janusz R. Kowalczyk, Jul 2015 [Culture]
Wolves and Linxes
In the winter of 1993, Simona commenced her battlefor saving the lynxes and wolves of Białowieżafrom perdition. In an article for Twój Styl (Your Style)magazine, Alina Niedzielska wrote, for example, that:
A group of young workers from the Mammal Research Plant of the PAN Polish Academy of Sciences came up with the idea of telemetric studies. A wild animal is given a collar with a radio transmitter, so that it would pass out information as it walks about the woods. But the carnivore must first be caught. [...] it was revealed that the researchers set up traps for the wolves and lynxes, which are prohibited by Polish law.
Simona came across two metal jaw traps, so shetook them with her and refused to give them back. She was accused by the scientistof stealing the research apparatus. The matter was investigated by the RegionalProsecution in Hojnówka and the 2nd Criminal Section of the RegionalCourt in Bielsko Podlaskie. During the hearing conducted by the Prosecution,in response to the question what kind of a threat such research apparatus inthe Białowieża Forest presented to animals, Simonaanswered:
In my opinion, it was a lethal threat not only to the animals, but also the guards. [...] Each animal that falls into the trap is potentially condemned to die, if the wound to the paws is heavy. With a population that numbers 12 specimen, and including poaching and chance deaths of wild animals, it is a lethal threat to the continuity of the lowland lynx type, whose genetic scope is unique across all of Europe, because there are no more lowland lynxes in Europe. It is a disgrace to the world of science for us to have contributed to this.
Life on the Homestead
Every Christmas Eve, the two of them decorate the spruce treethat grows in the clearing in front of the house. They adorn the branches witheverything that birds and wild animals are fond of: rowanberries, lard,apples and dried fruit. They also set out a pile of hay for the deerthat pass through Dziedzinka [Je-jean-yetz]as they venture deep into theprimeval forest.
At the table, the now giant Żabkareceives (while standing on her hind paws like a dog) a loaf of bread(see photo!), acorns, and apples in a basket decorated with pinebranches. Hepunia receives a couple pounds more of apples andlots of carrots and oats, as much as she can eat. There are twomice for the owl, and Korasek the crow receives eggswith mayonnaise and a tap on the head so it doesn't get too big.
Simona would spend the rest of her life here and hercommitments to conservation and the understanding of wildlife received numerousrecognitions over the years
- 1980: the Scientific Council of the Forest Research Institute award Simona with a doctoral degree in Forest Sciences on the basis of her doctoral dissertation "Research on the trophic situation of roe deer in the habitat of fresh mixed coniferous forest in the Białowieża Primeval Forest"
- 1991, with a postdoctoral degree in Forest Sciences on the basis of her postdoctoral dissertation "Environmental and intraspecific determinants of the feeding behavior of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) in the forest environment"
- 1997, she received the academic title of Professor of Forest Sciences
- In October 2000, Kossak was awarded the Golden Cross of Merit: Cross of Merit was the highest civilian award in Poland. It was awarded to citizens who went beyond the call of duty in their work for the country and society as a whole
- 2003: Kossak worked at the Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Białowieżaand at the Forest Research Institute at the Department of Natural Forests, where she was the director from January 2003 until her death in 2007.
- She was also one of the originators of the UOZ-1 repeller, a device that warns wild animals of passing trains
The creative output of prof. dr hab. Simona Kossak includes a total ofover 140 original scientific studies, pop-science articles,unpublished scientific documentation and 4 books
Kossak passed on March 15 2007
Opening of Simony Kossak Street. Białowieża March 18,2017
Dziedzinkawas made into a monument
Lech continued his and Simona's work up until his death. He went on towrite and publish and handful of books, but his last book was "Meetingwith Simona Kojak" a biography about Simona full of never before seenpictures of their life together and dedicated to her work and passion. He diedin Dec 2018
Today, Simona's niece, Joanna Kossak keeps her aunt's memory alive.Growing up, Joanna spent every vacation she could at her aunt's house andconsidered her liked a mother. Joanna performs talks educating people aboutSimona and her work. Joanna herself is a painter and said that one day shewould like to write a book about Simona and Lech, but she needs more time togrieve
"Manis also a part of nature, and there are no more [or] less important parts init. A flower, a star, a stone, a man is permeated with the same divine spark.Those who learn to sympathize with plants and animals can understand others andwill be better for themselves, that is, they will do nothing against theirnature. " Simona
