“The Zookeeper’s Wife” by Diane Ackerman is a non-fiction book that tells the story of Jan and Antonina Zabinski, two Polish zookeepers who risked their lives during World War II to save the lives of hundreds of Jews.
The book is set in Warsaw, Poland, during the Nazi occupation. The Zabinskis were the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, which was badly damaged during the bombing of the city. The couple used the ruins of the zoo to hide Jews who were fleeing from the Nazis.
Antonina Zabinski, in particular, became known for her kindness and her ability to make the Jews feel at home. She would often cook for them and even play music for them on her piano. Her husband Jan, who was a member of the Polish underground, helped smuggle Jews out of the ghetto and bring them to the zoo.
The book tells the stories of many of the Jews who were saved by the Zabinskis. There was Magdalena Gross, who escaped from the ghetto with her infant son and lived in the zoo for over a year. There was also Urszula Gołębiowska, who was only six years old when she was smuggled into the zoo, and who was eventually adopted by the Zabinskis.
“The Zookeeper’s Wife” also chronicles the dangers that the Zabinskis faced in hiding Jews. They had to constantly worry about being discovered by the Nazis, and they had to be very careful in their interactions with the Jews they were hiding. The book details how the Zabinskis used a system of codes and signals to communicate with the Jews and to keep them safe.
The book is not only a story of heroism and bravery, but also a testament to the power of kindness and compassion. Antonina Zabinski is portrayed as a woman who was not only brave, but also deeply empathetic, and who was able to use her compassion to help save the lives of others.
Overall, “The Zookeeper’s Wife” is a powerful and moving book that tells the incredible story of the Zabinskis and the many Jews they saved during World War II. The book is a reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust, but also of the extraordinary acts of heroism and kindness that can emerge in times of great darkness.
3 Comments
Lynne Amos · March 26, 2023 at 7:37 pm
This book was a difficult read. We all know the treatment of Jews was horrific during WW2 but to read about the fate of the animals in the Warsaw zoo was so sad too.
The family that ran the zoo were so brave to hide families trying to escape to safer places. The zookeeper Jan was rather forward thinking regarding ecology and conservation and to a certain extent the Nazis were too but not always for the best of reasons.
Once again I felt I’d learned some interesting facts with this book but the main point I took from this book is that we should never forget the horrors that Jews had to endure
Joyce Beadnall · March 27, 2023 at 4:45 pm
The Zabinskis took incredible personal risks to protect the animals in their zoo, as well as to hide Jews, prior to helping them to escape, seeing the war. I can’t imagine the perpetual fear, along with the heightened degree of awareness and cunning necessary , in order to appear innocent and conformist, in the company of their neighbours and Germans; for years.
It wasn’t an easy book to read, because it’s a true story – but well worth reading. I don’t think scenes of similar sacrifice in a film have had such an impact as reading a book like this. Their dedication to both causes had great impact on all aspects of their lives-including family life, with their son. There would be financial pressures too .
It definitely opened my eyes and made me think.
Katie Hoey · March 28, 2023 at 4:42 pm
This was a very hard read because it is fact not fiction.
Being a true story, it brought home the appalling treatment of the Jewish people living in Warsaw, by the Nazis.
All Jewish people in Warsaw had to relocate to the area of the ghetto where living conditions were very difficult. They were allowed to bring only the absolute minimum with them – usually personal belongings and bedclothes. Altogether there were around 460,000 inhabitants. 85,000 of them children up to the age of 14.The Nazis deliberately limited food supplies to the absolute minimum which caused near starvation amongst the population from the very beginning of the ghetto’s existence. Smuggling food, mainly by children, from the ‘Aryan side’ was the only option of providing the ghetto with supplies. Malnutrition, overpopulation and lack of medical care brought another deadly factor to the daily life of the ghetto’s residents – typhus.
In this horrific setting we meet Jan and Antonina Zabinski, Polish Zoo keepers who owned and ran the Warsaw zoo. During the invasion of their country, their zoo was bombed and a lot of their animals were killed or confiscated by the Nazis.
While the Nazis depopulated the ghetto, the Zabinskis repopulated the zoo – this time with people. The Nazis had allowed Jan to turn the ruined zoo into a pig farm. So Jan and his staff had reason to enter the ghetto to pick up unused scraps to feed the animals. They brought in food and smuggled out people.
It was up to Antonina to find the Jews room and food, to keep their spirits up and most of all to hide them from the Nazis. Empty zoo cages, sheds, enclosures and even the lion house, as well as nooks within the house, were used to hide Jews, some of whom were short term visitors on their way to safer places and others who became long term guests. Even the Zabinskis’ young son risked his life to help out. How this family coped with the constant fear of being discovered I can not even begin to imagine. They did not hesitate putting themselves in danger and risk their own lives for Jewish people that desperately needed help at their most difficult time.
In all, these courageous zookeepers managed to save over 300 people from the death camps of the Holocaust. Drawing on Antonina’s diary and other historical sources, author Diane Ackermann retells this true, lost story of sheer bravery, hope and resilience.
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