The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
by Diane Ackerman
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Description
When Germany invaded Poland, bombers devastated Warsaw--and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into the empty cages. Another dozen "guests" hid inside the Zabinskis' villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. show more Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants and refusing to give in to the penetrating fear of discovery, even as Europe crumbled around her. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
sweetbug Sarah's Key is a work of fiction based on an actual event that took place in France. Both books deal with little-known stories of women/girls trying to keep others safe during the Holocaust; both examine the terrible physical and emotional toll this action takes on the female protagonist.
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sweetbug Both are about women living in German occupied territory during WWII.
Member Reviews
This book tells the true story of a brave couple - Jan and Antonina Zabinski - who use their home at the Warsaw zoo as a waystation to hide Polish resistance fighters and Jewish refugees (both friends and strangers) during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Throughout the war, Jan and Antonina are besieged by fears real and imagined, from bombings to enlistments to SS soldiers encamping nearby. Their efforts to hide others means risking their own lives and that of their young son. Nevertheless, they feel it is their duty to help save a life when they can, and they continue to find inventive ways to smuggle Jews out of the Warsaw ghetto and move them onwards to safer locations.
Ackerman uses the story of the Zabinskis as a baseline and then show more sometimes meanders from there to explore other aspects of the war or of Nazi ideology. In this way, this historical time period and place are brought to life, often through personal stories. While it appears some readers did not enjoy these "tangents," I felt they were really interesting and I learned a lot more about certain aspects of World War II that I didn't previously know. The main story of the Zabinskis and their resistance work is fascinating and full of interesting people and moments. In all parts, the book is obviously well researched and is constructed from past biographies, Antonina's journal, interviews, etc.
For the audiobook listener, Suzanne Toren does an excellent job presenting this book. Nonfiction can be a bit dull when read aloud, but Toren does her best to make the narration interesting. In particular, she's very good at doing the number of accents required and adding emotion as needed. show less
Ackerman uses the story of the Zabinskis as a baseline and then show more sometimes meanders from there to explore other aspects of the war or of Nazi ideology. In this way, this historical time period and place are brought to life, often through personal stories. While it appears some readers did not enjoy these "tangents," I felt they were really interesting and I learned a lot more about certain aspects of World War II that I didn't previously know. The main story of the Zabinskis and their resistance work is fascinating and full of interesting people and moments. In all parts, the book is obviously well researched and is constructed from past biographies, Antonina's journal, interviews, etc.
For the audiobook listener, Suzanne Toren does an excellent job presenting this book. Nonfiction can be a bit dull when read aloud, but Toren does her best to make the narration interesting. In particular, she's very good at doing the number of accents required and adding emotion as needed. show less
Jan and Antonina were the proprietors of the Warsaw Zoo when the invasion by Germany in 1939 and the subsequent outbreak of World War 2 changed their lives forever. Jan worked for the Polish Underground and Antonina, a woman who had a way with animals and loved nurturing, headed up the villa when friends of theirs and Jews escaping the Ghetto needed a safe place to stay. This is her story, one of everyday courage and outstanding acts of kindness.
Diane Ackerman is known for her nature books, but she also is a writer of poetry, and treats Antonina's story with care. It's not a history, but a personal look at the life of one family who did what they could when the Nazis invaded and turned Warsaw inside out. The author especially shines show more when she talks about animal behavior in the zoo and Antonina's various pets, but her understated descriptions of war and atrocities makes some events all the more heartbreaking. Interspersed with these are gentler stories of everyday life and humorous anecdotes, but the war is always in the background. Intriguing details on the Nazi program to re-engineer extinct species even while decimating others put a horrifying perspective on what they were doing to humans as well. show less
Diane Ackerman is known for her nature books, but she also is a writer of poetry, and treats Antonina's story with care. It's not a history, but a personal look at the life of one family who did what they could when the Nazis invaded and turned Warsaw inside out. The author especially shines show more when she talks about animal behavior in the zoo and Antonina's various pets, but her understated descriptions of war and atrocities makes some events all the more heartbreaking. Interspersed with these are gentler stories of everyday life and humorous anecdotes, but the war is always in the background. Intriguing details on the Nazi program to re-engineer extinct species even while decimating others put a horrifying perspective on what they were doing to humans as well. show less
In the 1930s the Warsaw Zoo was run by Jan Zabinski, supported by his wife Antonina and their adolescent son Rys. In 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland and all of the Jewish citizens of Warsaw were locked into a few blocks of ghetto, sent to concentration camps, or killed. While all Poles were oppressed, the Zabinskis were Christian and used what little freedom that afforded them, and the zoo facilities at their disposal, to help shelter refugees and pass messages. The Nazis were as obsessive about the genetic “purity” of native animal species as they were about human eugenics, and they confiscated any genetically valuable European animals from the Warsaw Zoo and held shooting parties to hunt the rest. The Zabinskis transitioned their show more zoo to a pig farm and later a fur farm to keep up the levels of chaos that provided cover for their clandestine activities, and stayed true to their love of animals by hosting a small menagerie in their home and safehouse.
I really loved this story and want to know more about it, but I did not care for the writing. The narrative felt disjointed and contained way too much detail on irrelevant matters (e.g. a list of lampshades that Antonina might have seen while hiding in a lamp store) while skimming over the more fascinating logistics of the Polish Underground. The perspective constantly shifts between a close narrative style from Antonina’s diaries and a researcher’s detachment. Either would have worked fine, but together the story is hard to follow.
Despite all that, I must appreciate that Ackerman did a lot of original research for the book, interviewing Rys and others who knew the Zabinskis and traveled through their Underground, and the story is undeniably incredible. show less
I really loved this story and want to know more about it, but I did not care for the writing. The narrative felt disjointed and contained way too much detail on irrelevant matters (e.g. a list of lampshades that Antonina might have seen while hiding in a lamp store) while skimming over the more fascinating logistics of the Polish Underground. The perspective constantly shifts between a close narrative style from Antonina’s diaries and a researcher’s detachment. Either would have worked fine, but together the story is hard to follow.
Despite all that, I must appreciate that Ackerman did a lot of original research for the book, interviewing Rys and others who knew the Zabinskis and traveled through their Underground, and the story is undeniably incredible. show less
This is an absorbing book about Warsaw during WWII. Its focus is on zookeepers Jan and Antonia Zabinski, members of the Polish Underground, which fought against Nazi occupation and helped Jews escape. Much of the information comes from her memoirs, so anecdotes are told from her point of view, as the more house bound of the couple, caring for two young children as well as, by the end of the war, some 300 people who stayed at the zoo for long and short durations, living with false identities in the house, or hidden in the cages. The zoo itself was destroyed during the war, most of the animals killed or taken to other zoos, and what remained was an assortment of small animals kept as pets, and others raised for fur or food -- per Nazi show more command, or as a useful cover for surreptitious activities (collecting scraps to feed the pigs was an excuse to transport food (pork -- who would guess) into the Ghetto). The strength of the book is its details of daily life -- the variety of people (a sculptor, a collector of insects) who passed through the house or remained in the Ghetto, observations of animal behavior, negotiations with officials and visitors who might be friend or enemy, small rebellions (the signal for house guests to hide was a piano tune by a Jewish composer) and acts of courage.
(read 8 Feb 2009) show less
(read 8 Feb 2009) show less
In the 1930s, Antonina and her husband Jan were the zookeepers of Warsaw’s zoo. Both the zoo and Jan were well respected in the international zoo community. The family’s idyllic life changed almost overnight with the German invasion of Warsaw. Some of the best specimens were removed to German zoos for “safekeeping” (i.e., looted), but many of the other animals perished as a result of the invasion and bombing raids. The Zabinskis were able to remain in the villa at the zoo during most of the war, and they used the house, some of the animal shelters, and the tunnels on the zoo property to shelter Jews. Most of the Jews were temporary guests and soon moved on to other safe houses. A few of the Jews were long-term guests who became show more part of the family. Yad Vashem has recognized the Zabinskis as Righteous Among the Nations.
Antonina’s diary and books provide the foundation for the book. Ackerman, who has Polish ancestry and extensive experience in nature writing, turned Antonina’s story into a bestseller. Antonina’s uncanny ability to understand and communicate with wild animals was essential to her family’s survival and their success in sheltering several hundred Jews during the Holocaust. It’s a fascinating story that can be recommended to readers of all ages and interests. show less
Antonina’s diary and books provide the foundation for the book. Ackerman, who has Polish ancestry and extensive experience in nature writing, turned Antonina’s story into a bestseller. Antonina’s uncanny ability to understand and communicate with wild animals was essential to her family’s survival and their success in sheltering several hundred Jews during the Holocaust. It’s a fascinating story that can be recommended to readers of all ages and interests. show less
When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw—and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen "guests" hid inside the Zabinskis' villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants—otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes.With her exuberant prose and exquisite sensitivity to the natural world, Diane Ackerman engages us show more viscerally in the lives of the zoo animals, their keepers, and their hidden visitors. She shows us how Antonina refused to give in to the penetrating fear of discovery, keeping alive an atmosphere of play and innocence even as Europe crumbled around her. show less
I loved this book. At first I was expecting a novel based on a true story but what I got was a nonfiction narrative about a family working to save their zoo while living in Warsaw Poland during WWII. I was captivated by the story but also the writing style. Ackerman will mention a person in history and the brief encounter they had at the zoo then take the rest of the chapter to explain the role that person played not only in this particular story but in the whole of the war. I found the history fascinating but not overwhelming. There was just enough historical information to help set the tone of the era without bogging down the story with facts. I loved this book and I would definitely recommend it!
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Author Information
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Diane Ackerman was born on October 7, 1948 in Waukegan, Illinois. She received a B.A. in English from Pennsylvania State University and her M.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. in English from Cornell University. Poet, author, educator, adventurer, and naturalist, she tries to bridge science and art in her writing, exploring questions of who we are, where we show more come from, and how we fit into the fabric of the world. She has written many books of poetry including The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral; Wife of Light; Jaguar of Sweet Laughter: New and Selected Poems; Origami Bridges: Poems of Psychoanalysis and Fire; and I Praise My Destroyer. Her nonfiction works include A Natural History of the Senses; A Natural History of Love; The Moon by Whale Light: And Other Adventures Among Bats, Crocodilians, Penguins, and Whales; An Alchemy of Mind; and On Extended Wings. She also writes nature books for children including Animal Sense; Monk Seal Hideaway; and Bats: Shadows in the Night. She is coeditor of a Norton anthology, The Book of Love. Her essays about nature and human nature have appeared in Parade, National Geographic, The New York Times, and The New Yorker magazines. She hosted a five-hour PBS television series inspired by A Natural History of the Senses. She received the Orion Book Award for The Zookeepers Wife. Her other awards include the Abbie Copps Poetry Prize, Black Warrior Poetry Prize, Pushcart Prize, Peter I. B. Lavan award, and the Wordsmith award. She has taught at a variety of universities, including Columbia and Cornell. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Antonina's dierentuin : een oorlogsverhaal in Warschau
- Original title
- The Zookeeper's wife
- Original publication date
- 2007-09-04
- People/Characters
- Antonina Zabinski (Antonina Żabińska); Jan Zabinski (Jan Żabiński); Ryszard Zabinski (Ryszard Żabiński); Szymon Tenenbaum; Lonia Tenenbaum; Heinz Heck (show all 9); Lutz Heck; Magdalena Gross; Maurycy Fraenkel
- Important places
- Warsaw Zoo, Warsaw, Poland; Warsaw Ghetto, Warsaw, Poland
- Important events
- Holocaust; World War II
- Related movies
- The Zookeeper's Wife (2017 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- For Antonina and her family, human and animal
- First words
- At dawn in an outlying district of Warsaw, sunlight swarmed around the trunks of blooming linden trees and crept up the white walls of a 1930s stucco and glass villa where the zoo director and his wife slept in a bed crafted ... (show all)from white birch, a pale wood used in canoes, tongue depressors, and Windsor chairs.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)On both sides of the pillar, a bearded god spills water from his mouth, and it's easy to picture Antonina setting down her basket, angling a jug under a spout, and waiting as life gurgled up from the earth.
- Blurbers
- Diamond, Jared; Foer, Jonathan Safran; Sobel, Dava
- Original language
- English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 940.5318350943841 — History & geography History of Europe History of Europe 1918- World War II, 1939-1945 Social, political, economic history; Holocaust Holocaust
- LCC
- D804.66 .Z33 .A25 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania History (General) World War II (1939-1945)
- BISAC
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- 10 — Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Spanish, Portuguese (Portugal)
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- ISBNs
- 51
- UPCs
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- ASINs
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