The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

by Ackerman, Diane
ISBN: 9780393354256
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Used - Trade Paperback - 9780393354256

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Overview

1939: the Germans have invaded Poland. The keepers of the Warsaw zoo, Jan and Antonina Zabinski, survive the bombardment of the city, only to see the occupiers ruthlessly kill many of their animals. The Nazis then carry off the prized specimens to Berlin for their program to create the "purest" breeds, much as they saw themselves as the purest human race. Opposed to all the Nazis represented, the Zabinskis risked their lives by hiding Jews in the now-empty animal cages, saving as many as three hundred people from extermination. Acclaimed, best-selling author Diane Ackerman, fascinated both by the Zabinskis' courage and by Antonina's incredible sensitivity to all living beings, tells a moving and dramatic story of the power of empathy and the strength of love.

A Focus Features release, it is directed by Niki Caro, written by Angela Workman.

  • Format: TradePaperback
  • Author: Ackerman, Diane
  • ISBN: 9780393354256
  • Condition: Used
  • Dimensions: 8.20 x 1.10
  • Number Of Pages: 384
  • Publication Year: 2017

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  • A refuge of wonder and beauty during wartime.

    Imelda O. - 4 years 4 months ago

    The Zookeeper's Wife tells the true story of the Jan and Antonina Zabinski and their son, Ryszard during World War II. Jan Zabinski was the zoo director of the Warsaw, Poland zoo, and his wife Antonina was the zoo nurse. Besides their shared interest in animal conservation, Jan and Antonina also shared a love of art, and often invited artists to the zoo. The zoo was a social center, where people from all over the city, including the Jewish Ghetto, gathered and knew Jan and Antonina. The author Diane Ackerman is best known for A History of The Senses. For this story, she delved into Antonina's personal diaries to convey the zookeeper's wife's passion for not just the animals, but for the beauty of Poland itself. Antonina recorded in her diaries that she would "spy on the world through each animal's eyes" in order to better understand their needs. Her son Ryszard's playmates were the orphan lynx kittens and a badger. As war broke out and the Jews were forbidden from working or even going parks, markets or other public places, Antonina devised a plan to distribute food to them. Jan would visit the Ghetto with the pretense of collecting scraps for a local farm. In reality, he was taking meat from the pig farm to the Ghetto. Soon the zoo was closed by the Nazis, and the couple devoted all their energies to smuggling out Jews through the zoo or to hiding them in the zoo. They used code words to refer to the human residents of the zoo by referring to them by animal names. In all, they helped 300 people out of Poland through the Warsaw Zoo.

    HPB Staff Review

  • Engaging history

    Gillian P. - 7 years 4 months ago

    Diane Ackerman's treatment of a Polish Zookeeper and his wife and their resistance activities during the war is grand. She delves into the natural world, relating how our animal behavior mimics those of the creatures who once inhabited the zoo before it was bombed early in the war. A great unconventional war story, the details of the special relationships that formed between the Zabinskis and the people and animals in WW II Warsaw are beautifully written. A story of individuals taking a stand against oppression is hopeful in these times.

    HPB Staff Review