the State Zoological Museum archives the memoirs and letters collected by a secret group of wartime archivists who hid (in boxes and milk churns) documents that now reside at the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw testimonies given to Israel's unique Righteous Among Nations program and the superb Shoah Project and letters, diaries, sermons, memoirs, articles, and other writings by citizens of the Warsaw Ghetto. I've also depended on family photographs (that's how I know Jan wore his watch on his hairy left wrist and Antonina had a thing for polka-dot dresses) conversations with their son Ryszard, various people at the Warsaw Zoo, and Warsaw women who were contemporaries of Antonina and also served the Underground writings by Lutz Heck artifacts viewed in museums, such as the dramatic Warsaw Uprising Museum and the eloquent Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. Whenever I say Antonina or Jan thought, wondered, felt, I'm quoting from their writings or interviews. In telling their story, I've relied on many sources detailed in the bibliography, but most of all on the memoirs ("based on my diary and loose notes") of "the zookeeper's wife," Antonina Żabińska, rich with the sensuous spell of the zoo her autobiographical children's books, such as Life at the Zoo Jan Żabiński's books and recollections and the interviews Antonina and Jan gave to Polish, Hebrew, and Yiddish newspapers. But in wartime Poland, when even handing a thirsty Jew a cup of water was punishable by death, their heroism stands out as all the more startling. Their story has fallen between the seams of history, as radically compassionate acts sometimes do. JAN AND ANTONINA ŻABIŃSKI WERE CHRISTIAN ZOOKEEPERS horrified by Nazi racism, who capitalized on the Nazis' obsession with rare animals in order to save over three hundred doomed people. Photo insert: Photos courtesy of the Warsaw Zoo and the author. Title.įrontispiece: Antonina Żabińska with her favorites, the lynxes. World War, 1939–1945-Jews-Rescue-Poland-Warsaw. Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust-Poland-Warsaw. The zookeeper's wife: a war story / Diane Ackerman.-1st ed.ġ. The Zookeeper's Wife will touch every nerve you have.For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, W. It has already been acclaimed by Jonathan Safran Foer: 'I can't imagine a better story or storyteller. Jan and Antonina saved over 300 people from the death camps of the Holocaust. But more than anything it is a story of decency and sacrifice triumphing over terror and oppression. It shows us the human and personal impact of war - of life in the Warsaw Ghetto, of fighting in the anti-Nazi resistance. Written with the narrative drive and emotional punch of a novel, The Zookeeper's Wife is a remarkable true story. Through the ever-present fear of discovery, Antonina must keep her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and animal inhabitants - otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes - as Europe crumbles around them. Plans are prepared for what will become the Warsaw uprising. Ammunition is buried in the elephant enclosure and explosives stored in the animal hospital. With most of their animals killed, or stolen away to Berlin, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski begin smuggling Jews into the empty cages.Īs the war escalates Jan becomes increasingly involved in the anti-Nazi resistance. When Germany invades Poland, Luftwaffe bombers devastate Warsaw and the city's zoo along with it. Now a major motion picture, starring Jessica Chastain and Daniel Bruhl, based on a remarkable true story of bravery and sanctuary during World War II - out in Spring 2017.