The Zookeeper’s Wife is a true-life, war story of Jan and Antonina Żabiński, the zookeepers of Warsaw Zoo, Poland. This is a non-fiction account of how Żabińskis risked their life every moment during World War II by saving over three hundred Jews. In telling their story, Ackerman has relied majorly upon Antonina’s diary. She has also referred to the published interviews of Jan and Antonina, their family photographs, and conversations with people who closely knew them, including their son Ryszard.

When Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the Warsaw Zoo was heavily impacted. Many of the animals were killed, many of them fleeing under the terror of bombardment and shooting. Of the remaining animals, Germans transported the pure breed animals to Berlin Zoo to create the purest of breeds. Not only this, they ordered the uprooting of everything in the zoo, plants and weeds alike. According to them, these plants were not up to the mark of the German botanicals and thus, had to be wiped off the face of the earth. Nazi Germany’s belief of Lebensraum or living space not only applied to their people but also to their plants and animals. By getting rid of all the ‘inferior’ entities of plants, animals, and people, Hitler dreamed of creating a ‘pure’ world.

Amidst this madness, Jan and Antonina started providing the now-vacant spaces of the animals to their Jew friends, neighbors, and anyone who sought sanctuary. Jan served for the Polish Underground, which worked to rescue people from Jewish Ghettos and hide them, dodging extraordinary risks of capture and death. Antonia, on the other hand, worked every moment of the day to hide and take care of the guests while keeping afloat her own family. All this while fearing the German soldiers every second.

How did it make me feel?

I loved this amazing story of courage, love, and empathy. While the reason why this story comes about is as despicable as it can be, it warms my heart to read such an extraordinary account of human love and kindness.

This is my first World War II non-fiction. Up until now, I had only read fiction, stories taking place on the backdrop of World War II. So reading this one was an interesting experience for me.

I was going back and forth between the fiction books that I’ve read and this book. Following along with the timeline, I tried imagining the feelings of the actual people in this story and drawing the line to connect them to the fictional characters in those books. I tried to think about all of them; real people, people portrayed by the characters and all those in-between them. And I could not imagine the horrors they went through, could not believe the heinous crimes unleashed upon them.

But at the same time, with every war story, while there is this unspeakable pain hidden within the pages, there is also unrelenting kindness, warmth, and benevolence shown by humankind. The Zookeeper’s Wife makes us see the light, makes us believe that no matter how hard the world may try, it will never be able to extinguish the souls like Żabińskis.

I am so grateful that I read this book. To be able to know about, remember, and etch the memory of the people like Żabińskis in my mind and heart, has been a great honor.

Have you read The Zookeeper’s Wife yet?

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