The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman Search Amazon for other books by or about Diane Ackerman. Rating: Reviewed by: Maurice Williams

Diane Ackerman has put together a fascinating wartime biography of Jan and Antonina Zabinski, The Zookeeper's Wife, covering the years 1935 through the end of World War II. Jan was Director of The Warsaw Zoo before, during, and after World War II. Dedicated zoologists and lovers of animals, Jan and his wife, Antonina, managed one of the more advanced zoos in Europe that provided interesting and natural-looking enclosures for the animals and also contained some rare specimens. Drawing from Antonina's detailed dairies, Ackerman presents a deep look into the lives of these two heroic persons.

When war broke out, the zoo, of course, came under bombardment along with the rest of Warsaw. With the Nazi purge of Polish Jews, Jan and Antonina offered the zoo grounds as safe shelter for victims trying to escape the Nazis. Antonina's gentle compassion toward people seeking protection from the Nazis, and also toward wounded and frightened animals in her care, will move the reader. Risking their own lives, Antonina and her husband, Jan Zabinski, were instrumental in helping more than three hundred Jews escape the Nazis.

Ackerman supplies much interesting detail about everything she describes, both from an historical viewpoint of how the Nazis viewed both animal rights and human rights and how they invaded Poland, confined the Jews into the Warsaw Ghetto, and eventually destroyed the Ghetto. She also provides much detail describing the animals in the Warsaw Zoo and in other European zoos.

A Jewish entomologist, imprisoned in the Ghetto, a Dr. Szymon Tannenbaum, maintained a collection of about 500,000 beetles pinned inside four hundred glass-covered boxes. Ackerman includes an interesting and informative description of the collection. Antonina and Jan salvage about 50% of the boxes, which are now on display in the State Zoological Museum located about one hour's drive north of Warsaw.

A little-known fact about the Nazi racial program is that it extended to animals as well as humans. The Nazis were interested in breeding back the original extinct species of European wild cattle, Aurochen, the largest land animal in Europe, the European wild horse, Tarpan, and the European forest bison (Bison, bison, bonasus). These animals were depicted in cave paintings by early tribes in Europe. The last known wild specimen became extinct in 1627.

Ackerman presents an insightful account into the plight of Polish Jews and the daring of some Polish Catholics who risked their lives trying to help the Jews. The Zookeeper's Wife contains a fascinating wealth of information about a sad and brutal era in human history and also highlights bold and heroic deeds by decent people caught in events beyond their control.

Maurice A. Williams October 18, 2007