Book #14: The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

Title: The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
Author: Diane Ackerman

The story of Antonina Zabinski and her husband Jan, director of the Warsaw Zoo just prior to World War II, and how they saved the lives of hundreds of Jews by hiding them in the zoo during the war.

Antonina Zabinski's story is remarkable. She was a fairly average upper-middle class wife and mother, going about her life on the grounds of the Warsaw Zoo, taking care of her son and her animals. When Warsaw was bombed, the majority of the surviving animals were appropriated by various German zoos. That left a lot of empty cages, and a lot of hidden corridors. Jan, a leader in the Polish resistance, risked his life and his family to help save hundreds of Jews, and Antonina kept the home fires burning and tried to maintain morale. Even though the story is amazing, It seemed that Ackerman felt the need to put every bit of her research into the book. It would have been better if it were tighter and about 100 pages shorter.