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The Zookeeper's Wife is a
non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...
book written by the poet and naturalist
Diane Ackerman Diane Ackerman (born October 7, 1948) is an American poet, essayist, and naturalist known for her wide-ranging curiosity and poetic explorations of the natural world. Education and career Ackerman received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Pen ...
. Drawing on the diary of Antonina Żabińska, unpublished in English (though published in Polish in 1968), it recounts the true story of how Antonina and her husband,
Jan Żabiński Jan Żabiński () (8 April 1897 – 26 July 1974) and his wife Antonina Żabińska ( née Erdman) (1908–1971) were a Polish couple from Warsaw, recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations for their heroic rescue of Jews during the ...
, director of the
Warsaw Zoo The Warsaw Zoological Garden, known simply as the Warsaw Zoo ( pl, Miejski Ogród Zoologiczny w Warszawie ), is a scientific zoo located alongside the Vistula River in Warsaw, Poland. The zoo covers about in central Warsaw, and sees over 700,000 ...
, saved the lives of 300 Jews who had been imprisoned in the
Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...
following the German
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
on September 1, 1939. The book was first published in 2007 by W. W. Norton.


Plot summary

In the 1930s, Jan Żabiński is the director of a thriving zoo in Warsaw, Poland. His wife, Antonina, has a remarkable empathy with animals, and their villa in the zoo acts as a nursery and residence for numerous animals, as well as for their son. This part of their life abruptly ends with the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, subsequently starting
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
(1939–1945). Most of the zoo's animals and structures are destroyed in the bombings and siege of the city. The zoo is closed under German occupation, but the Żabińskis continue to occupy the villa, and the zoo itself is converted first as a pig farm and subsequently as a fur farm. Jan and Antonina Żabiński become active with the Polish underground resistance. At the villa and in the zoo's structures, they secretly shelter Jews, most escaping from the doomed Warsaw ghetto. As many as 300 such "guests" pass through the zoo, and many survive the war with the Żabińskis' and the underground's assistance. Although the German occupiers execute those aiding Jews, Antonina Żabińska maintains a semblance of prewar life at the villa, harboring a menagerie of animals – such as otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes, and a rabbit – as well as the secret guests. Jan Żabiński is wounded in the armed August 1944
Warsaw uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...
against the German occupiers and, for a time, is interned in a
POW camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...
. The Żabińskis survive the war and the zoo reopens in 1949, with Jan as its new director. On September 21, 1965,
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
(Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust) recognized Jan and Antonina Żabiński as
Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sa ...
.


Reception


Critical reception

Donna Seaman wrote enthusiastically in her ''Los Angeles Times'' review, "It is no stretch to say that this is the book Ackerman was meant to write. Ever since '' A Natural History of the Senses'', she has been building a galaxy of incandescent works that celebrate the unity and wonder of the living world. But every rapturous hour she has spent communing with plants and animals, every insight gleaned into human nature, every moment under the spell of language is a steppingstone that led her to Poland, the home of her maternal grandparents, and to the incomparable heroes Jan and Antonina Zabinski. The result of her tenacious research, keen interpretation and her own "transmigration of sensibility" is a shining book beyond category." D. T. Max wrote in ''The New York Times'', "This is an absorbing book, diminished sometimes by the choppy way Ackerman balances Antonina's account with the larger story of the Warsaw Holocaust. For me, the more interesting story is Antonina's. She was not, as her husband once called her, "a housewife," but the alpha female in a unique menagerie." For ''Orion Magazine'' Susanne Antonetta wrote: "Ackerman, with her profound understanding of nature, tells Antonina's story in a way that makes it clear her roles as the zookeeper's wife and heroine of the Resistance are inextricably connected, both in what the natural world has taught her, and taught her to accept."


Popular reception

On February 10, 2008, the book was number 13 on ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' non-fiction best seller list.


Honors

In 2008, ''The Zookeeper's Wife'' won the annual Orion Book Award from ''Orion Magazine''; the selection committee noted, "''The Zookeeper's Wife'' is a groundbreaking work of nonfiction in which the human relationship to nature is explored in an absolutely original way through looking at the Holocaust."


Adaptations

In 2013, plans were announced for an eponymous feature film adaptation. The film is based on a screenplay by Angela Workman, directed by
Niki Caro Nikola Jean Caro (born 20 September 1966) is a New Zealand film director and screenwriter. Her 2002 film '' Whale Rider'' was critically praised and won a number of awards at international film festivals. She directed the 2020 live action vers ...
, and starring Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh,
Michael McElhatton Michael McElhatton (born 12 September 1963) is an Irish actor and writer. He is best known for playing the role of Roose Bolton in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones''. He joined the series as a guest star in the Game of Thrones (season 2), sec ...
and
Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo (; born 16 June 1978) is a Spanish-German actor and filmmaker. He received his first German Film Award for Best Actor for his roles in '' Das Weisse Rauschen (The White Sound)'' (2001), ''Nichts ...
. The film was released on March 31, 2017.


References


Further reading

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External links


The Zookeeper’s Wife: Fact vs. Fiction
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zookeepers Wife History books about the Holocaust 2007 non-fiction books W. W. Norton & Company books Non-fiction books adapted into films