I have always been interested in stories about the resistance in World War II. During a trip to the Netherlands quite some time ago, I really enjoyed visiting famous sights where acts of immense bravery and kindness, such as where Anne Frank and her family hid, took place. We also walked past Corrie ten Boom’s house, now a museum, but were unable to visit because it was closed when we were there. We also visited the Dutch Resistance Museum, which was fascinating and which provided a more in-depth view of the resistance and how it functioned and how so many people were able to participate in the Dutch attempt to withstand the evils of Nazism. There are similar stories from all the countries invaded by Nazi Germany. Like the Dutch stories that have proven a source of lifelong inspiration, these other stories, usually not quite as famous, cover a wide range of people doing what was right and are able to inspire us to do what is right, even in the face of great danger.
The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman (ISBN: 978-0-393-33306-0) is one such story. The story’s heroine is Antonina Żabińska, who was a Polish writer and the wife of the head of the Warsaw Zoo, Jan Żabiński. Both were members of the underground resistance that fought the Nazi occupiers of their homeland. They, like most members of the resistance, used what they had on hand to do this. In their case, the story is rather remarkable because what they had on hand was a zoo. This gave them cover for Jan to be out and about more than the average Varsovian and provided some unusual hiding spots for fellow resistance members and Jews alike. Jan also used his position working for the municipality to help Jews escape from the ghetto, and they were often housed at the zoo, both in spaces formerly inhabited by animals and in the family’s house (which was always home to an extensive menagerie of unusual pets). As with any underground operation, there were risks and close calls. Hitler’s henchmen were interested in purebred animals as well as purebred people, so the zoo was of interest to some high-ranking Nazis, some of whom visited the zoo. Regular soldiers used it as barracks and shot some of the animals for food. The whole situation was always dangerous because one could never be sure just what those walking past the house would notice about the extra bodies in the house. Jan, Antonina, their son, and some of their animals made it out of the war alive, having done the right thing by all those whom they helped and having risked it all.
I kind of expected I would like the book, and I wasn’t disappointed. The story was very interesting and well written. The reader is presented with a rather detailed (arguably too detailed in places) picture of the Żabiński family, the zoo, and the work Jan and Antonina did to save people from the Nazis. Throughout the book, I was reminded of the risks they took and thought of how important a characteristic that is to have. I believe they were always calculated risks, and they didn’t push the envelope when they didn’t have to, but to be able to do the right thing in a world, like the one created by the Nazis, where wrong is right and right is wrong, one has to be able to put aside risk aversion to a certain extent. It was only by being willing to take certain risks that the story’s heroes could help as many people as they did. Like all such stories, it helps us to never forget, but hopefully it does more than that and inspires us to not just never forget, but to undertake proactive measures to help the world avoid repeating the same mistakes again.
The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman (ISBN: 978-0-393-33306-0) is one such story. The story’s heroine is Antonina Żabińska, who was a Polish writer and the wife of the head of the Warsaw Zoo, Jan Żabiński. Both were members of the underground resistance that fought the Nazi occupiers of their homeland. They, like most members of the resistance, used what they had on hand to do this. In their case, the story is rather remarkable because what they had on hand was a zoo. This gave them cover for Jan to be out and about more than the average Varsovian and provided some unusual hiding spots for fellow resistance members and Jews alike. Jan also used his position working for the municipality to help Jews escape from the ghetto, and they were often housed at the zoo, both in spaces formerly inhabited by animals and in the family’s house (which was always home to an extensive menagerie of unusual pets). As with any underground operation, there were risks and close calls. Hitler’s henchmen were interested in purebred animals as well as purebred people, so the zoo was of interest to some high-ranking Nazis, some of whom visited the zoo. Regular soldiers used it as barracks and shot some of the animals for food. The whole situation was always dangerous because one could never be sure just what those walking past the house would notice about the extra bodies in the house. Jan, Antonina, their son, and some of their animals made it out of the war alive, having done the right thing by all those whom they helped and having risked it all.I kind of expected I would like the book, and I wasn’t disappointed. The story was very interesting and well written. The reader is presented with a rather detailed (arguably too detailed in places) picture of the Żabiński family, the zoo, and the work Jan and Antonina did to save people from the Nazis. Throughout the book, I was reminded of the risks they took and thought of how important a characteristic that is to have. I believe they were always calculated risks, and they didn’t push the envelope when they didn’t have to, but to be able to do the right thing in a world, like the one created by the Nazis, where wrong is right and right is wrong, one has to be able to put aside risk aversion to a certain extent. It was only by being willing to take certain risks that the story’s heroes could help as many people as they did. Like all such stories, it helps us to never forget, but hopefully it does more than that and inspires us to not just never forget, but to undertake proactive measures to help the world avoid repeating the same mistakes again.
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