Jan devises a plan to farm pigs, which Lutz permits.
The Zabinskis have Jewish friends, Magda (Efrat Dor) and Iddo (Maurycy Fraenkel), and agree to hide Magda in the basement of their home when Iddo is sent to the ghetto. Meanwhile all the Jews in Warsaw are being rounded up and placed in the Warsaw ghetto. Lutz, now a member of the SS, offers to take the prize stock back to Berlin, where he thinks it will be safer. When war breaks out, the Warsaw Zoo is badly bombed and many of the animals die. Lutz is obviously attracted to Antonina, which becomes important later in the story.
As Jan said, “I only did my duty - if you can save somebody’s life, it’s your duty to try.The Zookeeper’s Wife is based on the true story of Antonina (Jessica Chastain) and Jan (Johan Heldenbergh) Zabinski, the owners of the Warsaw Zoo, who helped save hundreds of people from the death camps of World War II.Īntonina and Jan are friends with Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl), a German zoologist and director of the Berlin Zoo. I asked myself all through the book, “Would I be willing to do that? Would I be willing to put my own family at risk in order to help others?” It is truly amazing to read about these real life heroes, but J an and Antonina did not see themselves as heroic. Although it is not specifically written for youth, in my opinion it is appropriate for high school age readers. I loved this book and recommend it to all of you reading this post. While portraying the atrocities of war and the plight of the Jews, she retells a hopeful and uplifting story about all of the people who saw the need to help and acted upon it. She also shares harrowing stories of survival and sacrifice that many Poles endured. The author, Diane Ackerman, also weaves in many other stories of those willing to risk all to save a few.Īckerman paints a vivid physical picture of Poland with many descriptions of its natural beauties and resources. Brave and resourceful, Jan works with the Home Army to sabotage the Nazis and smuggle food and supplies into the Jewish ghetto as Antonina keeps their villa running while hiding several guests at a time both inside the house and outside in zoo buildings. Jan Zabinski and his wife Antonina are Polish zookeepers who shelter over 300 Jews in their home and zoo enclosures over the course of WWII. How much are you willing to risk in order to help someone else? The unspeakable things that humans are capable of. The lost childhood of Rys, Antonina’s son, who basically grew up during the war. Sexual Content: It is mentioned that women are raped, no descriptions.Īdult Themes: War. Near the end of the war, the Jews left in the ghetto launch an uprising and fight the Nazis for sixty-three days – shooting, killing and burning. Jews from the ghetto, including 192 children from an orphanage and their priest, are loaded on trains and shipped to death camps (no description of the camps). A German soldier guarding the wall around the ghetto enjoys shooting Jewish children trying to escape. Explanation of laws concerning Jews and the humiliations and beatings to which they were publicly subjected. SS officers shoot remaining zoo animals for sport. Nazi policy of death for any Pole who resisted or helped hide Jews. The zoo is bombed, some of the remaining animals are killed. She describes a city under siege with bombs dropping, fear, hunger and death. Soldiers shoot many of the more dangerous zoo animals before they can escape the enclosures. The scene of the dead and dying is etched into her memory. The planes fly low and shoot at the people trying to escape. As German planes bomb Warsaw, the Zookeeper’s wife, Antonina, flees the city. I was relieved, however, that the violence is portrayed quite matter-of-factly, no gore and not too many details. Violence: This is a war story, so there are many images of war. Guide to Rating System LANGUAGE VIOLENCE SEXUAL CONTENT ADULT THEMES Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where 0 = no objectionable content and 5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content
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