Chamberlin Free Public Library Catalog

The zookeeper's wife : a war story

Ackerman, Diane.

The zookeeper's wife : a war story - 1st paperback ed. - New York : W.W. Norton, c2008. - 368 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. ; 21cm.

Book includes Reading Group guide [5 p.] following the text.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [343]-349) and index.

Author's note -- Zookeeper's wife -- Details -- Bibliography -- Index.

The true story of how the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands. When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw--and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina �Zabi�nski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen "guests" hid inside the �Zabi�nskis' villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants--otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes--and keeping alive an atmosphere of play and innocence even as Europe crumbled around her.--From publisher description.

9780393333060 (pbk.) 039333306X (pbk.) 9780393061727 9781439560013 1439560013 0393061728


Zabinski, Jan, 1897-1974.
Zabinska, Antonina.
Zabinski, Jan, 1897-1974.
Zabinska, Antonina.


Jews--Poland--Warsaw.
Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust--Poland--Warsaw--Case studies.
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Warsaw.
World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue--Poland--Warsaw.
Zoo keepers--Poland--Warsaw--Case studies.
Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust--Warsaw (Poland)
Holocaust, 1933-1945.
World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue.


Warsaw (Poland)--Ethnic relations.
Warsaw (Poland)--Ethnic relations.

D804.66.Z33 / A25 2008

940.53/18350943841 / A