The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

by Diane Ackerman

book data

3,362 ratings, 3.49 average rating, 1,250 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		15%
4		35%
3		33%
2		11%
1		3%

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published

September 8th 2008 (first published 2007) by W. W. Norton

binding

Paperback, 368 pages

characters

Antonia, Jan and their young son

setting

Poland

isbn

039333306X (isbn13: 9780393333060)

description

Amazon Significant Seven, September 2007: On the heels of Alan Weisman's The World Without Us I picked up Diane Ackerman's The Zookeeper's Wife. Both ...more

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11/14/07

Kate rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Kate by: I heard her interviewed on NPR

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I can't decide whether I enjoyed this book or not. I think the idea of it is more interesting than the execution. It follows the true story of Antonina Zabinski and her family, caretakers of the Warsaw zoo during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Diane Ackerman, being a literary writer and not an historical one, was able to provide an interesting spin on the subject matter, and I loved all of the imagery and description of Antonina's relationship with the animals and general life at the zoo. ...more I can't decide whether I enjoyed this book or not. I think the idea of it is more interesting than the execution. It follows the true story of Antonina Zabinski and her family, caretakers of the Warsaw zoo during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Diane Ackerman, being a literary writer and not an historical one, was able to provide an interesting spin on the subject matter, and I loved all of the imagery and description of Antonina's relationship with the animals and general life at the zoo. However, this is still is a true story, and as such I felt the book didn't maintain enough focus on the story line and was lacking in many crucial historical details. Ackerman goes off on too many completely unrelated tangents, which would be interesting if the book were longer, but it seems like she overlooked important pieces of the puzzle in favor of long descriptions of marginal players in the story. She would take half a page to describe how the wind rustled the trees, and then just gloss over things like how the Germans never noticed that there were a ton of extra people living in the house, despite the fact that soldiers would pop in all the time. All of a sudden I was at the endnotes and hadn't even realized that the book ended. It's almost as if as she was nearing the end, someone walked into the room and said, "Come on Diane, finish up so we can go to dinner." There is almost no closure, just a few short and antiseptic paragraphs about what they did after the war along with a sort of epilogue of other people that were mentioned here and there in the book. Ackerman describes meeting with the son in Warsaw and touring the old house, but he seems disinterested in reminiscing about their time at the zoo, but doesn't speculate as to why. Here are some examples of hugely important issues that weren't really addressed:

- Why did Jan retire so suddenly, after all his time as a zookeeper?
- With the zoo villa playing such a large part of story, there is no mention of whether they had to move out after Jan retired
- Why is it that after growing up in a zoo and having a constant array of pets by his side during the whole story, Rys (the son) has no pets now?
- When and how did Jan & Antonina die?

I wouldn't necessarily say that this book wasn't worth reading, it just seemed like Ackerman focused on so many painstakingly small details throughout the book, and then suddenly ran out of paper or something. (less)

Like this review? yes (11 people liked it)

3 comments

12/29/07

David rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in December, 2007

This is another book exploring the lives of people living in the countries occupied by Germany during WWII. Unlike most, this was written by a naturalist, not an historian. This gives the book an interesting take on the Nazi occupation of Warsaw.
The narrative centers around Antonia Zabinski and her husband Jan. Prior to the outbreak of war, they were the caretakers of the Warsaw Zoo - a large zoo befitting the capital of Poland. The book paints a brief picture of what their life was li...more

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01/24/08

Lexi rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: no one

I STRUGGLED to get through this book. I ended up skimming the last thirty pages because I couldn't wait for it to be over. The author strays too much from the story line, and although it's historical, she puts too many unnecessary facts in the book. Her overdescribing nature is cloying and terribly annoying. This had the potential to be a good book, but she didn't give much to the actual, REAL LIFE story. A sore disappointment. Don't bother.

Like this review? yes (7 people liked it)

3 comments

01/18/08

Jen Meegan rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in February, 2008

Let me preface by saying a) I love Diane Ackerman's previous works and b) I have a deep interest in holocaust history. Therefore, I was surprised her latest book did not engage me as much as I'd hoped.

Ackerman usually tackles very broad, amorphous subjects like love, the five senses, etc. And her somewhat circular and poetic writing style is, I think, well suited to those topics. But for The Zookeepers Wife, I craved a level of linear details and specifics that I just could not find...more

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

1 comment

10/25/07

Jenny rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in November, 2007

When I was in sixth grade I fashioned a yellow star out of felt, wrote "Jude" on it and sewed it onto a black peacoat. I have always been interested in the Holocaust and am quite well read on the subject. I have NEVER thought about the animals that were involved or the people who took care of the animals, such as zookeepers. It never even crossed my mind and I thank this book for bringing this important part of the war to my attention. I didn't care that the book was particularly well ...more

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03/30/08

Toni rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

bookshelves: biography-memoir, history, holocaust, war-stories

Read in December, 2008

What a disappointment! I anxiously awaited the paperback version of this book, only to find the writing so scattered and choppy I could barely finish it. The author obviously did extensive and exhaustive research, but she kept going off on so many random tangents that finding a cohesive story is impossible.

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12/20/08

Grady rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in September, 2007

'Why do we humanize animals and animalize humans?'

There are many stories that continue to come out of the WW II experience, stories of courage, love and survival in the face of near hopeless situations inflicted upon the globe by Nazi Germany, and, thankfully, biographies of heroes whose moral convictions were stronger than the destructive forces of Hitler's cadre. THE ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE is yet another unknown story, a true tale of survival of the human spirit pitted against ...more 'Why do we humanize animals and animalize humans?'

There are many stories that continue to come out of the WW II experience, stories of courage, love and survival in the face of near hopeless situations inflicted upon the globe by Nazi Germany, and, thankfully, biographies of heroes whose moral convictions were stronger than the destructive forces of Hitler's cadre. THE ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE is yet another unknown story, a true tale of survival of the human spirit pitted against what seemed to be the end of the world in Poland. Yet this book is not 'just another war story'. As presented by the astute investigator and gifted writer Diane Ackerman, whose many books include 'A Natural History of the Senses', 'An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain', 'The Moon by Whale Light - and Other Adventures Among Bats, Penguins', Crocodilians and Whales', 'A Natural History of Love', 'Deep Play', 'Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden', 'The Rarest of the Rare: Vanishing Animals, Timeless Worlds', and anthologies of poems such as 'I Praise My Destroyer: Poems' and 'Jaguar of Sweet Laughter: New and Selected Poems', this is a magical tale about a couple in Warsaw whose roles as zookeepers allowed their shared appreciation for animal life and ways of adapting to devise ingenious ways to protect many of the Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto from mass execution.

Jan and Antonina Zabinski were Polish Christian keepers of the Zoo when the Germans under Hitler's scheme of world domination and purification of Europe for the chosen race of Aryans began. Ackerman quietly builds her setting by concentrating on the special gifts of these two remarkable people in caring for the animals of the zoo: her descriptions of the various members of the menagerie are at once comical and insightful. When Hitler's move into Poland began the Zabinskis, long friends with the many Jews who lived around them, devised clever ways to turn the zoo and their own villa into a safe haven for the increasingly threatened annihilation of their friends who happened to be Jewish. Throughout the horrors of the German destruction of the city and the attempts of the Warsaw Uprising, led in part by Jan Zabinski, the couple maintained an atmosphere of calm and grace for the some 300 Jews in their hiding. Using the Zoo as a shield to deflect occupying German interest in animal studies as a part of their theory of purification, and as a means to gather food in the Jewish Ghetto for the 'animals', they were able to feed their 'guests' and provide papers and documents to aid the escape of the Jews who chose to flee Poland. And after the war the Zabinskis continued to refurbish the zoo and offer sanctity to those Jews whose lives had been so devastated during the crush of Warsaw.

Ackerman is a master craftsman and her depth of scientific knowledge about the animal kingdom makes her ability to relate this story of 'The Zookeeper's Wife' match the inordinate amount of research about her subjects to create an important document about an historical fact previously unknown. And yet her ability to invest her story with poetic force is always evident: '...war plays havoc with sensory memories as the sheer intensity of each moment, the roiling adrenaline and fast pulse, drive memories in deeper, embed every small detail, and make events unforgettable. While that can strengthen friendship or love, it can also taint sensory treasures like music. By associating any tune with danger, one never again hears it without adrenaline pounding as memory hits consciousness followed by a jolt of fear...It's a terrific way to ruin great music'.

There are times in this fine novel when the reader is jarred from the flow of the story being told by Ackerman's insertions of data or stepping in to remind us that she interviewed some of the survivors in her research: the drama of the tale is diluted momentarily by facts and figures and names, moving the reader away from the visceral experience of the Zabinski's story to remind us that we are reading a documented biography. Yet in the end the book is so powerful, so overflowing with gracious writing and so full of the indomitable human spirit that such small 'flaws' become inconsequential. Ackerman has unveiled another great moment in the histories of human kindness during times of war, and we are the richer for it. Highly recommended.
Grady Harp

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Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

1 comment

02/12/08

taryn rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

bookshelves: absolutefavs

Read in November, 2008

This WWII account about a family of zookeepers who shelter Jews from the Nazis in Warsaw, Poland is a surprisingly uplifting description of life during the bloodiest years of the war.

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

2 comments

12/09/08

Glenna rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in December, 2008

What happens to your zoo after it is bombed in the war? Use it in the underground railroad to help save the lives of Jews. This is a true story of courage and ingenuity. This book spends most of the time talking about what happened before, during and after the war at the zoo. It does not really dwell on the atrocities going on around them. That makes it a nice read because you do know what is happening around them, but you don't have to read about stacks of bodies.

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

9 comments

01/08/09

Kathy rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in January, 2009

I was disappointed in this book. A great (and true) story of kindness, courage, and hope in the most horrific of times, The Zookeeper's Wife is the story of the family that ran the Warsaw Zoo during the time of the German occupation of Poland. After all the animals were killed or transplanted to other zoos, Antonina, her husband Jan, and son Rys, helped aid and shelter Jews who would certainly have been killed in concentration camps without their assistance. While the story is great, the probl...more

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03/17/09

Nic rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in March, 2009

I read this history because it was this year's One Book One San Diego, choice. I believe it got the vote because it is nonfiction and the other nominees (the outstanding Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Dave Eggers' What is the What) are fiction and there is a clear belief that people should not waste their time reading things that aren't true. Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't subscribe to that bias. Fiction is the lie that tells the truth and I shed tears over Jonathan Froer's 9-1...more

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11/25/08

Mara rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

bookshelves: history, non-fiction, wwii

Read in December, 2008

This book isn't really about the zookeeper's wife. Rather, Ackerman uses the story of Antonina Zabinski as a backdrop to tell the larger story of the Nazi occupation of Warsaw and the Polish Resistance. As a story-telling technique, I have no problem with this, and Ackerman does it fairly well. We learn a lot about Warsaw during the war, as well as learning about such things as the zookeeping trade and animal life. The biggest drawback to Ackerman's use of the technique, I think, is that she sta...more

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09/29/08

Colleen rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in November, 2008

Once in a while I luck upon a book that helps ground me. The Zookeeper's Wife was definitely one of those. It is more than an interesting work of history, more than a fascinating look into the past. It is a book that reminds us of hope in the middle of despair; that even when fear is a constant companion--the goodness and heroism of people can shine brightly; and how fortunate we are to live in this country, at this time, with the problems we face now, because there have been many periods and...more

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5 comments

07/09/08

Sheila rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Being a history buff, I thought that I would like this book more than I did. It is an account of a real life couple that survived living in Warsaw, Poland during WWII. They ran the zoo in Warsaw before the war started. I found the Zabinskis, Polish Christians, very interesting and courageous people. They secretly harbored many Polish Jews that might have otherwise been carted off to the death camps.

The author, Diane Ackerman, is a good writer, but I felt like she kept steering off t...more

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01/04/08

lisa rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in January, 2008

This extraordinary story combines Ackerman's lovely talent for writing about nature and the amazing tale of the Jan and Antoinia Zabinski, who were running the Warsaw Zoo during WWII, where they helped hide hundreds of Jews fleeing the city. Ackerman uncovered many stories about the Underground resistance in Warsaw and describes many other courageous people in addition to the Zabinskis. She also writes about the Germans desire for not only cleansing the human race but also animal populations as ...more

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10/03/07

Sarah rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in September, 2007

“The Zookeeper’s Wife” author Diane Ackerman is, not surprisingly, a poet and somewhat naturalist. These creative attributes are obvious once you start reading the book, which is written in such lovely descriptive and informative prose that you forgive the author for her tangential style of writing.

The book tells the true story of Jan and Antonina Zabinski, the zookeeper and his wife, respectively, whose Warsaw zoo is bombed in 1939 by the Germans, and who offer refuge to hun...more

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09/11/07

Marni rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

Read in November, 2007

Diane Ackerman is one of my all time favorite non-fiction authors. Her Natural History of the Senses my favorite non fiction book. So when I discovered that her newest title was about a topic that I was always fascinated with--ordinary people rescuing the persecuted during the Holocaust--I was quite interested. Would her delicious use of vivid and literary language work with a dark topic as World War II? Her descriptions of the Zabinski's lives as they fought to survive and help other people and...more

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09/05/07

Cat rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

bookshelves: 2007

Read in November, 2007

Now, I love a good vocabulary as much as the next girl (maybe even more). What I don't have a lot of patience for are authors who use unnecessarily ornate words where simple words would not only suffice but be more effective. Diane Ackerman's love of language really tried my nerves at certain points during this book.

Still, she didn't manage to ruin this poignant record of events during WWII. For that, I am thankful. So caught up with the fate of people, the fate of animals never...more

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12/26/08

Nancy Lou rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

bookshelves: nonfiction

Read in January, 2009

I really, really, really wanted to like this book. It's the true story of a Polish couple who hid Jews at their zoo in Poland during WWII. Their story itself is very heroic, but the writing style detracts from what is supposed to be the point of the novel. The author is frequently sidetracked with long passages of history, details about the lives of people not relevant to the story, and lengthy descriptions of nature (I skipped a good two pages or so that just listed different types of beetle...more

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03/04/09

David Bales rated it:

(review of isbn 0393061728)

bookshelves: 52-books-in-52-weeks

Read in March, 2009

An interesting history about the director of the Warsaw Zoo and his family, who from 1939 to 1944 not only hid Jews and other Polish dissidents from the Nazis at the zoo, but also provided a staging area for the Polish Underground and home army. Their zoo was cleaned out by Nazi zoologists who wanted to "Aryanize" rare species of European animals by "breeding them back"; species like the European bison. A tale of heroism, bravery and treachery, on the part of the Germans.

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