During trips to the Warsaw Ghetto, Jan smuggled residents to safety buried under scraps of food and other supplies for his burgeoning pig farm. In their defiance of German occupation, the Zabinskis used what clout they had with the occupation forces to assist Polish Jews in hiding and escaping persecution. Lutz Heck of the Berlin Zoo, chief zoologist of Adolph Hitler, saw Jan as his rival and went out of his way to pillage the zoo and make life difficult for the Zabinskis. Though necessary to a degree, this move upset many locals not only for the loss of the zoo's beauty, but religious effrontery at the time, Warsaw housed a sizable Jewish population, which likely drew the ire of Nazi attention. Several were sent away to other zoos, and others were claimed by the occupiers for their own zoos.ĭuring the war, the Zabinskis received permission to convert the zoo into a pig farm, where the occupiers could house and maintain the animals for consumption. The zoo that the Zabinskis poored their heart and soul into closed, unable to care for or keep their prized animals. Numerous animals were released from their cages by bombs and debris, several were injured, and a few were later put down by occupation soldiers. When Germany invaded in 1939, the Warsaw Zoo suffered along with the rest of the city. Ackerman notes the various people Jan and Antonina interacted with in their daily lives, as well as several of their usual and unusual chores regarding the zoo's resident animals. Jan and Antonina were local celebrities in the care and maintenance of their zoo, which was one of the more popular attractions in Warsaw at the time. Along with several assistants, the Zabinkskis run the Warsaw Zoo, an establishment that had grown into a respected venue for zoological exhibits. ISBN 9780393061727.The book is set in Warsaw, Poland just before and during the Second World War. Another dozen "guests" hid inside the Zabinskis' villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw - and the city's zoo along with it. CONTENTS: The true story of how the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands. 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. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw-and the city's zoo along with it. The true story of how the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands. Norton, 2007, stated First Edition with 1st printing number line, 368pp., very good dust-jacket, light wear along top and bottom edges, cover price $24.95, very good black and light green hardcover, a few page edges slightly bumped.
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