the zookeepers wife

 What were Jan and Antonina Zabinski's exact roles at the Warsaw Zoo?Prior to and during WWII, Antonina's husband Jan was the director and organizer of the Warsaw Zoo, one of the largest zoos in Europe at the time. He was a zoologist and zootechnician by trade, in addition to being a scientist and an author of books about biology and animal psychology. During the occupation of Poland he also held the title of superintendent of the city's public parks from 1939-1945. His job with the parks gave him the opportunity to enter the Warsaw Ghetto to inspect the flora there, while at the same time connecting with prewar Jewish friends and colleagues to help them escape.

The Zookeeper's Wife true story reveals that Antonina Zabinski was a teacher and respected author who published children's books about animals. She also had an affinity for the piano and painting. She assisted with the day-to-day operations at the zoo, including caring for the animals. During the occupation, she and their young son Ryszard fed and cared for the fleeing Jews who they had given shelter to at the zoo. Author Diane Ackerman drew in part from Antonina's diary for her book on which the movie is based.
 Was Antonina and Jan's home filled with animals?Yes. A rotating variety of animals could often be found in the Zabinski home, including a wolf cub, a chimpanzee, a lion kitten, a kissing rabbit named Wicek, and a muskrat. Of course, they also had more conventional animals too, including their  cat Balbina.
 Was the damage to the Warsaw Zoo as bad as what's seen in the movie?

Yes. In researching The Zookeeper's Wife true story, we learned that the Nazis' September 1939 invasion of Poland and bombing of Warsaw left much of the zoo destroyed. In her book, Diane Ackerman describes the damage to the zoo in grave detail, stating, "The sky broke open and whistling fire hurtled down, cages exploded, moats rained upward, iron bars squealed. . . . Wounded zebras ran, ribboned with blood, terrified howler monkeys and orangutans dashed caterwauling into the trees and bushes, snakes slithered loose, and crocodiles pushed onto their toes and trotted at speed." She goes on to describe the shocking sight of two giraffes laying dead on the ground with their legs twisted, and the sound of birds and monkeys screeching in a chorus of madness. Surviving animals fled from burning cages and some were burned to death. One reason that the zoo was targeted was due to a Polish anti-aircraft battery being located nearby.

Was Jan Zabinski really a member of the Polish resistance?Yes, Jan was a member of the resistance from the beginning. He acted as a biology teacher at an underground university. He used the zoo as a weapons depot and smuggled food into the Warsaw Ghetto and people out. After the war, Antonina learned that her husband Jan, a lieutenant in the resistance, was more deeply involved than she had realized, finding out that he was also sabotaging trains, building bombs, and poisoning the pork that was being sent to the German soldiers. For another engaging look at resistance fighters in WWII, check out our research into the movie Anthropoid.

 Why did the Zabinskis risk their lives to help others?Jan was a natural risk-taker who was raised around Jews and knew many. He was courageous and able to keep his cool. Regarding his motives, he wrote, "I do not belong to any party, and no party program was my guide during the occupation... My deeds were and are a consequence of a certain psychological composition, a result of a progressive-humanistic upbringing, which I received at home as well as in Kreczmar High School. Many times I wished to analyze the causes for dislike for Jews and I could not find any, besides artificially formed ones."