The disparity between the Nazi elevation of animal life and subjugation of some human lives was insane. “Under the Third Reich, animals became noble, mythic, almost angelic-including humans, of course, but not Slavs, Gypsies, Catholics, or Jews” (p86). As the author explains, “I studied how Nazism hoped, not only to dominate nations and ideologies, but to alter the world’s ecosystems by extinguishing some countries’ native species of plants and animals (including human beings), while going to great lengths to protect other endangered animals and habitats, and even to resurrect extinct species like the wild cow and forest bison” (p12). The Zookeeper’s Wife offered a bit of a new angle for me, however, as it also emphasized the broader focus on ALL life, not just human life. I have read many stories about the Nazi regime and the horrors they inflicted on people. In either case, they did what Jesus would have asked of His followers, and they worked to save all the lives that they could, animal and human. I actually was under the opinion as I read that Jan didn’t really have a faith, while Antonina seems to have had some ties to Christianity. The story is still amazing, although I was hoping there would be more about how their faith was behind their actions.
Interestingly, that’s really the only reference in the book about their Christian faith. (I have included a list of quotes from the book here-some are heartwarming and inspirational, others are more fact driven.) The story starts by saying, “JAN AND ANTONINA ZABINSKI WERE CHRISTIAN ZOOKEEPERS horrified by Nazi racism, who capitalized on the Nazis’ obsession with rare animals in order to save over three hundred doomed people” (p11). The movie, The Zookeeper’s Wife, will be out soon, so I rushed to read the book beforehand.
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