World War II · Film · 2017
The Zookeeper's Wife
Antonina and Jan Żabiński, keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, turn their empty cages and villa into a hiding place for Jews smuggled out of the ghetto.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 3 places.
Stop 1: Warsaw Zoo, Praga
Key location
Bombs tear through the zoo; soon the Żabińskis' villa and empty enclosures fill with hidden 'guests' from the ghetto.
Stop 2: Umschlagplatz
Jan watches children loaded onto cattle cars and offers a way out to Janusz Korczak, who will not leave his orphans.
Stop 3: Warsaw Zoo villa
With Jan missing after the uprising, Antonina has to protect her last guests as the Germans evacuate the city.
What really happened
The film is based on Diane Ackerman's book drawn from Antonina Żabińska's memoir. The Warsaw Zoo was bombed in September 1939, and Lutz Heck of the Berlin Zoo took its best animals to Germany. Jan Żabiński, a zoologist and Home Army member, used his permit to enter the ghetto to smuggle people out, and the couple sheltered them at the zoo.
About 300 people passed through the zoo during the war, most staying briefly before moving to other safe houses. Jan fought in the 1944 uprising and was taken prisoner. In 1965 Yad Vashem recognised the couple as Righteous Among the Nations. The film invents much of Heck's personal pursuit of Antonina.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- The Zookeeper's Wife
- Directed by
- Niki Caro
- Countries
- United States, Czechia, United Kingdom
- Languages
- English
- Released
- 2017
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Eastern Front
- Themes
- Holocaust
- Resistance
- True story
