"The Zookeeper's Wife" by Diane Ackerman tells the story of Jan and Antonina Żabiński and their efforts to keep the zoo they own and Warsaw's Jews safe during the Nazi's invasion of Poland in September of 1939.
Jan Żabiński was the son of a Polish railroad engineer but decided against following in his father's footsteps by becoming an engineer. Instead engineering, he showed an interest and passion for zoology. He pursued his passions and became the director of Warsaw Zoo in 1929. Antonia grew up in slightly more difficult circumstances than Jan, both of her parents were shot and killed as Intelligentsia members during the Russian Revolution. As a young girl, Antonia moved to Warsaw to live with her aunt where she would later become an Archivist
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Dr .Muller helped Jan escape and return home by faking his arrest and bringing him back to Warsaw as a prisoner but releasing him upon their arrival. Jan and Antonia go back to the zoo to find even more injured animals. After Warsaw officially surrenders3, Germany takes over and Antonia and Jan return to the zoo permanently. During this, a Polish resistance is on the rise and Jan is interested in becoming a member in it, but before he can deal with that, they have bigger issues. The two are visited by a representative for Lutz Heck, the director of Berlin Zoo. Heck wants all of Warsaw Zoo's animals since he knows that the zoo is in massive danger from the war and the fact that it could be liquidated any day. Heck is obsessed with the idea of "animal purity". An idea that would later carry over into the human race and Hitler's idea of an Aryan race. …show more content…
The Zegota are loyal to "rescue, not sabotage or fighting, and, as such, it was the only organization of its kind occupied in Europe during the time of the war." Jan and Antonia become a part of Zegota and help save many Jews which of course become guests in their zoo. The zoo soon becomes home to a Nazi fur farm where they raise foxes and other animals simply for their fur. The Żabiński house becomes known as a "Noah's Ark" due to all the animals and people living there. In December of 1943, Antonia bleaches some of the guests hair in order to make them appear more Aryan. A woman named Dr. Mada Walter will then open an institute to help many more Jews pass as
The main character in this story is a Jewish girl named Alicia. When the book starts she is ten years old, she lives in the Polish town of Buczacz with her four brothers, Moshe, Zachary, Bunio, and Herzl, and her mother and father. The Holocaust experience began subtly at first when the Russians began to occupy Buczacz. When her brother Moshe was killed at a “ Boys School” in Russia and her father was gathered up by German authorities, the reality of the whole situation quickly became very real. Her father was taken away shortly after the Russians had moved out and the Germans began to occupy Buczacz.
Lina Vilkas is a fifteen year old girl who is the protagonist of this story. She was taken, by the NKVD, from her house with her mother and brother to exile. Later in the story she meets Andrius and falls in love with him. She marries him after the war while moving from place to place. Andrius uses his misfortune as a fortune to help others. He takes care of Lina and her family as best he can. Nikolai Kretzsky is a young NKVD officer who helps Lina and her mother even after Lina insulted him. Mr Stalas is a Jew who is deported with the other people. He wanted to die with dignity. He is often referred to as The Bald Man. He confesses that he was liable for the deportation. Janina is a starry-eyed young girl who likes to help others and to talk to her "dead" doll. When few selected people are brought to the North Pole for more suffering, dozens of people die from cholera and pneumonia. Lina however, survives and manages to save Jonas and Janina with the help of Nikolai Kretzsky.
In the novel “The Secret Life of Bees”, which is surprisingly not an informative book talking about bees, the main character Lily Owens is set out to be the victim because of her parents. The novel first tells the reader that Lily accidently kills her mother when she was a toddler, and goes on to explaining how her father, whom she calls T-Ray, is an abusive man. He punishes Lily very often in many ways, like making her kneel in grits and speaking to her in an offensive manner. We later find out that Lily’s mother, Deborah, suffers from depression, partly because of the dominance coming from T-Ray, and learn the harsh truth of her leaving Lily. The author, Sue Monk Kidd, gives the vision of T-Ray being a bad father and Deborah being an ethical
. Eventually, the Germans found out about her activities and she was arrested, tortured, and sentenced to death, but managed to evade execution and survive the rest of the war. The Konrad Zegota Committee was a code name for the Polish Council to Aid Jews and was an underground organization of Polish resistance in German occupied Poland, which was active from 1942 to 1945 ( Jewish Virtual Library, 2015 ). Zegota helped Jewish Poles find safe places for them in Poland.
This poem, Sarajevo Bear written by Walter Pavlich, addresses one of the most important themes, the struggle to keep humanity strong and stable. To begin with, this poem is discussing the sniping campaign that took place in Sarajevo in 1993 and how civilians were the targets of these attacks. During this time people faced a dilemma: they could either stay in hiding forever or until the war ended, or they could do something that would get their mind off the war and relieve some of their stress. People knew though the risk of leaving the security and safety of their home as they could be shot and killed at any time without warning. But still this did not stop the people working at the zoo and feeding the bear to stop their job. Furthermore, the first verse of this poem states that this is the last animal at the zoo. This illustrates that just as many people were dying, many animals were dying as well illustrating that our actions not only affect us but they also affect things around us, and in this poem it was the zoo animals. In a zoo the animals are contained within a certain area an...
Have you ever seen an animal sitting in a cage all alone with nothing to do. Well, zoos are trying to change that fact. They will allow the animals to live in an environment that is like their home. Many people don't realize this, but zoo are keeping and breeding these animals because they would not survive in the wild alone. In the three passages, ¨The Stripes Will Survive,¨ ¨The Zood Go Wild from No More Dodos,¨ ¨Our Beautiful Macaws and Why They Need Enrichment.¨ All of these articles present one claim, that is that the role of zoos is no longer to keep animal, but to protect them.
Do all life choices escort to unsystematic consequences? Why or why not? In the "Lady or the Tiger" by Frank Stockton, The Princess's lover, was forced to decide between two doors, and the consequence was mysterious. In addition, he did not recognize where the tiger or the lady was hidden. Even though, it was an alternative between life and death, nevertheless it was unidentified. This essay will debate regarding the foremost theme for "The Lady or The Tiger", upon which it discusses how decisions are tremendously significant, albeit they sometimes do not appear akin it.
In October 1939, the Nazis established the first ghetto in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland. During the course of the holocaust, the Nazis set up over one thousand ghettos. All Jews were forced out of their homes, leaving most of their possessions behind, and put into ghettos where they were held prisoners. Some ethnic groups w...
On February 1, Harvey Woodley, a five year old boy visited the local zoo, “Randolph’s Zoo”, in Elgin, Illinois, with his father Ralph. Towards the end of their trip they decided to visit the last exhibit. The building looked like the rest of the exhibits and there was no demarcation or any sign that indicated that the premises were privately owned and not for the public to venture. While walking towards the front door, they encountered a large German shepherd which appeared to be friendly. As it was snowing, the plaintiff innocently made a snowball and directed it towards his father, in response the father ducked and the snow got sprayed over the dog, startling it. The throw was of mild velocity and incapable of causing any injury. The dog
My intended audience is anyone who is passionate about gender inequality or interested in that type of topic, the purpose of my piece was to inform people about a issue which is everywhere is this modern day world, As you can see my piece is a informative essay about gender inequality I have chosen this form because I believe it has a major part in the novel animal farm, the nature of the link is when the pigs (Napoleon, Squealer and Snowball) decide that they want the milk and apples to themselves so they tell the other that the milk and apples is good for there health this represents a strong link with gender inequality, the language I am using is informative and persuasive, it is appropriate/relevant to how the pigs in animal are not being
During the Holocaust in Poland, thousands of Jewish people were taken out the comfort of their homes and even their cities. They were separated from their loved ones and taken away to places completely foreign to them. The Nazis reduced the Jewish community during the Holocaust drastically by killing anyone that produced the slightest amount of trouble or if they didn’t contribute in the camps as productively as others due to health or old age. All of the old customs and traditions that the Jewish people used to have were all stopped. All the money, food, and even the homes they used to own were all taken away from them. Without their approval, the Nazis went in and practically took all the valuables that they could find inside the homes. There are many movies and books that try to explain the brutality of this event but the high majority underestimate how terrible this event is. The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski shows the event in the eyes of a famous Jewish pianist named Wladyslaw Szpilman.# This movie accurately portrays the the extreme differences of the Polish town...
Every heart stopped beating, every breath was held, every eye was fixed upon that man. Without the slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right and it opened. They boy had already known that the lady was on the right side of the door because the loyal princess had gave him sign language signals. Knowing the boy, as he didn't always remember things,the princess had told him several times about the right door. The rules in the story states, “he would either be dead or married.” His head going crazy from contemplating about which door he should open, he grasped the handle of the right door knob and quickly opened the door. Once the right door had opened, a princess appeared at the blink of an eye.
In the novel, Animal Farm by George Orwell, a question that is raised is if the human race is as cynical and indifferent as they are in the novel. Are the humans described in Animal Farm, an accurate representation of the behavior and attitude of humans today? Animal Farm is a satirical novel in which the issue of abuse of power in totalitarianism governments is discussed. By giving each human the traits that he did, Orwell leaves the reader curious as to whether it is in the human nature to be cynical or not. Is being motivated purely out of self interest and encouraged by only self gain just one of the instincts that connect mankind to animals? There are many examples in the novel where Orwell makes apparent comparisons to the real life attitude
This book left me with a deeper sense of the horrors experienced by the Polish people, especially the Jews and the gypsies, at the hands of the Germans, while illustrating the combination of hope and incredible resilience that kept them going.
People all around the world love visiting the zoo - especially the kids! To be able to see their favorite animals playing around or just admiring the beauty of these creatures makes their eyes sparkle. Although seeing the animals is truly amazing, a question that is frequently asked is: “How do they manage in captivity? Are they happy living in here?” Merely looking at the animals may not reveal much about how they feel or manage in captivity, unless someone could speak to the animals but that’s not likely. Therefore, this topic requires some research. So let’s grab some thinking helmets. First, we will explore the history of zoological gardens or zoos in general.