The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

The author notes that Jan and Antonina initially did not believe reports of the atrocities that Nazis were committing against the Jews and other specific groups of people. Many Jews who later went to the concentration camp at Treblinka did not believe those stories either. What does the book suggest about how such incredible inhumanity became possible?

Avoiding arrest by the Nazis in Warsaw involved moving repeatedly around the city and required extensive planning. What were some of the tactics Jewish people used to blend in with other Polish citizens? What do these tactics reveal about the nature of identity?

The zoo was closed from 1939 through 1949, yet while it was closed, Antonina brought in a wide variety of different creatures, most of whom lived inside the villa with the Guests. How were those animals beneficial to the human residents of the zoo compound?

Ackerman mentions that the more elaborate escape attempts involved deception and stealth, things that are particularly difficult for small children. How are the children in this book affected by the deceptions and dangers around them?

What were some of the methods non-Jewish Polish citizens used to avoid revealing that they were assisting Jews trying to escape the Ghetto?

On one occasion, Antonina pacified numerous German soldiers when a fire broke out near their supply depot on the zoo compound. Afterward, all those inside the Villa were amazed by her accomplishments except Jan. What do Antonina’s actions here reveal about her character, and how does she deploy the same talents elsewhere in the book?

The Nazis, as the author reports, perceived that Slavic people like the Poles were intellectually “inferior.” How did Jan and others in the Underground use this prejudice to their advantage?

Ackerman says that, after reopening the Warsaw Zoo in 1947, Jan only worked two years as the director before resigning. The primary cause was the Russians’ unwillingness to work with a former member of the Polish Underground. Why were the Soviets reluctant to work with Jan, and what does their reluctance reveal about their own attitudes toward the people they had “liberated”?