Total Page : 368
Publisher : Old Street Publishing Ltd
Publication Date : 2009
>> Avid reader
This is a well written book but the style is very unusual and doesn t keep my interest I will eventually complete it but took time out to read another book that holds my interest better
>> Intriguing story with a little too much detail
Zookeepers all their adult lives Jan and Antonina Zabinski s world was shattered when bombing destroyed their Warsaw Zoo in the early onset of World War II However with clever maneuvering the Zabinskis managed to convince the Germans to let them stay in the villa that came with the zoo property where they would smuggle and hide some 300 Jews over the next four years as part of Poland s Underground movement
Despite any possible dangers to themselves and their young son Rys as well as already struggling with minimal supplies and harsh winters the Zabinskis didn t hesitate to do all that they could to help others in danger at first only a few friends in their immediate sphere and then more and more desperate individuals and families as time progressed
While Ackerman overall does a good job detailing the years of the Zabinskis wartime experience she sometimes goes a little overboard with the details For example readers well know that the Zabinskis are zookeepers and so it s important to set a bit of background about the pre war zoo perhaps a bit about the kinds of animals they once kept i e native to Poland exotic etc just so that the readers can better imagine their daily lives However it s really not necessary for Ackerman having listed the kinds of animals at the zoo in the late 30s to then go into entire chapters detailing the physiological history of the particular animals Not only does it seem like a teenager trying to pad a school report with encyclopedia details but it detracts from the real focus of the book the Zabinskis and their wartime experience
That said I would definitely recommend this book as a worthwhile Holocaust read guaranteed to remain in readers memories for some time to come
>> Disliked
Not my type of story Too much detail about people and things and not about the people in the story
