The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

The author begins the second section of the narrative by describing the inhumane restrictions Nazis placed upon the citizens of Warsaw and particularly the Jews, who were now confined to the Ghetto. She writes:

[To receive food] Germans, Poles, and Jews stood in three separate lines […] with Germans receiving 2,613 calories, Poles 669 calories, and Jews only 184 calories per day. In case anyone missed the point, German Governor Frank declared: I ask nothing of the Jews except that they disappear (91).

The Nazi efforts to humiliate, degrade, and isolate the Jewish population led to the establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto on October 12, 1940. All Jewish citizens in the region were forced into a condensed neighborhood of about 10-12 city blocks. The population of the area at its height was 400,000.

On one occasion, a Nazi bombing run separated Jan and Antonina from Ryś. When he finally turned up at home, he explained that his teacher had sequestered schoolchildren after the blast until their safety could be assured.

From his childhood, Jan had been a classmate and playmate of many Jewish Warsaw citizens. When he saw how the Nazis treated them, he decided to save as many of them as possible while fighting the Nazis in every way he could.