1
Jane Doe
Jessica Bailey
ENG 102
17 April 2015
Battling Nazi Racism
In her book,The Zookeeper’s Wife, Diane Ackerman tells the true story of Jan and Antonina Żabiński, two Polish zookeepers who live in Warsaw, Poland. When Germany attacks and takes control of Poland in 1939, Jews are killed, sent away to work, or forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto. Although the Żabińskis are Christians, they have Jewish friends who face the wrath of the Germans. In an attempt to help, Jan and Antonina offer their house to any Jew who is lucky enough to escape from the Ghetto. Even though the focal point of The Zookeeper’s Wife is the kind work of the Żabińskis, Diane Ackerman also addresses the effects of Nazi racism in wartime Poland while discretely portraying feminist criticism.
To lay some background of German hatred toward Jews, Ackerman introduces the main voice behind this hatred: Adolf Hitler. As the leader of Germany, Hitler dislikesJews because he believes they make the world racially impure. Hitler, along with the other Nazis, believes that in order to restore purity within the nation, he must “purify the bloodline” by exterminating the Jews. The Nazis believe that the purest race is the Aryan race, and their goal is to fill the world with people of this kind (The Zookeeper’s Wife). Suzanne Antonetta adequately explains this concept when she says, “Not only did the ideology of the Third Reich demand the creation of human racial purity---an Aryan race spilling over into the lebenstraum or “living space” created by the deaths of millions of Jews, Gypsies, and ultimately Slavs and other race…” (Orion Magazine). When Germans invade Warsaw, thousands of Jews are killed. If they do not lose their lives, they are either sent away to work or forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto. Some Jewish children, or children with Nordic features, are sent to Germany to be reared by a German family. Mass executions and public beatings are held in the streets of Warsaw. Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto are not allowed to leave unless they are going to work. If they are caught trying to escape or after they escape, they are killed. Cruel German officers zoom in on innocent Jews within the Ghetto and shoot them. German soldiers cut off the religious beards of Jewish men, and a Jew must bow to a German or they are punished. Much of the Jewish race is eventually exterminated through concentration camps, where Jews are murdered in mass numbers through various cruel and painful methods. This period of time is referred to as the Holocaust (The Zookeeper’s Wife). Ackerman uses a quote from biologist Lecomte du Noüy that elaborates on the seriousness of these happenings: “Germany’s crime is the greatest crime the world has ever known, because it is not on the scale of History: it is on the scale of evolution” (The Zookeeper’s Wife).Ackerman uses all of this information to portray how Jews are punished because of their race. Due to their racial descent, they have no voice, no hope, and no future.
Antonetta’sprevious quote introduces the fact that Jews are not the only people who are punished for their race. The Nazis punish and exterminate anyone of an impure race, including Gypsies and Slavs. The Poles even endure some of this cruel and unusual treatment; however, they usually are not punished unless they have interaction with a Jew. The Nazis believe that the Germans and the Aryans are superior to all other races. They are the only people who have freedom and a voice during this time (The Zookeeper’s Wife).
In response to German control, changes are made in Warsaw, such as rules, regulations, and the way of life in general. People of any other race or religion are not allowed to interact with, help, or hide Jews. Any of these actions, attempted or completed, are punishable by death. Ackerman describes this in length:
Soon afterward, he issued the “Decree for the Combating of Violent Acts,” which imposed death on anyone disobeying German authority, mounting acts of sabotage or arson, owning a gun or other weapons, attacking a German, violating curfew, owning a radio, trading on the black market, having Underground leaflets in the home---or failing to report scofflaws who did. Breaking laws or failing to report lawbreakers, both acting or observing, were equally punishable offenses (The Zookeeper’s Wife).
Jews are not the only people who have money or valuables taken away from them. Even Zan and Antonina are “stripped of money and supplies” and left with food stamps. Although Jan is allowed into the Ghetto because he has a work pass, he is still questioned by the German guards stationed at the gate of the Ghetto. The Poles went from having freedom in their beautiful city of Warsaw to being controlled in a destroyed city full of Germans. They no longer have the freedom to walk about as they wish. Every day when they leave their home, Jan and Antonina knowthey might not return. They sacrifice their lives every day by helping or hiding their Jewish friends.
Ackerman displays feminist criticism in her book. Although top German officials and leaders of the Underground are men, women play a predominate role in The Zookeeper’s Wife. Antonina is a female protagonist. Although she is married to Jan, she proves she is independent. Since Jan is always busy working with the Underground, Antonina tends to the numerous Jews hiding in their home with little help (The Zookeeper’s Wife). In the Jewish Women’s Archive, Lily Rabinoff-Goldman supports this by saying, “When I finished reading The Zookeeper’s Wife, I was left with two lasting impressions. First, that Antonina Żabiński, more than her husband Jan whose jobs and involvement with the Underground kept him out of the house from dawn until curfew, was responsible for the wellbeing and survival of their Guests…” Antonina is courageous; although she could snap under fear at any moment, she remains strong. She cooks for her guests, provides them with a warm place to sleep, and warns them when danger arrives. Due to Antonina’s feminist heroism, over three hundred Jews are saved. Antonina’s strong feminist side does waiver from time to time, though. At times Jan can be hard to please. Antonina feels that no matter what she does or how hard she tries, Jan is never happy with her. Instead of ignoring Jan or standing up to him, Antonina simply tries harder to please him (The Zookeeper’s Wife).
Diane Ackerman uses both critical race and feminist criticism in The Zookeeper’s Wife. In the book, the Germans are in control, and Ackerman portrays Aryans as the superior race. Other races, such as the Jews, Gypsies, and Slavs, are considered impure, and for this reason, they are tortured or killed. The Germans attempt to exterminate a whole population of these races in order to fill the nation with a purer breed of humans. Ackerman also uses feminist criticism in her book. Antonina is portrayed as a self-reliant and courageous hostess, yet she tries too hard to please her husband. This shows both her strong and weak feminist sides. Ackerman clearly uses the critical race theory, but the reader has to search to find the hidden feminist criticism theory. The book utilizes both of these theories well.
Works Cited
Ackerman, Diane. The Zookeeper’s Wife. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.,
2007. Print.
Antonetta, Suzanne. “The Zookeeper’s Wife.” Orion Magazine.Web.
Rabinoff-Goldman, Lily. Rev. of The Zookeeper’s Wife. Jewish Women’s Archive.
28 July2008. Web.