Скачать или смотреть Hidden history of the Warsaw Zoo - holocaust refuge for dozens of Jews (3)

Jan Żabiński pronounced [ˈjan ʐabiˈɲski] (8 April 1897 – 26 July 1974, Warsaw) and his wife Antonina Żabińska née Erdman (1908–1971) were a wedded couple from Warsaw, recognized by the State of Israel as the Polish Righteous Among the Nations for their heroic rescue of Jews during the Holocaust in occupied Poland.[1] Jan Żabiński was a zoologist and zootechnician by profession, a scientist, and organizer and director of the renowned Warsaw Zoo before and during World War II.[2] He became director of the Zoo before the outbreak of war but during the occupation of Poland also held a prestigious function of the Superintendent of the city's public parks in 1939–1945.[3] A street in Warsaw is named after him.[4]
Jan and his wife Antonina and their son Ryszard used their personal villa and the Zoo to shelter hundreds of displaced Jews. Additionally, Jan fought during the Warsaw Uprising, was subsequently injured and became a prisoner of war. After his liberation Żabiński became a member of the State Commission for the Preservation of Nature (Państwowa Rada Ochrony Przyrody). Jan Żabiński authored approximately 60 popular science books. His wife Antonina authored several children’s books written from the perspective of animals.


In 2007, an American poet and writer Diane Ackerman published The Zookeeper's Wife, a book about the Żabiński family's wartime activities that draws upon Antonina Żabińska's diary. The Polish film director Maciej Dejczer has announced plans for a film about Żabiński's wartime activities.

A war drama about the Żabiński couple based on the book by Ackerman, The Zookeeper's Wife, was filmed in 2015 and released on March 31, 2017, with American actress Jessica Chastain portraying Antonina and Belgian actor Johan Heldenbergh cast as Jan.



2019 06 16 POLAND DAILY DAY 182 TRAVEL S 2 E 182 NET