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Interactive MapHistorical contextWho’s whoThe Zoo
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From the author
Who’s who
Characters in the book…
Stefan Zabinski and Marcus Tenenbaum
Shlomo and Otto
Jan and Antonina Zabinski
Simon and Lonia Tenenbaum
Kasia and Tuzinka
Janusz Korczak
Wladyslaw Szpilman
Lutz Heck and Ziegler
Hitler, Himmler, Hydrech, Frank, Krüger
Stefan Zabinski and Marcus Tenenbaum are fictional characters. The Zabinskis real son was Ryszard who was four at the beginning of the
war. For the story in my book to work Stefan had to be twelve. The Tenenbaums had a daughter
Irena – I created Marcus, a twelve year old Jewish boy, to be Stefan’s friend. Although
fictitious, this friendship symbolises the historical bond between Jews and non-Jews in
Poland and is the central relationship in the book
Stefan Zabinski and Marcus Tenenbaum
Jan Zabinski was the director of the Warsaw Zoo from 1928. He improved it’s facilities and
increased the number of animals on display considerably. During the war he and his wife Antonina used the empty animal shelters and the
basement of their own villa, to hide about 300 Jews.
Jan and Antonina Zabinski
Simon (Szymon) Tenenbaum was a world respected entomologist, whose insect collection was kept in the zoo
during the war for safe keeping. He died in the ghetto in June 1941. After the war his wife, Lonia, donated the collection to the State Zoological Museum of Poland.
Simon Tenenbaum is buried in Warsaw’s Jewish cemetery.
Simon and Lonia Tenenbaum
Janusz Korczak was the founder and principle of two orphanages in
Warsaw. He was a doctor, writer and educator who devoted his life to the welfare and education of children.
Although he was offered safe passage out of the ghetto he refused to abandon the orphans in his care and stayed with them all the way to
the death camps of Treblinka. His many publications are still widely
read throughout the world.
Janusz Korczak
Shlomo and Otto are fictional characters. Shlomo is an amalgam of many of the
characters I have read about in books about the time. Otto’s character is fictional, but the
more I read about zoo life before and during the war the
more real he seemed to become!
Shlomo and Otto
Kasia, one of the Zoo’s African elephants, gave birth to Tuzinka in April 1937. At that time she was only the twelfth elephant ever to be born in captivity –
hence her name (tuzin is Polish for dozen).
Kasia and Tuzinka
Before the war Wladyslaw Spilman was a renowned Polish pianist who regularly
performed on national radio. When the ghetto was established he continued to
entertain people in cafés and restaurants and, after the war, was the only surviving
member of his family. His war time experiences were chronicled in his book
“The Pianist” which was made into a successful film in 2002.
Wladyslaw Szpilman
Lutz Heck was the director of Berlin Zoo . Along with his brother Heinz he set out to recreate an
extinct bread of cattle by selectively breeding carefully chosen specimens. With the
encouragement and support of Herman Goering, a prominent Nazi, he sort to “cleanse”
Europe's cattle population in the same way that Hitler was “purifying” Europe’s humans.
Ziegler was a German soldier who was in charge of organising work parties of Jewish slave labour to work in Polish factories. He was a lover of insects and a frequent visitor to the zoo. By winning over his trust Jan Zabinski was able to
exploit this connection to help smuggle out many of the Jews he saved.
Lutz Heck and Ziegler
Adolf Hitler – German Chancellor from 1933-45 and leader of the National Socialist German Workers, or NAZI , Party.
Heinrich Himmler – appointed head of the SS in 1929 and was responsible for organising and implementing
the NAZI policy of genocide based on racial purity.
Reinhard Heydrich – a leading NAZI and eventual head of the Gestapo (Hitler’s special police force) and is
generally considered to be the mastermind behind the “Final Solution” to annihilate Europe’s Jews.
Hitler, Himmler and Hydrech
Hans Frank – Governor General of Occupied Poland
Friedrich Krüger – Police Leader in the General Government of Occupied Poland
Frank and Krüger