Jan Żabiński died on July 26th in 1974. He was a director of the renowated Warsaw zoo before and during World War II. When Germans invaded and bombed Warsaw in 1939  Żabiński, together with his wife Antonina, saved more than 300 Jews from starvation or shipping them to the German death camp Treblinka. The risk was enormous, because Germans killed thousands of Poles who helped Jews.

Most of the zoo’s structures were destroyed in the bombings. The zoo was closed under the German occupation. Jan with Antonina and their son Ryszard occupied the house where they secretly sheltered Jews. Over 300 Jews found temporary shelter in the house and abandoned animal cages. At first Jan payed all costs from his own funds. Then he received money from Polish Council to Aid Jews – Żegota, the only state organisation in Europe helping Jews during WW2.

Jan took part in the Warsaw Uprising and was taken as a prisoner to Germany. His wife Antonina continued his work, looking after the needs of the Jews left behind in the ruins of the city.

Their story was the basis for the Hollywood blockbuster „The Zookeeper’s Wife”. If you haven’t seen it yet we highly recommend to watch it.

The couple Żabiński is among the 6,863 Poles (more than any other country) honoured as „The Righteous Among the Nations” at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. Poles constitute the largest national group within the Righteous Among the Nations recognised by Yad Vashem. 26.793 people has been recognised so far. More than 25% of which were Polish. More can be read at the official Yad Vashem website. We need to remember that throughout the German occupation of Poland, many Poles risked their own lives – and the lives of their families – to rescue Jews from the Germans. To date, 6,863 Christian Poles have been awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel, more than those of any other nation (to compare Germany just 616). Considering the harsh punishment that threatened rescuers, this is a most impressive number. Polish citizens were hampered by the most extreme conditions in all of German-occupied Europe. Occupied Poland was the only territory where the Germans decreed that any kind of help for Jews was punishable by death for the helper and their entire family. At least 50.000 Poles were executed by the Germans solely as a penalty for saving Jews.

Nel Badowska