Lessons From A Zoo

I saw all the cars in the parking lot.
It was not a weekend.
I could not think of any reason why so many people would be there this time of day.
It was not until I pulled in, that I could see the reason for the crowds.

I was at a store that is right next to a famous market and smorgasbord.
I enjoy shopping at this particular store.
Mennonite girls with colorful dresses and head coverings are pleasant and helpful.
Young Mennonite men with dress pants and button down shirts are ready to help in any way.

It was this parking lot that was filled with cars.
I saw mothers and young children all walking in one direction.
There were large colorful tents in the front of the parking lot.
Under the tents, there was a petting zoo.

Excited children seemed to be leading their mothers, instead of the other way around.
They walked briskly, pointing to the area they wanted to go to first.
Beyond the colorful tents was a large moon bounce.
After seeing the animals, many children wanted to play there as well.

Young children were riding on ponies and even a camel that was being led by a handler.
Sheep, goats, and any other animal you can imagine a child wanting to pet were there.
Everything was neat and clean and extremely safe.
The children were enjoying every minute they could spend with the animals.

My husband and I were invited to dinner that evening.
It was a lovely summer night.
The invitation was for dinner and a movie.
The blessing was that the movie was in the couple’s home theatre.

The evening was delightful from beginning to end.
The food was truly beyond words.
The one who prepared our meal studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
Complimenting the meal with words did not seem to do it justice.

The day before our dinner, I received an email from our hostess.
I was asked to let our host and hostess know which movie we would like to see.
That very gracious question was difficult to answer.
How do you choose one movie that everyone would want to see?

I remembered a movie that I had wanted to see.
It was a movie with a story that intrigued me.
I talked to our hostess on the phone and told her the name of the movie.
I also reminded her that she and her husband had the final say in this decision.

After our scrumptious meal and dessert of fresh fruit, we went down to the theatre.
Comfortable lounge chairs that reclined were waiting for us.
My husband and I sat in the back row.
Our host and hostess sat in the front.

The movie began.
The music was heard during the opening credits.
The title flashed on the large screen.
The Zookeeper’s Wife.

Jan Zabinski and Antonina Zabinski, were zookeepers and owners of the Warsaw Zoo.
The year was 1939 before the outbreak of World War II.
Lutz Heck, a zoologist and director of the Berlin and Munich zoos, was a dinner party guest.
Heck describes tracking a lioness in the wild and shooting it.

Antonina is appalled as she listens to Heck tell his story with bravado.
This one story, told by a man who would become Hitler’s personal zoologist, sets the tone.
The Zookeeper’s Wife is told from a woman’s point of view.
The story is about cruelty in an unlikely setting.

Before the German occupation, the bucolic Warsaw Zoo was a place where families visited.
Scientific work, studying the prized animals, also happened at the zoo.
After the occupation, Lutz Heck shoots down a prized eagle and wants it stuffed for his office.
We see the beginning of brutality happening closer to home.

The Zabinskis helped 300 Jews by rescuing them from the Warsaw ghetto.
Using a series of tunnels at their zoo, they were able to hide them until safe housing was found.
The brutality of war goes far beyond the battlefield.
The brutality of war affects innocent children and animals as well.

I watched as trusting children raised their hands to be lifted on to a train.
Little did they know that this train would take them to their death.
The Zabinskis had the courage to do the right thing for another, despite the danger.
The Warsaw Zoo became a zoo for people.

I have seen holocaust movies that show the ravages of war.
This movie struck a different chord in my heart.
I have never seen animals shot dead for no reason from someone who was to protect them.
I witnessed the off-camera abuse of a young girl and saw the atrocities of war in a new way.

Violence against women and children is allowed if we stay silent.
We have the audacity to turn and look away.
Cruelty to animals is accepted if we do not see a problem.
The same thing happened in the Warsaw Zoo so many years ago.

After the movie was over, the four of us discussed the courage of Antonina Zabinski.
It was her idea to use their zoo to help the Jews.
Would we have that same courage?
We all hoped that we would, though we know that question cannot be answered ahead of time.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out –
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
(Pastor Martin Neimöller)

Violence against the innocents and the least of these is brutality.
Abuse against women is brutality.
Abuse against children is brutality.
We cannot be silent.

The Zookeeper’s Wife showed me how quickly life, the way we know it, can abruptly change.
Do we have the courage to say, Enough?
Do we have the courage to do whatever we have to do in order to protect another?
The least of these are often right under our noses, yet we fail to see.

And that morning, I saw a petting zoo.
And that morning, mothers and children were safe under colorful tents.
And that morning, I saw children running to pet the animals.
And that evening, a movie made me realize the fragility of our bucolic peace.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)