Loyalty Quotes in The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

They didn't trust Heck, but on the other hand, he was sweet on Antonina, and in theory, as a fellow zookeeper, he should be sympathetic to their situation. (7.15)

Sometimes, during a war, you have no choice but to pretend to trust someone. Heck ends up being not that trustworthy, even though he returns a bunch of bison at the end of the story. The shipping charges must have been astronomical.

Quote #5

"I'm giving you my pledge," [Lutz Heck] said solemnly. "You can trust me. Although I don't really have any influence over German high command, I'll try nonetheless to persuade them to be lenient with your zoo. Meanwhile, I'll take your most important animals to Germany, but I swear I'll take good care of them." (9.10)

Liar, liar, lederhosen on fire. Okay, to be fair, Heck's definition of "most important animals" is different from Jan and Antonina's. He takes the animals he deems important, and he kills the rest. In his mind, he kept his word.

Quote #6

The war had a way of curdling [Antonina's] trust in people. (9.17)

There you have it: trust becomes like old cottage cheese during the war. No one wants a bite of that.