When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit book review

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
Series: Out of the Hitler Time #1
Pages: 246
Format: eBook
Goodreads

Partly autobiographical, this is first of the internationally acclaimed trilogy by Judith Kerr telling the unforgettable story of a Jewish family fleeing from Germany at the start of the Second World War
Suppose your country began to change. Suppose that without your noticing, it became dangerous for some people to live in Germany any longer. Suppose you found, to your complete surprise, that your own father was one of those people.
That is what happened to Anna in 1933. She was nine years old when it began, too busy with her schoolwork and toboganning to take much notice of political posters, but out of them glared the face of Adolf Hitler, the man who would soon change the whole of Europe – starting with her own small life.
Anna suddenly found things moving too fast for her to understand. One day, her father was unaccountably missing. Then she herself and her brother Max were being rushed by their mother, in alarming secrecy, away from everything they knew – home and schoolmates and well-loved toys – right out of Germany…

I have been on a WWII kick recently and I have had this one on my list for a really long time. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit follows a family as they flee from Germany and the Nazis. They struggle to figure out their new identities and reading from a child’s perspective really brings this home. I think this added a whole new level to the story. It brought to light things you wouldn’t necessarily have gotten from an adult’s viewpoint. Overall I really enjoyed this one, I thought it was interesting and I’ll be picking up the next book in the series whenever I get a chance too.

Characters in When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

I think the autobiographical element gets a little lost in this book. Especially when the characters seem to have a stereotypical outlook on life. However I completely fell in love with their story and their travels, I think it was a realistic look at what the world was like for people at that moment in time. I loved seeing them receive letters from others still in Germany. It was almost like having a line on what exactly was happening in the country without being involved. It made my heart sink when I realised the timeline of everything and how badly things were going to go, I was panicking for the characters as a whole.

Seeing what the family went through, especially the mother and father dynamic it was so real. I think it’s easy for war centric books to focus on the hardships surround bombing and fighting. This book didn’t, it focused on the family elements and how they changed with the war. You can’t help but love this book for that reason. I really enjoyed watching the family work out their differences and where they stood in their new lives.

Good and Bad things

I adored finding out more about Hitler’s rise to power and how quickly he gained so much control. I think that’s my favourite thing about historical fiction is learning something new. Or seeing something I already knew about in a new light. This book really is the master of that, I think seeing it all from the viewpoint of a child changes everything. Seeing a family have to pack up their belongings and flee, not because they were Jewish but because they disagreed with Hitler’s politics was a totally new experience for me and I really enjoyed that.

Although told from a child’s point of view, I do think there was a little bit of potential lost. I don’t feel the urgency is the same. I think there was a little bit missing from that experience. The story would have gained something from having a few chapters from the adult’s point of view. It would have added another layer of depth to the story. I wish there had been a little bit more development into the father’s character and his career.

Recommendation

I would definitely recommend this one. I will be reading this one to my kid once they’re old enough to understand what the subject matter is talking about. This book definitely deals with tough subjects without being too hard hitting and with sharing a personal story.

Have you read this one? What did you think? I would love to know whether the rest of the series is as good!