When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
Historical Fiction Accessible Primary Sources
✡ Jewish / Holocaust
Nine-year-old Anna's family flees Germany the day before the 1933 election, one step ahead of the Gestapo.
The Verdict
The Nazis arrive in this children's classic not as monsters but as a reason to pack in a hurry, and that is exactly why it works. Judith Kerr drew on her own family's flight — out of Germany the day before the 1933 election, one step ahead of the Gestapo, the toys left behind — to give young readers the refugee experience at a child's eye level: the strangeness of new countries, the worry behind the parents' faces, the small grief of an abandoned pink rabbit. Gentle, wise, and quietly truthful about exile, from the author of The Tiger Who Came to Tea.
Who Should Read It
Read it if you want
- The refugee experience for young readers
- A child's-eye view of fleeing Nazi Germany
- Gentle, autobiographical historical fiction
- Families reading about exile together
Look elsewhere if you want
- Older readers wanting depth or darkness
- The camps or the war's violence
- A conventional adult narrative
Why We Rated It 4.4
Historical Context
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (1971) is a lightly fictionalised account of Judith Kerr's own childhood, when her Jewish family fled Germany in 1933 just before the Nazis took power. Kerr was also the author and illustrator of the beloved picture book The Tiger Who Came to Tea.
Events Covered
Read It Alongside
Number the Stars Lois Lowry · 1989 · ★ 4.5
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The Book Thief Markus Zusak · 2005 · ★ 4.5
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The War That Saved My Life Kimberly Brubaker Bradley · 2015 · ★ 4.6
Historical Fiction Where to Buy
ISBN: 978-0440492016
Read This Against
The same events seen from a different vantage point. The fullest understanding often lives in the space between accounts that don't agree.
Ordinary Men Christopher Browning · 1992 · German
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit autobiographical?
- Largely, yes — it is based on Judith Kerr's own family's flight from Nazi Germany when she was a child.
- What age is it suitable for?
- It is written for younger readers and handles exile gently, making it a common first book about the Nazi era for children.