When Hitler stole the Pink Rabbit (4 Stars)

This is the true story of the early childhood of the children's book author Judith Kerr, from 1933 to 1935. Early in the film she says to her father, "All famous people had a very difficult childhood". That was a pearl of wisdom from the lips of a nine-year-old. The film concentrates on her difficult years, when she was always hungry. Her happy years came later.

Anna Judith Kerr – she didn't use her middle name until later in life – lived in Berlin with her parents and older brother Max. Judging by the film, it was a life of luxury. Her father, Dr. Alfred Kempner, was a successful theatre critic, and a book collector. A general election was due on 5th March 1933 in Germany, and he feared the Nazi Party might be elected. He was an outspoken critic of the Nazi Party and had written articles attacking them for several newspapers. He was also a Jew. A week before the election he travelled to Prague, supposedly on business. He told his family that he wouldn't return if the Nazis won the election. The rest of the family went on holiday to visit relatives in Zurich.

Anna only had room in her suitcase for one stuffed animal, so she had to choose between her dog and her pink rabbit. She chose the stuffed dog. The pink rabbit was packed in a second suitcase, which would be mailed the following week, if the Nazis won the election.

On 5th March the Nazis won the election. The very next day the police visited Dr. Kempner's house with a warrant for his arrest. When they found that he had already fled, they confiscated all the furniture and the property in the house, including the suitcase with the pink rabbit.

After a few weeks Dr. Kempner joined his family in Zurich. They took up residence in a small village (not named in the film), because Zurich was too expensive. Max was sent to a private school, while Anna was sent to a public school. Boys are always given preferential treatment. In school Anna was mocked as a refugee who wore cheap clothing.

Dr. Kempner couldn't get a job in Switzerland, so after a few months the family moved to Paris, where he worked for a newspaper. It wasn't a full time job, and the pay was poor, so the family was always starving. A theatre director from Berlin had also moved to Paris, and he offered to help the Kempner family, even though Dr. Kempner had written bad reviews of his plays. Dr. Kempner was too proud to accept charity from that awful director, but his wife frequently visited him for meals and to collect clothes for her children.

The film ends in 1935 with the family moving to London, where Anna remained for the rest of her life. She never saw her pink rabbit again, but she made millions of other children happy with her children's tales about the tiger who came to tea and Mog, the forgetful cat.