When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

One might think this film is about a pink rabbit, and that is partly correct. It is also about Adolph Hitler, or rather the ramifications of his actions on the German Jewish community. But at the heart of this sweet story is one family of German Jewish refugees, seen through the eyes of an engaging young girl. It is a film based on a true story written by the woman who recalls her dislocated childhood.

It is very much a Jewish story, as the film points out: Jews are experienced at being refugees. “We Jews live scattered throughout the world,” notes the young girl, Anna. This German family must leave their home and go abroad because the father is a well-known journalist critical of Hitler. They leave in 1933, as Hitler is coming to power. Not only is her father fleeing Germany, with a price on his head, but he also must find employment to support his young family. Neither is easy.

But as the story is told from young Anna’s perspective, we see and hear the burden of fleeing one’s home on children. On her first day of class in a new country, she is introduced by the teacher to her classmates as “the refugee.” Throughout the film, we are told how being a refugee means saying goodbye to the familiar, whether it’s our home, our friends, our language and the lives we thought we had.

This is a family film [although with subtitles] which can open the eyes of the young, and the not-so-young, to the current worldwide issue of refugees, not from a political perspective, but from a very real human point of view. The scenic backdrop of the story is beautiful, making it even more palatable.

Another potential title for this film could be the “Wandering Jew,” as it tellingly displays how and why Jews are scattered throughout the diaspora.