When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

Anna’s father continues to act as a beacon of The Importance of Resilience. He remains steadfast in printing anti-Nazi sentiments, even after a thousand-Mark reward is placed on his head. When the Swiss newspapers will not print his writing, he resolves to move the family to Paris, declaring, “[I]f the Swiss won’t print anything I write for fear of upsetting the Nazis […] we may as well live in another country altogether” (66). It is vitally important for him to continue to express his truth, even though this may result in the family’s poverty or continued displacement.

The family also continues to demonstrate resilience when confronting The Challenges of the Refugee Experience. When Anna feels upset at not getting many presents or much fanfare for her birthday compared to her birthdays in Germany, her father changes her perspective, wondering where life will take them next: “I wonder where we’ll be on your eleventh birthday […] and on your twelfth” (66). He thus urges Anna to change her focus from the past to the future, trying to inspire her spirit of adventure as compensation for what they have lost. He does, however, acknowledge what “an odd feeling” it is to be a refugee, reflecting on how a person can “have lived somewhere all your life. Then suddenly it is taken over by thugs and there you are, on your own in a strange place, with nothing” (66). When Anna asks if it bothers him, he tells her that it does “In a way,’” but that he finds it “very interesting” (66). In encouraging Anna to view their situation as an intriguing adventure, he helps her to cope with stress and change. He also uses humor as a coping mechanism and encourages his children to do the same. When Anna admits that she was upset by the price on his head, he jokingly agrees that he was also upset: “A thousand Marks goes nowhere these days. I think I’m worth a lot more, don’t you?” (91).

Anna’s disappointment at her birthday celebration also alludes to the family’s drastically changed financial situation after the Nazi party’s seizure of their home and possessions. Their financial strains are heightened through Papa’s difficulty in finding consistent work abroad as a Jew who expresses anti-Nazi sentiments. The exposition in earlier chapters established the family’s wealth: The children had ample clothes, toys, and books. This is contrasted with their life in Switzerland, where Anna and Max wish they had enough money to attend the local village fair. The children’s growing maturity, born out of the hardships they are facing in their change of circumstances, is illustrated when they resolve not to ask their mother for money for the fair, understanding that they need to save: “[I]f they were going to live in Paris they would need every penny for the move” (78). Their experiences as refugees are thus pushing them to mature rapidly beyond their years.

Anna’s family is characterized as one of many families whose finances and status have changed drastically due to the Nazi party’s rise to power, reflecting The Threat of Antisemitism. Papa sees a man who was once a famous actor in Germany, “delivering apple strudel” from the cake shop he has opened in Paris; Papa reflects, “the last time I’d seen him he was the guest of honour at a banquet at the Berlin Opera” (84). Anna also listens to Mama and Omama’s stories of friends, such as the “famous professor who had been arrested and sent to a concentration camp” and “someone else who had been rich” who “was now very hard up in America and his wife had to go out cleaning” (81). Anna’s family’s displacement and struggles are symbolic of the struggles of so many others who fled abroad. The account of the professor sent to the concentration camp also alludes to how many Jews or political enemies did not escape Germany in time, and are being subjected to horrific treatment at concentration camps, which they will either die in or be imprisoned in until 1945.

The controversy about the children playing at the Zwirns’ inn becomes an analogy for the broader geopolitical situation, as the children from Munich are banned from playing with Anna and Max because the latter are Jewish. The discrimination faced by Anna and Max is a reminder of The Threat of Antisemitism and reflects the rise in dangerous attitudes both in Germany and abroad. The tension of Swiss neutrality is also alluded to in Papa’s decision to tell the Zwirns’ father that the children must decide who they will play with: “Swiss neutrality is all very well, but it can be taken too far” (72). Papa implies that the Zwirns—and Switzerland more generally—are morally obliged to take a stand on what they believe to be morally righteous, rather than trying to appease all parties and therefore condoning the Nazi’s immoral laws and practices.

Anna and Max are told by Papa that they must act as representatives of the Jewish race: “There are Jews scattered all over the world […] and the Nazis are telling terrible lies about them. So it’s very important for people like us to prove them wrong. So it’s not enough for us to be as honest as anyone else. We have to be more honest” (85, emphasis added). Anna’s resolute acceptance of this instruction illustrates her growing maturity, while her father’s words are a reminder of the constant mental pressure the Jewish refugees are under: Papa believes they need to be even “more honest” than others to combat the “terrible lies” spread by the Nazis. Papa’s injunction reflects how the racist rhetoric of the Nazis created and perpetuated harmful stereotypes about entire groups of people, seeking to rob them of their individuality and humanity. Although she is still only a child, Anna carefully absorbs her father’s lesson, as when she reflects that “she was a Jew and must not be frightened, otherwise the Nazis would say that all Jews were cowards” (90, emphasis added). Anna and her family are thus determined to expose the Nazi’s lies for what they are, keeping their dignity and determination intact through The Importance of Resilience despite the many obstacles they face.