Sunday 17 November 2013

Pink Rabbit

My latest book recommendation is 'When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit' by the remarkable Judith Kerr. She is now 91 years old, still sharp, still focussed, and still working as an author and illustrator for children. She comes over as the most impressive of English ladies, educated, articulate, and a great communicator with all ages. She is delightful. But 'Pink Rabbit', and the follow-up 'Bombs on Aunt Dahlia' begin when she was a nine-year-old German-Jewish child living a comfortable life in Berlin in 1933. Her father was a popular journalist and author and outspokenly anti-Nazi. Elections were to take place, and he had heard that he was at the top of the Nazi blacklist. They needed to get out of Germany, quickly. Within a week, the whole family were refugees.

It's a fascinating story and Judith's strong, humorous spirit shines through the telling. Children are encouraged to read Anne Frank - they should read this too. I learned a lot about London in the blitz that I never knew before.

When I go to London the train gets in at Kings Cross. If I'm going to the British Library, Scholastic Publishing, or one of the places where I sometimes stay I turn left and walk along Euston Road a bit. In future, I'll remember that I'm walking past the site of the Hotel Continental, which in the 1940s was crammed with European refugees until it was destroyed in the Blitz.

Not only London was bombed. That little bit of Tyneside where my family and Tony's came from was a vital place for engineering and shipbuilding, and that was pummelled night after night. Ah, but it wasn't really the engineering works Hitler was aiming for. It was my mum's Auntie Annie. She was bombed out of three different houses, so she reckoned that Hitler was after her and when he got her the war would stop.

He never did get that tough Geordie woman. Another grand lady who lived to tell the tale.

7 comments:

Clara said...

What an amazing story! I think I would enjoy "When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit" very much. Judith Kerr sounds like a truly inspirational woman.

This post makes me want to learn more about her. I always feel a bit pitiful after I hear what other people have lived through. How terrifying it must have been to have to live through the Nazi invasion, and to have your father on the Nazi's blacklist. I live such a safe and blessed life! Shame on me for ever griping about my life in America.

JonnyK44 said...

In college, my minor was WWII/Holocaust Studies. Yes, I had an Elementary Education major with a Holocaust minor. I still get funny looks when I mention it.
I did study with a Holocaust scholar named Dr. Irene Shur. Dr. Shur wrote a book called In Answer, a collection of first-hand accounts of the Holocaust by Christians, in answer to the many Christians that denied that the Holocaust happened. She was an incredible lady, and is sorely missed.
As a result of my working with Dr. Shur, I was able to sit down (with 40 other people) for dinner with Elie Wiesel before he spoke at my university. It was life changing.

"The only luxury I will not afford a person is the luxury of indifference." - Elie Wiesel

Unknown said...

Why would you get a minor in The Holocause. Why? Anyway, I've read Anne Frank's diary. Very good.
btw, I look like her, I really do.

Unknown said...

Hey people I'm going camping tomorrow.

I remember when I was younger and my mother took my brother and I to the holocaust museam. scared the you know what outta me.

I hate entering in the words so that I can post somthing.Gosh, computer ( my ipad2 ) I AM NOT A ROBOT. I AM HUMAN.WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND. LOLOLOL

JonnyK44 said...

Why? Well, after meeting Dr. Shur, it became an interest of mine. I was able to study with her, meet wonderful people and listen to their stories, and pass on their stories to others. Since I was doing so much research on my own, I figured I would at least earn a minor while doing it. After all, those who do not know their history are destined to repeat it.

JonnyK44 said...

I also visited the museum when I was in high school. My eleventh grade history teacher took us, and I toured a good part of the museum with her father, a Holocaust survivor. It was an experience I'll never forget.

margaret mcallister said...

Thanks for all the feedback here. The Holocaust survivors are dying out now, and so somebody else has to go on telling their story.