When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

Anna is the protagonist of When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. She is nine at the novel’s beginning, and twelve at its end. She is a dynamic character who undergoes significant change through the course of the novel. The Challenges of the Refugee Experience contribute significantly to her coming of age.

At the novel’s opening, Anna is full of childlike naivety. She frets over which toy to bring to Switzerland, illustrating that she does not understand the gravity and stress of the political situation. She even feels some excitement at the prospect of moving, not fully grasping that they are fleeing and will be experiencing significant stress: “to be in a strange country where everything would be different—to live in a different house, go to a different school with different children—a huge urge to experience it all overcame her and though she knew it was heartless a smile appeared on her face” (20). Anna’s happy and carefree life before their flight is also referenced on her 10^th birthday in Switzerland, when she doesn’t receive as many toys or as much fanfare as she used to in Berlin.

Anna’s maturity develops as she resiliently bears the seizure of all of her and her family’s possessions and home when Hitler comes to power.