When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr Read Free Book Online Page A

dark-haired and looked a little bit like Heimpi.
    Suddenly Anna remembered something. Heimpi had been going to join them two weeks after they left Germany. Now it must be more than a month. Why hadn’t she come? She was going to ask Mama, but Max came in first.
    “Max,” said Anna, “why hasn’t Heimpi come?”
    Max looked taken aback. “Do you want to go back to bed?” he said.
    “No,” said Anna.
    “Well,” said Max, “I don’t know if I’m meant to tell you, but quite a lot happened while you were ill.”
    “What?” asked Anna.
    “You know Hitler won the elections,” said Max. “Well he very quickly took over the whole government, and it’s just as Papa said it would be—nobody’s allowed to say a word against him. If they do they’re thrown into jail.”
    “Did Heimpi say anything against Hitler?” asked Anna with a vision of Heimpi in a dungeon.
    “No, of course not,” said Max. “But Papa did. He still does. And so of course no one in Germany is allowed to print anything he writes. So he can’t earn any money and we can’t afford to pay Heimpi any wages.”
    “I see,” said Anna, and after a moment she added, “are we poor, then?”
    “I think we are, a bit,” said Max. “Only Papa is going to try to write for some Swiss papers instead—then we’ll be all right again.” He got up as though to go and Anna said quickly, “I wouldn’t have thought Heimpi would mind about money. If we had a little house I think she’d want to come and look after us anyway, even if we couldn’t pay her much.”
    “Yes, well, that’s another thing,” said Max. He hesitated before he added, “We can’t get a house because we haven’t any furniture.”
    “But...” said Anna.
    “The Nazis have pinched the lot,” said Max. “It’s called confiscation of property. Papa had a letter last week.” He grinned. “It’s been rather like one of those awful plays where people keep rushing in with bad news. And on top of it all there were you, just about to kick the bucket ...”
    “I wasn’t going to kick the bucket!” said Anna indignantly.
    “Well, I knew you weren’t of course,” said Max, “but that Swiss doctor has a very gloomy imagination. Do you want to go back to bed now?”
    “I think I do,” said Anna. She was feeling rather weak and Max helped her across the room. When she was safely back in bed she said, “Max, this ... confiscation of property, whatever it’s called—did the Nazis take everything—even our things?”
    Max nodded.
    Anna tried to imagine it. The piano was gone ... the dining-room curtains with the flowers ... her bed ... all her toys which included her stuffed Pink Rabbit. For a moment she felt terribly sad about Pink Rabbit. It had had embroidered black eyes—the original glass ones had fallen out years before—and an endearing habit of collapsing on its paws. Its fur, though no longer very pink, had been soft and familiar. How could she ever have chosen to pack that characterless woolly dog in its stead? It had been a terrible mistake, and now she would never be able to put it right.
    “I always knew we should have brought the games compendium,” said Max. “Hitler’s probably playing Snakes and Ladders with it this very minute.”
    “And snuggling my Pink Rabbit!” said Anna and laughed. But some tears had come into her eyes and were running down her cheeks all at the same time.
    “Oh well, we’re lucky to be here at all,” said Max.
    “What do you mean?” asked Anna.
    Max looked carefully past her out of the window.
    “Papa heard from Heimpi,” he said with elaborate casual-ness. “The Nazis came for all our passports the morning after the elections.”

Chapter Six
    As soon as Anna was strong enough they moved out of their expensive hotel. Papa and Max had found an inn in one of the villages on the lake. It was called Gasthof Zwirn, after Herr Zwirn who owned it, and stood very near the landing stage, with a cobbled courtyard and a