Sudden end of a happy childhood in Berlin "When you write in the first person, everything has to be exactly as it was - otherwise, you're cheating." "Everything important was exactly as such I wrote it as honestly as I could," Kerr answered. I asked her how much truth is contained in the novel. It tells the story of a young girl who flees Nazi Germany with her family in 1933 - the author's own story. However, the book that brought Judith Kerr worldwide fame, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, does not feature a cat. Worldwide best-seller When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit The feline character 'Mog' appears in numerous stories that have been translated into many languages, including German Image: DW/K. It was hardly surprising that during our visit a cat curled its way around our legs. Once again, one of her own cats was at the center of the book, just as in her successful series about Mog. Around one year after the publication of Mister Cleghorn's Seal, Katinka's Tail had just hit bookstores. We spent over half a year trying to schedule an interview with Judith Kerr for our multimedia feature "After the Escape." It wasn't so easy to meet up with her since she was still actively pursuing her passion for writing and illustrating children's books.ĭespite being over 90 years old at the time of our meeting, Judith Kerr still kept publishing one book after another. You couldn't tell from the outside that a best-selling author lived here, one whose books have been translated into 20 different languages and sold over 10 million copies.Ī passion for writing and illustrating children's books The couple's son and daughter, now adults, grew up here in a typical English brick house with its well-tended front garden full of rhododendron bushes and flower beds - all just as cozy and unremarkable as the neighboring houses.
The writer had by then spent over half a century in south London, much of it with the love of her life and husband, the BBC author Nigel Kneale, until his death in 2006. Outside, a plane passed by overhead every five minutes as it made its way toward Heathrow Airport. The white curls on her head were carefully coiffed. She was a petite old lady, dressed that day in an elegant blue dress and adorned with a chain of pearls around her neck. In very English style, the first thing Judith Kerr did when we arrived was to offer us tea, which we enjoyed while sitting in armchairs in the author's London living room.
As we hear of the death of German-British author Judith Kerr at the age of 95, I fondly remember our meeting back in 2017, as we interviewed her for the multimedia project "After the Escape"
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