Thoughts on war: Christmas will not be canceled (Published on 24/12/2023)
In addition to letters from the war and immediate post-war period, literature sources from the time also provide a vivid impression of what war means for people and what a high price all soldiers and their families have to pay in war – mostly in complete contrast to those who have politically fomented and initiated it. It is of central importance to keep alive the memory of the times of war and its consequences in order to prevent the same mechanisms from being set in motion once again and history from repeating itself with ever more fatal consequences.
On 17/08/1952, standing at the graves of the dead buried in the military cemetery in Hürtgen, the then German Federal President Theodor Heuss formulated the importance of war commemoration in his speech at the opening of this cemetery as follows (translated from German language):
“They were human beings like us. But at these crosses we hear their voices: ‘Take care, you who are still in life, that peace may remain, peace among men, peace among nations.’”
To this end, under the title “Thoughts on War”, excerpts from literature describing war and its consequences for those involved will be reproduced here as a reminder of what war means to man and mankind. To provide food for thought and in the unshakable hope that this may make a difference.
The memories of contemporary witnesses of Christmas during the Second World War are just as memorable as they are worth reading. As Fryderyk Tegler reports in a publication by Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (Fryderyk Tegler, Weihnachten fällt nicht aus [“Christmas will not be canceled”], from: Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V., Weihnachtsgeschichten aus schwerer Zeit [“Christmas stories from difficult times”], 8th ed., 2017), p. 157 ff. (translation from German language):
“I was five years old when I first consciously experienced the pre-Christmas period with all its magic and mystery. In the period 1944-46, we children really couldn’t expect any grand presents or lavish festivities. Instead, it was the little things that filled us with anticipation. We thought of the tree and its decorations, of the lights and their sparkle, of the parlor and its Christmas scent. We waited with all our senses for the big celebration and the many little things to see and taste, feel and experience. For our mother, this wonderful time of lights and secrets was covered by dark shadows and deep anxiety. She still had no news of our father and eldest brother. The hope that they were still alive and would come home from captivity had to fight again and again against fear and concern for their well-being.
It was Christmas Eve. The excitement in the children’s hearts reached its peak. We ran around the house excitedly. Then the letter carrier came through the snow and brought us some letters. Mother sat down at the table and began to read. We jumped away, laughed and sang, romped and fought. When we came back into the kitchen, we stopped, startled, and fell silent. Mother was sitting bent over a letter that was trembling in her hands and crying. The tears ran down the letter and dripped onto the floor. There was no explanation …
My father never came home to us in Masuria and we only found my eldest brother 40 years later. But our mother never lived to see that. Although the full extent of the horrors of the war and the post-war period could not penetrate our children’s hearts, we felt that something was breaking, collapsing and tearing apart. We clung to our mother. Sadness filled the room. The tears mingled. We couldn’t find the words for a long time. It was dead silent.
In the midst of the silent despair, my childish question came through: ‘Mum, is Christmas canceled now?’ My mother stumbled, gave herself a jerk, took us children in her arms and said: ‘No, now we’re celebrating Christmas all the more!’ And then my mother began to cope with her sadness and grief by organizing Christmas for us children.
From today’s perspective, they were poor celebrations, but back then they were very nice.”
It should not be forgotten that the same scene has also occurred many times in all other countries involved in the war. For the population, especially for soldiers and their families, war only ever brings pain and suffering.
(Head picture: Winter tree in Düsseldorf’s city forest,
February 2022)
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