#White christmas song sergeant full

Later, sang songs with the gentlemen from the battalion staff. In the evening, I visit the men in the little crowded basement rooms, read to them the Christmas story from the Bible, and talk to them. The enemy is shooting from the wood nearby. The gold brocade robes now serve as curtains for the broken windows. A green castle with a magnificent church. This was once a beautiful complex in Yaroplets. One man was blown up in front of the church.

#White christmas song sergeant full

They look awful, ragged, full of bedbug bites, entire bodies bloody, emaciated, dirty. Visited the men in their quarters, 9th and 11th companies. Next to me potato peeling and other refuse, lice. In the face of such despair Christmas was still celebrated though, as the following divisional Chaplin expressed in his diary in 1941: The comfort and nostalgia of joyful Christmas celebrations in positions along a quiet front was largely a thing of the past, especially so for those stationed on the Eastern Front which left little to celebrate as the war ground on. Fate was not on the German side though, and fighting was to continue for 4 of the harshest and brutal years of combat in all of human history. The Wehrmacht had crossed the Soviet border in June of 1941 and had planned to be finished with the campaign before the end of fall. The winter of 1941 was one of the harshest and unforgiving winter seasons in recorded history. See also Kampfgeschwader 7 An unknown Luftwaffe unit celebrates Christmas later in WWII Troops once again spent Christmas in bunkers and foreign cities, now in a front stretching from the most northern arctic tip of Norway to the most southern tip of France in the Mediterranean. The Battle of Britain was also over, leaving the vaunted Luftwaffe bloodied and although not defeated by any means, unable to achieve air superiority over the British Isles. O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,Ĭhristmas 1940 was also a relatively quiet period, the Western Allies, minus England, were now occupied by German troops and the Eastern Front had not yet erupted – that would come in June of 1941 with the Invasion of the Soviet Union. They’re green when summer days are bright: Men of 4(MG)Kompanie/Inf.Reg.24/21.Inf.Div, Christmas 1939 O TANNENBAUM In bunkers and trenches, pillboxes and depots, private homes and unit bases, all along the border, across Germany, and in occupied Poland, those German soldiers unlucky enough to not be with family and loved ones, spent time together amongst their comrades and exchanged simple gifts of fruit and drink, laughed and played, and sang traditional German Christmas songs such as “O Tannenbaum” – a timeless song of Christmas. The first German Christmas of WWII was celebrated in December of 1939 while the front was for the most part silent the Western Allies and Germany were in the midst of the so-called “phony war” between the period after the Invasion of Poland in September of 1939, and the Invasion in Norway later in April of 1940. It was during this time that Christmas would be an equally joyous and horrific holiday. Christmas was and remains an important time for most Germans, and this was equally the case during the time of WWII.Īttempting to account for the infinite number of German Christmas experiences during the time of WWII is impossible, but we can bring together those common themes that were experienced by a great deal of people, in this case, by many of the men who served in the German military during the period between 19. Many of the Christmas songs we sing, foods we eat, and traditions we follow – including the most central of all Christmas traditions, the Christmas tree – were first practiced in these regions, and more specifically, in the region, we now know of as Germany. A great deal of the traditions of Christmas that we hold dear were in fact put forth by people in the Central and Northern parts of Europe in the years before and after the birth of Christ, intermeshing both pagan and Christian themes into a spirited, festive, and joyous holiday.

Although Christmas is celebrated all over the world, nowhere is it such a significant holiday as in Central and Northern Europe. Christmas, with deeply-rooted traditions, is the most significant holiday of the year in Western culture.