On the 8th Day of Christmas Past Re-cast…
Question: Today’s “Light the World” is to show appreciation to health care workers fighting in the trenches of Covid. What amazing thing happened to a different front-line, during Christmas in the trenches of World War I?
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President Spencer W. Kimball, before he ever became an apostle, related a Christmas story to Primary children about World War I. He said: “One Christmas during the World War, when no-man’s land between the trenches was white with snow, the troops in a certain ‘quiet sector’ began to exchange holiday greetings by means of crudely painted signs. A few minutes later, men who spoke German and men who spoke English were climbing from their trenches without guns and meeting on neutral ground to shake hands and exchange souvenirs, unmindful of war . . . Friends they were, not enemies, this Christmas day.”
It was Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1914 – over 100 years ago, thousands of soldiers put down their rifles, stepped out of their trenches and spent Christmas mingling with their German enemies along the Western front. In the hundred years since, the event has been seen as a kind of miracle, a rare moment of peace just a few months into a war that would eventually claim over 15 million lives. Some two-thirds of troops — about 100,000 people — are believed to have participated in the legendary truce.
“First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words Adeste Fideles. And I thought, well, this is really a most extraordinary thing – two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.”
Christmas morning, in some places, German soldiers emerged from their trenches, calling out “Merry Christmas” in English. Allied soldiers came out warily to greet them. In others, Germans held up signs reading “You no shoot, we no shoot.” Over the course of the day, troops exchanged gifts of cigarettes, food, buttons and hats. The Christmas truce also allowed both sides to finally bury their dead comrades, whose bodies had lain for weeks on “no man’s land,” the ground between opposing trenches.
The truce was widespread but not universal. Evidence suggests that in many places firing continued — and in at least two a truce was attempted but soldiers attempting to fraternize were shot by opposing forces.
Still, a century later, the truce has been remembered as a testament to the power of hope and humanity in a truly dark hour of history. Christmas, indeed, is the one time of the year when peace seems to be taken seriously. Despite the commercialism of the season, it truly transcends not only national borders, but also the borders of time, feelings and minds. Christmas has accumulated legends and rituals from throughout the world. There’s only one reason for such an amazing display of human goodness: the reason why Christmas is commemorated at all. If it did not have Christ at its center, it would long ago have vanished along with other ancient holidays.
Taken from:
Taken on 12/17/2017 from http://time.com/3643889/christmas-truce-1914/
Taken on 12/17/2017 from http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/christmas-truce-of-1914
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 419 & 246.
The Prince of Peace , LDS Church News, 1995, 12/23/95 .
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