The Christmas truce of 1914

by Roger Aiken, UNC Board of Governors member, published in Asheville Citizens-Times, December 13, 2014.

I would like to share a Christmas miracle.

One hundred years ago during World War I, German and British soldiers were entrenched in bitter combat during a freezing winter. As the weather waxed worse day by day, they were stuck in foxholes shooting across the barbed wire that separated their positions. Any man attempting to advance on the enemy was quickly cut down. In some places, the foxholes were only 30 or 40 yards apart and the men could yell to the enemy. The Pope’s pleas for a Christmas truce were met with more shelling as the fighting intensified.

One hundred years ago on Christmas Eve, men huddled together for warmth and shared whatever rations remained. Then a familiar sound broke the silence. Could that be....Silent Night? As the men strained to listen, it seemed their enemy was singing…. Christmas carols? The British soldiers looked at each other and then hesitantly sang along. Can you imagine singing carols with the very people trying to kill you? I wonder if singing those carols, if only for just a moment, took those soldiers back to their family and friends instead of a cold foxhole in a foreign land. After a while the singing stopped and the men settled in for yet another cold dreary night.

As Christmas day dawned 100 years ago, I’m sure most men thought the previous night was all a dream. As they raised their heads out to survey the terrain, a single German soldier climbed out of his foxhole with his hands up. Fearing a trap, one by one they warily stepped out of the deep ditches and met their enemy face-to-face. Hesitant greetings moved to shaking hands, then sharing cigarettes and their meager rations. Laughter replaced the sound of gunfire that Christmas day, as old enemies became new friends. An impromptu soccer game even broke out. Others used the truce for more solemn tasks such as pulling their fallen comrades back across their lines for burial. Unfortunately the sounds of nearby shelling forced the men back into their dreary foxholes and gunfire once again replaced the sounds of laughter. For one brief moment however, there was peace on earth and good will toward men.

Today our battle lines are not always boundaries on a map. Our barbed wire today rather is strung among racial or economic divides. Talking heads on television compete to tell us which side should frighten us more. Our wariness with our fellow man makes us creep deeper into our own foxholes. When we were growing up long ago, did anyone imagine themselves entrenched in foxholes?

Is there any possibility that 100 years after that miracle that we could climb out of our foxholes for a Christmas truce with our enemies? Miracles can still happen.

Merry Christmas.

Roger Aiken is a member of the UNC Board of Governors. Email homeoftheaikens@charter.net.

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/12/13/christmas-truce/20318221/