From the pages of my magazine Kriegsberichter
an account of Christmas at the front.
Weihnachten
Jäger Arno Pommerenke recall Christmas in Russia, “At the end of October 1942 was first of the Fallschirmsturmbataillon was assembled in Hildesheim. We were going to Russia…On our left flank was the 2. SS Division ‘Das Reich’ - we had an especially good relationship with these men. They were a trustworthy neighbor.
The first days in position were quiet. At 20:00 the usual propaganda message would be broadcast. They would play the ‘Kaiserwalzer’, followed by the ‘Dunkelrote Rosen’ and end with the ‘Internationale’. It sounded beautiful in no mans land. Then we heard a message in German, ‘Deutsche Fallschirmjäger, greetings! Come over to our lines. For every one of you we have a woman, white bread, chocolate and cigarettes. Whoever wants to come over should wave a handkerchief in his right hand. We won’t shoot!’
23.December 1942. At dawn we got ready. We took all our laundry back on sleds to the support troops in Belina. The Spieß greeted us. We then went to the sauna. The temperature rose to 80°c. After the sauna we had a snowball fight - naturally in our ‘Adam costumes’.
24.December 1942. Every one was in great spirits! No one thought about the war…A group took saws and axes and gathered 12 Christmas trees - one for each bunker. Trained carpenters made stands; drills, planes and nails were borrowed from the neighboring Pionierzug. Everything was ready by 16:00
At 10:00 my MG-Schütze, a young Viennese man, asked permission to have two hours free. Since he was always in a good mood - I could not say no. His father was a pastry maker in Wien and he taught him to bake…After two hours he returned with a big sack of flour and yeast…Quickly we built a stove. Tiles lay around. The clay from the ground had to be blown clear with egg grenades. With the aluminum cups from our canteens we molded the dough…Finally around 16:00 the first 20 biscuits were ready. They were rock hard, but cut in two, smeared with butter and artificial honey it was a delicacy compared to Kommißbrot (army bread).
In the meantime, the Feldpost with the last of the Christmas packages had arrived; coffee beans, chocolate, alcohol, cigarettes and tea…At 18:00 Hauptmann Hauber, Leutnant Wittenauer, the Spieß and two clerks arrived with a big bag of packages sent to soldiers on the Ostfront by young women in Germany…Around 20:00 some soldiers started to sing ‘Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht’. Like a spark it moved from trench to trench in a coral. A flare on a parachute hung in the sky. Across no mans land we could see the Russian snipers. They were unarmed. At midnight Leutnant Wittenauer (today a priest in Spain) read a sermon and spoke of the true meaning of Christmas; the birth of Jesus and of our salvation through his death and resurrection. After the sermon the Hauptmann handed out promotions and awards that had been earned….To end the evening, our pastry chef brought out fresh pastry, baked in the Wiener Art (Viennese style).
We all spoke of this evening long after it was over. For me it was the most beautiful Christmas I ever experienced.”
Kriegsberichter
an account of Christmas at the front.
Weihnachten
Jäger Arno Pommerenke recall Christmas in Russia, “At the end of October 1942 was first of the Fallschirmsturmbataillon was assembled in Hildesheim. We were going to Russia…On our left flank was the 2. SS Division ‘Das Reich’ - we had an especially good relationship with these men. They were a trustworthy neighbor.
The first days in position were quiet. At 20:00 the usual propaganda message would be broadcast. They would play the ‘Kaiserwalzer’, followed by the ‘Dunkelrote Rosen’ and end with the ‘Internationale’. It sounded beautiful in no mans land. Then we heard a message in German, ‘Deutsche Fallschirmjäger, greetings! Come over to our lines. For every one of you we have a woman, white bread, chocolate and cigarettes. Whoever wants to come over should wave a handkerchief in his right hand. We won’t shoot!’
23.December 1942. At dawn we got ready. We took all our laundry back on sleds to the support troops in Belina. The Spieß greeted us. We then went to the sauna. The temperature rose to 80°c. After the sauna we had a snowball fight - naturally in our ‘Adam costumes’.
24.December 1942. Every one was in great spirits! No one thought about the war…A group took saws and axes and gathered 12 Christmas trees - one for each bunker. Trained carpenters made stands; drills, planes and nails were borrowed from the neighboring Pionierzug. Everything was ready by 16:00
At 10:00 my MG-Schütze, a young Viennese man, asked permission to have two hours free. Since he was always in a good mood - I could not say no. His father was a pastry maker in Wien and he taught him to bake…After two hours he returned with a big sack of flour and yeast…Quickly we built a stove. Tiles lay around. The clay from the ground had to be blown clear with egg grenades. With the aluminum cups from our canteens we molded the dough…Finally around 16:00 the first 20 biscuits were ready. They were rock hard, but cut in two, smeared with butter and artificial honey it was a delicacy compared to Kommißbrot (army bread).
In the meantime, the Feldpost with the last of the Christmas packages had arrived; coffee beans, chocolate, alcohol, cigarettes and tea…At 18:00 Hauptmann Hauber, Leutnant Wittenauer, the Spieß and two clerks arrived with a big bag of packages sent to soldiers on the Ostfront by young women in Germany…Around 20:00 some soldiers started to sing ‘Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht’. Like a spark it moved from trench to trench in a coral. A flare on a parachute hung in the sky. Across no mans land we could see the Russian snipers. They were unarmed. At midnight Leutnant Wittenauer (today a priest in Spain) read a sermon and spoke of the true meaning of Christmas; the birth of Jesus and of our salvation through his death and resurrection. After the sermon the Hauptmann handed out promotions and awards that had been earned….To end the evening, our pastry chef brought out fresh pastry, baked in the Wiener Art (Viennese style).
We all spoke of this evening long after it was over. For me it was the most beautiful Christmas I ever experienced.”
Kriegsberichter