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A Reader’s Perspective on Christmas in the Third Reich

From my reader, Lilo, (b. 1939, near Munich), further evidence that any changes the Nazis made to Christmas celebrations were subtle and often ignored by the German public:

I wasn’t aware that Christmas in the Third Reich was something special.

Our Christmases were always the same. The “Christkind” (Christ Child) flew into the window on Christmas Eve, brought a moderate size Christmas tree and a homemade doll. It also brought some cookies (reduced recipe with butter replaced by margerine and milk) and usually 3 or 4 apples. Once the “Christkind” had left, I was allowed into the living room, which was only lit by the burning candles on the tree. Then everybody sang “Silent Night”, and only after this was I allowed to go and grab my new doll. — On Christmas morning, part of my family went to Church where there was a huge Christmas tree and a very festive service. — If my father had been lucky with bartering, there was a roasted goose for dinner.

It never occurred to me that Christmas could have been any different for Nazis, except that they might have skipped church.