MIDNIGHT CLEAR, A 237
Belgium, on Christmas Day 1914: “live and let live” be hav ior that was not repeated,
per strict orders of the British High Command. Truces were almost unheard of dur-
ing WWII but a small- scale Christmas truce did occur during the Battle of the
Bulge. At a remote cabin in the Hürtgen Forest three American and four German
soldiers— all lost, tired, and hungry— were treated to an impromptu Christmas
Eve supper by a German woman named Elisabeth Vincken, who told them all, “Es
ist Heiligabend und hier wird nicht geschossen.” [“It is the Holy Night and there
will be no shooting here.”] She insisted they leave their weapons outside. The sol-
diers complied and enjoyed a brief respite from the war (Hunt, 2017).