On the night of December 24th, 1914, the weather abruptly became cold, freezing the water and slush of the trenches in which the men were bunkered. On the German side, soldiers began lighting candles. British sentries reported to commanding officers there appeared to be small lights, raised on poles or bayonets. Although these lanterns clearly illuminated German troops making them vulnerable to being shot, the British held their fire. Even more amazing, British officers saw, through binoculars, that some enemy troops were holding Christmas trees over their heads with lighted candles in their branches. The message was clear: Germans, who celebrated Christmas on the eve of December 24th, were extending holiday greetings to their enemies. Within moments of that sighting, the British then began hearing a few German soldiers singing a Christmas Carol-Silent Night. Before long there was a short-lived truce as both sides celebrated Christmas.
When World War One erupted in 1914 launching the first great European war of the 20th century, soldiers on both sides were assured they would be home by Christmas to celebrate victory. That prediction proved to be false. The men on the fronts did not get home for Christmas as the war dragged on for four years. During that time 8,500,000 men were killed, with hundreds of thousands more dying from injuries. The "war to end all wars" took a horrific human toll and transformed Europe.
However, on Christmas Eve in December of 1914 one of the most unusual events in military history took place on the Western front. On the night of December 24th, the weather abruptly became cold, freezing the water and slush of the trenches in which the men were bunkered. On the German side, soldiers began lighting candles. British sentries reported to commanding officers there appeared to be small lights, raised on poles or bayonets. Although these lanterns clearly illuminated German troops making them vulnerable to being shot, the British held their fire. Even more amazing, British officers saw, through binoculars, that some enemy troops were holding Christmas trees over their heads with lighted candles in their branches. The message was clear: Germans, who celebrated Christmas on the eve of December 24th, were extending holiday greetings to their enemies.
Within moments of that sighting, the British then began hearing a few German soldiers singing a Christmas Carol. It was soon picked up all along the German line as other soldiers joined in harmonizing. The words heard were these: "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!" British troops immediately recognized the melody as "Silent Night, Holy Night" and began singing, in English, along with the Germans.
The singing of Silent Night quickly neutralized all hostilities on both sides. One by one, British and German soldiers began laying down their weapons to venture into "no man's land", a small patch of bombed out earth between the two sides. So many soldiers on both sides ventured out that superior officers were prevented from objecting. An undeclared truce had erupted and peace had broken out. Frank Richards was an eye-witness of this unofficial truce. In his wartime diary he wrote: "We stuck up a board with 'Merry Christmas' on it. The enemy stuck up a similar one. Two of our men threw their equipment off and jumped on the parapet with their hands above their heads as two of the Germans did the same, our two going to meet them. They shook hands and then we all got out of the trench and so did the Germans." Richards also explained that some German soldiers spoke perfect English with one saying how fed up he was with the war and how he would be glad when it was all over. His British counterpart agreed.
That night, former enemy soldiers sat around a common campfire. They exchanged small gifts from their meager belongings-chocolate bars, buttons, badges and small tins of processed beef. Men who only hours earlier had been shooting to kill were now sharing Christmas festivities and showing each other family snapshots. The truce ended just as it had begun, by mutual agreement. Captain C. I. Stockwell, of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers recalled how, after a truly "Silent Night", he fired three shots into the air at 8:30 a.m. on December 26th and then stepped up onto the trench bank. A German officer, who had exchanged gifts with Captain Stockwell the previous night, also appeared on a trench bank. They bowed, saluted and climbed back into their trenches. A few moments afterwards, Captain Stockwell heard the German officer fire two shots into the air, and the War was on again.
Silent Night, the carol that briefly stopped the First World War is one of the most recognizable Christmas songs and is one of the most popular pieces of holiday music. During December it can be heard in malls, churches, and concert halls around the planet.
Regardless of the language or the musical expression-operatic or country and western-those who sing and hear the carol experience similar profound feelings of joy and peace.
Consider the experience of Nien Cheng from Shangai, China. In August, 1966, at the beginning of the upheaval known as China's Cultural Revolution, 51-year-old Cheng was arrested and remained imprisoned, in solitary confinement, for nearly seven years. Cheng had committed no crime but was charged with being an enemy of the state because of her association with 'foreigners' especially British business executives. In her biography, Life and Death In Shanghai, Cheng describes how, on one Christmas eve, her spirits were fortified and her hopes renewed by hearing "Silent Night." She writes:
"When the newspaper stopped coming on December 02, I started to make light scratches on the wall to mark the passing days. By the time I had made twenty-three strokes, I knew it was Christmas Eve. While I was waiting in the bitter cold, suddenly, from somewhere upstairs, I heard a young soprano voice singing, at first tentatively and then boldly, the Chinese version of 'Silent Night'. The prison walls resounded with her song as her clear and melodious voice floated in and out of the dark corridors. I was enraptured and deeply moved as I listened to her. I knew from the way she rendered the song that she was a professional singer who had incurred the displeasure of the Maoists. No concert I had attended at Christmas in any year meant more to me than that moment when I sat in my icy cell listening to 'Silent Night' sung by another prisoner whom I could not see. As soon as she was confident that the guards were not there to stop her, the girl sang beautifully without any trace of nervousness. The prison became very quiet. All the inmates listened to her with bated breath."
Joseph Mohr, the young priest and Franz Gruber, his teacher friend who first sang the carol nearly 200 years ago would be very pleased at the way their song still touches hearts and inspires lives. Although written early in the 19th century, their "Silent Night" continues to impact people in the 21st century.
Today, Silent Night is sung on every continent in scores of languages from the original German to Russian, from Swahili to Chinese. It has been performed by religious and secular choirs. Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley have recorded the song. Recently, Jana Mashonee, a Native American singer-songwriter from the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, released an album American Indian Christmas. It featured Silent Night along with other classic Christmas songs and was sung in ten different Native American languages accompanied by a full orchestra and traditional Native American instruments. The album was a commercial success and won Mashonee a Nammy (Native American Music).Regardless of the language or the musical expression-operatic or country and western-those who sing and hear the carol experience similar profound feelings of joy and peace.
