Peter Harmsen

December 1942 saw the bloodiest Christmas in the history of mankind. Men were killing each other in greater numbers than ever before. The Holocaust continued, and innocent civilians were murdered by the thousands throughout the evil Nazi empire, even as the perpetrators celebrated the birth of Christ.

Millions stationed in far-off lands amid the greatest conflict in human history feared this was their last Christmas in freedom, or their last Christmas alive. At the same time as the slaughter continued unabated, throughout the world there were random acts of kindness. These gestures also straddled religious barriers and sometimes included those of non-Christian faiths.

At the same time, Christmas 1942 saw the injunction of "good will to man" distorted in ugly and callous ways. In Berlin, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels spent time with his family while still buried in feverish fantasies about the Jewish world conspiracy.

Christmas 1942 saw the entire range of man's conduct towards his fellow man, reflecting the extremes of behavior, good and bad, that World War II gave rise to. The way the holiday was marked around the world tells a deeper, more universal story of the human condition.

Walter Dixon

Tantor Media

Darkest Christmas: December 1942 and a World at War

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