Holy Night soldiers lay down their arms

The first knock on the door of the isolated Ardennes Forest mountain cabin on Christmas Eve, 1944, started a remarkable tale of festive forgiveness.

German mother Elisabeth Vincken, sheltering from heavy snow with her 12-year-old son Fritz, went to answer the door. She opened it to reveal one US soldier seemingly bleeding to death from a leg wound and two fellow troops helping him to safety. At the height of a counter-offensive in the forest involving 250,000 German soldiers, safety seemed impossible. 

And for Elisabeth, who fled to the cabin after her home in a nearby city had been partially destroyed by US bombing, the soldiers’ pleas for help put her own safety and that of her son in jeopardy. There was a law forbidding German citizens from harbouring enemy soldiers, and she could be shot for providing any help.

But it was Christmas Eve and Elisabeth, a Christian, let them in. Had she turned them away, the soldiers would not have forced their way in, instead walking on and hoping to survive the night.

But the decision was made. Elisabeth sent Fritz to get six more potatoes from the shed outside and to bring in the rooster. She was going to prepare a Christmas Eve supper for them all.

Elisabeth presumed it was more US soldiers needing help when, as she was preparing the meal, there was another knock at the door. She opened it … to four German troops with guns.

If ever Elisabeth needed the gift of Christian wisdom, this was the time.

… story continues