As the holidays approach, feelings of joy and merriment begin to seep into our hearts. Even if we’re more than ready to bid the year ado, we can’t help but get sucked into the holiday spirit. It turns out, that spirit can also live on in an active war zone. In 1914, just a few months into World War I, nearly 100,000 troops from opposing sides engaged in a series of impromptu ceasefires, dubbed the Christmas Truce of 1914. 

Instead of mortar fire, there was caroling. No man’s land became filled with enemies exchanging gifts and swapping stories. The (exaggerated) accounts of football matches have become the stuff of legend. 

The Christmas Truce, albeit brief, lives on as a symbol of peace and comradery in the darkest of times. 

Singing From the Trenches

On Christmas Eve, 1914, a British machine gunner named Bruce Bairnsfather, was crouched in a muddy trench in Belgium – a “horrible clay cavity” – as he called it. Suddenly, he and many other British soldiers heard an extraordinary sound: Singing from the German trenches. 

After some rival carolers joined in on the British side, along with some friendly shouting, enemy soldiers actually began climbing out of the trenches! On what was once a stage of death, soldiers became revelers, shaking hands, trading tobacco and wine, and enjoying one another’s company. 
The Christmas Truce also became a time to safely gather fallen comrades for proper burial. The many accounts from different soldiers paint a picture of spontaneous fellowship in the midst of a bloodbath that would soon rage on.

Before the Christmas Truce of 1914

During the first two months of the Great War (no, not that Great War), French and British troops steadily pushed back the German attack that was tearing through Belgium and into France. In order for both sides to maintain their manpower and establish firm positions, they dug miles of trenches from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier. 

In the weeks leading up to the truce, there had been many efforts made to establish peace by groups like the British women suffragettes, and even Pope Benedict XV. On December 7, 1914, the Pope pleaded with the warring governments to establish an official truce. The nations declined. 

With both sides firmly dug in, the harsh winter weather brought damp and muddy conditions that turned to a sudden hard frost. Morale plummeted across the Western Front and the thought of Christmas bringing anything other than more bloodshed was ludicrous. 

Until Christmas finally arrived, and with it, a moment of peace.

When Christmas Came 

It remains a mystery just how widespread the Christmas Truce was. When Christmas came, there were still numerous accounts of fighting across Europe.

In some instances, soldiers who attempted to fraternize with the enemy were shot by commanding officers, whose superiors had grown horrified by these increasingly peaceful attitudes. 

Then, there were the Russian Orthodox soldiers who celebrated Christmas on January 7, with fewer accounts of fraternization. One estimate suggests that the truce most likely extended across two-thirds of the British-held trench line through Belgium. 

While the higher-ups wanted war no matter the holiday, the Christmas Truce was an unplanned event appearing almost magically out of a collective desire to salvage some of the humanity that was being chipped away. 

But as history tells us, this magic did not last long. World War I claimed the lives of nearly 15 million people. The war forever altered the global political and military landscape, not to mention the scars torn across hearts and minds for generations to come.

The post The Christmas Truce of 1914 first appeared on History In Memes.

The Diary of Anne Frank is arguably the most famous accounts of the Holocaust ever published. The experiences her writing recounts are well-known. And, her tragic demise is an eternal reminder of the dangers of fascism and anti-semitism. However, the story that has not been as widely told is about Anne’s father, Otto Frank. Otto was the sole surviving, Frank family member after the Holocaust horrors.

Otto Frank’s story is one of defiance, resilience and sorrow. Moreover, it is a story that still resonates in today’s climate. Let’s learn the untold story of another brave Frank family member.

Otto Frank and His Life Before the War

Otto Frank was born in Germany on May 12, 1889. His parents, Michael Frank and Alice Betty Stern, raised Otto in a liberal Jewish family.

When Otto grew up, he began his own family. Otto met his wife, Edith, at an engagement party. The pair then married two months later. The Frank family expanded with the birth of their two daughters, Anne and Margot. 

In 1933, waves of anti-semitic rhetoric and attacks were coursing through Germany, fomented by the new Nazi regime. As a Jewish family, Otto and Edith understood these acts as warning signs of further, emerging danger. So, that year, they decided to pack up their family and move to the Netherlands. 

After arriving safely in Amsterdam, Otto became managing director at Opekta. Opekta was a pectin and spice company that made jellies and jams. Once the family was situated, he then enrolled his daughters into school.

While these years were relatively peaceful, Hitler was growing more and more aggressive. On May 10, 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Belgium, the Netherlands and France. The consequences of this proved dire for Otto and his family. His ongoing efforts to secure U.S. and Cuban visas were stopped because the Nazis closed the consulates. 

On July 6, 1942, the Frank family began to hide in the Secret Annex. They hid alongside four other people for two years. But on August 4, 1944, they were ultimately discovered and arrested by Dutch police. 

A Family Torn Apart

After spending a few days in prison, the group was taken by train to the Westerbork transit camp. It was a staging area for sending Jewish people to concentration camps across Nazi-occupied terrorities. 

Upon entering Westerbork, Otto was separated from his family and put to work during the day. Fortunately, he was allowed to see them at night. But only a few short weeks later, his family would be torn apart forever. 

Otto and his family were again forced onto a train, but this time was different. They were heading east to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp. After three days on a tightly packed train, without adequate food and water, they arrived at the camp. 

Upon exiting onto the train platform, the men were separated from the women. And that was the last time Otto ever saw his wife and daughters.

Otto Frank and His Fight to Survive

When the group was being separated, the Secret Annex men stuck together. They worked in different Kommandos, where they would process gravel and build roads. Soon after, the weather was too frigid to continue outdoor work. So, Otto was given the small respite of peeling potatoes. 

 However, after suffering a beating and being severely malnourished, Otto was critically ill. During this time, he only weighed 52 kilos, or 114 pounds. Luckily, his friends and fellow inmates managed to get Otto admitted to the sick barracks. 

In 1945, the Soviets liberated Auschwitz. Though Otto was too sick to move, miraculously, he survived both his ailments and the flight home. Those who were healthy enough to walk were forced to leave with the Nazis – where they were eventually shot.

Ten months after his arrest, Otto returned to Amsterdam on June 3, 1945. Upon his return, he began the search for his daughters. Otto was hoping they had escaped the fate that Edith had suffered. 

Otto met with the Brilleslijper sisters, who were Anne and Margot’s inmates at Bergen-Belsen. Tragically, they revealed to Otto the horrible conditions of his daughters’ deaths. Anne and Margot had died due to illness and exhaustion.  

Upon hearing about Otto’s immeasurable loss, his secretary, Miep Gies, gave him Anne’s surviving diary and other notebooks. Two years after the war, he published Anne’s writing. Her writing shared the Holocaust tragedies with the world.

The post Anne Frank’s Father: Otto Frank  first appeared on History In Memes.