Silent night holy night, Stille Nacht heilige Nacht (in german).. on christmas eve of 1914 this peaceful carol drifted over No Mans Land and then a voice called out "you no shoot, we no shoot". After months of fighting hundreds of British and German soldiers put down their rifles, stepped out of their cold dark trenches and spent the frosty Christmas mingling with each other, no longer as enemies, but as humans and friends who matter, who have so much in common.

as Gunner Masterson (a soldier) puts it “really you would hardly have thought we were at war. Here we were, enemy talking to enemy. They like ourselves with mothers, with sweethearts, with wives waiting to welcome us home again. And to think within a few hours we shall be firing at each other again.”

When commanders learned about the truce, they were furious. Germans were warned that if they staged another truce, they would be shot. British soldiers were threatened with court martial. But many who took part in the Christmas truce refused to fire on their opponents again until the day they were rotated out and other soldiers came to take their place.

The world war that raged in the coming years is one of the greatest human tragedies ever, but the Christmas Truce of 1914 is an incredible testament to what human sense can overcome and the choices we can make.. as a soldier, Murdoch M. Wood said: “I then came to the conclusion that I have held very firmly ever since, that if we had been left to ourselves, there would never have been another shot fired.”

As we celebrate another christmas together, lets remember and imbibe the spirit of Christmas truce, one of the most remarkable moments in history that stands for peace, hope, camaraderie and the belief that we can choose to be human.

#merrychristmas #humansense #christmastruce #hope

picture and statement credits wikipedia, time, washington post, npr.org, scroll.in