The Memory of a "brief, yet notable," Christmas Truce in the Forest

When Fritz Vincken and his mother, Elisabeth, heard a knock on their front door on Christmas Eve, 1944, Fritz later recalled how “neither Mother nor I had the slightest inkling of the miracle that lay in store.”

With Herr Vincken having left long ago to serve on the frontline of his Fatherland, young Fritz recollected how they “hoped the person knocking could be Father returning home…”

(Young Fritz)

Upon opening the door, though, Fritz and his mother were not greeted by Herr Vincken.

Instead, they were met by two shivering men wearing US Army uniforms, who, pointing to another man lying motionless in the snow, had clearly come knocking for assistance.

Knowing that the penalty for helping Allied soldiers was death, Fritz remembered thinking his “Mother would turn the Americans away.”

Rather than do any such thing, however, Elisabeth stood and listened to what the men had to say:

All three had been separated from their unit during the ongoing Battle of the Bulge and, sadly, their compatriot lying in the snow had been badly injured while searching for their comrades.

Having resolved to help them, Elisabeth instructed Fritz to bring the men into their home, where, within minutes of her lighting the stove to prepare them a hot meal, they were then disturbed by another knock on the door.

Opening it this time without hesitation, stood before Elisabeth were four Soldaten of the Wehrmacht Heer, whom, led by a “baby-faced Unteroffizier”, explained that they too had been separated from their regiment in the fighting, and so, "desperately needed somewhere to rest until daylight."

“You need to know we have three guests you may not consider friends here”, Elisabeth is said to have told them.

“Of course, you are welcome”, she continued, “but tonight is a holy night, and there will be no shooting here.”

To her great surprise, the soldiers not only agreed to surrender their weapons but, one of them tended to the wounded American; another produced a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread, and, together, they all sat down at the Vincken’s family table to enjoy the festive feast Elisabeth made for them. 

The following day, on Christmas morning, the two sides prepared to make their departure, but not before the Germans advised the Americans how they could reach the safety of their lines, and not before the Americans expressed their hope that, “one day,” they could meet their German counterparts and “sup in more peaceful times.” 

Although the parting of ways marked an end to what is now remembered as “the truce in the forest”, the memory of that brief, yet notable, peace stayed with Fritz for the rest of his life.

For him, the kindness his mother showed on that night did far more than just assist the young men she supported in their plight.

“Her actions”, he said five decades down the line, “reminded us how Christmas should be used to show goodwill toward all mankind.”

(Fritz with former US Army Sergeant Ralph Henry Bank. In 1995, researchers from the television series, “Unsolved Mysteries”, looked into Ralph’s background and, when they did so, they discovered that he was one of the American soldiers Fritz and his Mother welcomed into their home at Christmas in 1944. Reunited at Ralph’s nursing home in 1996, Fritz was amazed to see that Ralph still had the map and compass the “baby-faced” Unteroffizier had given him on Christmas day. Describing the reunion as "the fulfillment of a lifelong dream”, Fritz also said that “meeting Ralph again” was the “absolute highpoint of [his] life.")