Joyeux Noel, A True Christmas Message

German soldiers of the 134th Saxon Regiment pose with men of the Royal
Warwickshire Regiment in 'No Man's Land' on the Western Front in
December 2014. Photo is in the Public Domain. You can read the
article HERE

I am returning for a third time to an earlier post about a film that still moves me deeply: Joyeux Noel, the 2005 film that was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film. This has become my favorite Christmas movie, and I watch it each year.

The individual stories highlighted in the film were fictitious, but the over all story is based on a true happening on a Christmas Eve in 1914, in the theater of war: Scottish, French, and German troops agreed to a cease fire, and put down their weapons to celebrate Christmas Eve. Bonds were formed. The next day, troops  even warned each other of planned shellings and offered refuge in each other's trenches when the shellings occurred.

Last year, the  Sacramento Bee published an article about this phenomenon, a phenomenon that occurred in several places across Belgium and across the Western Front. One such place was Flanders Field, (the site of John McCrae’s famous poem later, comparing the blood of slain British warriors to red poppies.) 

On Christmas Eve, German soldiers began playing music familiar to both German and British soldiers. Soon an informal truce was struck. Troops visited each other, gave each other food and small gifts. Some played games. For a little while, Peace broke out. Afterwards, as in the movie, army generals made sure it would not happen again. In the following war years, at Christmastime, generals stepped up the fighting to ensure no one would even think of a truce.

For all three military groups, the only thing that saved troops from being tried for treason was the fact that 200 or so in each case would have to be tried. Instead, all the participants were transferred to other fronts to make sure such an event wouldn't happen again.

Joyeux Noel is a remarkable film--a reminder that we are human first, and that the human impulse is toward peace. It is the political impulse that moves nations to war.

So here it is, the New Year on its way, the Christmas message hovering still. We still live in a troubled world, wondering how to meet the challenges.

Best wishes for a time of true peace, when people can be united again in their common humanity.

What is your favorite Christmas movie?

Joyeux Noel, A True Christmas Message

German soldiers of the 134th Saxon Regiment pose with men of the Royal 
Warwickshire Regiment in 'No Man's Land' on the Western Front, in
 December, 2014. Photo is in the Public Domain, taken from an
article HERE.

Twice, now, I’ve blogged at this time of year about Joyeux Noel, a 2005 film that was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film. 

The individual stories highlighted were fictitious, but the overall story is based on a true happening on a Christmas Eve in 1914, in the theater of war: Scottish, French, and German troops agreed to a cease fire and put down their weapons to celebrate Christmas Eve, even warning each other of planned shellings the next day and offering refuge in each other's trenches when the shellings occurred.

For all three military groups, the only thing that saved troops from being tried for treason was the fact that 200 or so in each case would have to be tried. Instead, all the participants were transferred to other fronts to make sure it wouldn't happen again. It was a remarkable film, and a story I won't forget.

The Sacramento Bee published an article last year about this phenomenon, a phenomenon that occurred in several places across Belgium and across the Western Front.

In the news article above, in Flanders Field, the site of John McCrae’s famous poem comparing the blood of slain British warriors to red poppies, German soldiers began playing music familiar to both German and British soldiers. Soon an informal truce was struck. Troops visited each other, gave each other food and even small gifts. Some played games. For a little while, Peace broke out. Afterwards, as in the movie, army generals made sure it would not happen again. In the following war years, at Christmastime generals stepped up the fighting to ensure no one would even think of a truce.

So here it is again, the New Year approaches. The Christmas message hovers still. And we still live in a troubled world, wondering how best to deal with it.

Best wishes to all for a time of peace, when people can forgive the atrocities of war and unite again in their common humanity.

A Miracle Under the Christmas Tree

         I am pleased to announce the exciting news that Rosi Hollinbeck's Christmas memoir, Christmas Without Snow, is included in the new Christmas anthology by Jennifer Basye Sander, A Miracle Under the Christmas Tree, along with many other wonderful stories. This book will make will make great holiday reading. Order information is at the bottom of this post.

Rosi also hosts a wonderful blog called The Write Stuff which you can read by clicking here. (It's also shown again at the bottom of this post.) A little about her story:

CHRISTMAS WITHOUT SNOW by Rosi Hollinbeck

Living in Minnesota has some drawbacks: the sweltering dog days of August filled with mosquitoes the size of Buicks, and Februarys that seem to freeze even time.  But one of the true joys of being a Minnesotan is being there at Christmastime.  It just seems so right.  Minnesota is a Christmas kind of place. Cheeks and nose-tips redden in crisp, cold air. Soft, fresh snow nearly always blankets the ground on Christmas mornings. Frost covers everything turning trees and bushes in jeweled ice sculptures. The daytime sky is such a pure, hard blue, it hurts to look at it, and the sun casts purple shadows across the snow. The sweet smell of burning hardwood permeates the air through the long evenings. . .   

About Rosi Hollinbeck:

Rosi lives in Roseville, California, just east of Sacramento. She is active in the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators as well as the California Writers Club. She has work in up-coming issues of Highlights and Highlights High Five magazines. Her historical short story, Helen’s Home Run, won first place in the 2011 Foster City International Writers Contest Children’s Division. Her middle-grade novel, The Incredible Journey of Freddy J., was a finalist in the Grace Notes Discovering the Undiscovered contest. She writes book reviews regularly for the Sacramento Book Review and on her blog. You can find out more about her at her blog at http://rosihollinbeckthewritestuff.blogspot.com.  

Purchase Links: A Miracle Under the Christmas Tree is available from Barnes and Noble as a paperback or Nook book or from Amazon as a paperback or Kindle book. Here are the links:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-miracle-under-the-christmas-tree-jennifer-basye-sander/1111401884?ean=9780373892631

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=a+miracle+under+the+christmas+tree