Swastikas and Tinsel: How the Nazis Stole Christmas

[Aardvark154]

For those convinced how very Christian the Nazi Regime was.

Der Spiegel (International)
Swastikas and Tinsel: How the Nazis Stole Christmas

It all started innocently enough. Back in the mid-1970s, Rita Breuer began collecting old German Christmas ornaments after her husband expressed the desire for a good old-fashioned Christmas tree like his grandmother used to have. Breuer, who hails from the small town of Olpe, 60 kilometers from Cologne, scoured flea markets and raided friends' attics in the search for baubles and came to accumulate quite a collection which included not only tree ornaments, but also Advent calendars, cribs and Christmas cards.

But then something strange happened. Breuer, who was now being helped in her quest by her daughter Judith, came across more and more objects that didn't fit with the usual peaceful image of Christmas, such as World War I-era miniature soldiers, bombs and hand grenades designed to hang on the tree. The Breuers started to get interested in how Christmas had been abused for propaganda purposes over the years, most blatantly by the Nazis.

Now, more than 30 years after Rita Breuer first began collecting Christmas knickknacks, selected objects from the family collection have gone on show at the National Socialism Documentation Center in Cologne. The exhibition, which looks at the history of Christmas and propaganda from the 19th century until the present day, focuses on how the Nazis misused Christmas for their own foul purposes and tried to turn it into a "Germanic" winter solstice festival.

"Christmas was a provocation for the Nazis -- after all, the baby Jesus was a Jewish child," Judith Breuer, who helped prepare the exhibition and co-authored the accompanying book with her mother, told der Spiegel. "The most important celebration in the year didn't fit with their racist beliefs so they had to react, by trying to make it less Christian."

The exhibition, which includes such peculiar objects from the Breuers' massive collection as swastika-shaped cookie-cutters and Christmas tree baubles emblazoned with the Nazi symbol, shows the bizarre ways the Nazis came up with to try to take the Christ out of Christmas. They tried to persuade housewives to bake cookies in the shape of a sun wheel, a form similar to the swastika, and they attempted to replace the Christian figure of Saint Nicholas, who traditionally brings German children treats on Dec. 6, with the figure of Odin, the Norse god.

One symbol posed a particular problem for the Nazis, namely the star, which traditionally decorates Christmas trees. "Either it was a six-pointed star, which was a symbol of the Jews, or it was a five-pointed star, which represented the Soviets," Breuer says. Either way, the star had to go.

The exhibition also details how the Nazi approach to Christmas changed over the years. In the 1930s, their efforts were aimed mainly at changing the ideology of Christmas, Breuer explains. But when World War II started, the focus became more practical. The state encouraged those at home to send Christmas cards to the soldiers at the front and gave tips on how to make Christmas cookies in the face of food shortages. Then in 1944-1945, as the tide of the war turned against Germany, the Nazi apparatus tried to reinvent the festival once again as a day to commemorate the dead, in particular fallen soldiers. "By then nobody felt like celebrating," Breuer says.

However Breuer points out that, despite the Nazis' best efforts, habits among the population were not so easy to change. "People largely continued with the same traditions as before," she says.

But the legacy of the Nazi Christmas is more long-lasting than might be suspected. The Nazi-era version of the traditional Christmas carol "Es ist für uns eine Zeit angekommen" ("Unto us a time has come") is still sung in Germany today, for example. "The Nazis took out the references to Jesus and made it into a song about walking through the snow," Breuer says.

Of course the festival of Christmas has been largely secularized in much of the world over since the start of the 20th century, but the Nazi treatment was different. This had nothing to do with commercialism or growing secularism, but was based on their racist ideology and a yearning for a mythical Germanic past.

One particular sinister example of the Nazi Christmas tradition is the Julleuchter ("Yule lantern"), a kind of candlestick which can also be seen in the exhibition. Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, had the supposedly "Germanic" lantern produced by inmates in the Dachau and Neuengamme concentration camps to give as a present to members of the SS. The same version of the Julleuchter that Himmler had made is still sold today in certain shops with a New Age bent as a traditional Christmas decoration.

And many of the myths that the Nazis invented are still circulating. "You can still read in places about how Christmas is really an ancient Germanic festival of the winter solstice," Breuer says, pointing out that there is little evidence of any such celebration.

One of the most surprising aspects of the Nazi hijacking of Christmas is the lack of reaction from the German churches at the time. "You would have expected them to protest loudly and insist that it was a Christian festival," says Breuer. "But instead they largely kept quiet, out of fear."

The exhibition "Von wegen Heilige Nacht! Weihnachten in der politischen Propaganda" ("Not Such a Holy Night: Christmas in Political Propaganda") can be seen at the National Socialism Documentation Center in Cologne until 17 January 2010.

 

[danmand]

And many of the myths that the Nazis invented are still circulating. "You can still read in places about how Christmas is really an ancient Germanic festival of the winter solstice," Breuer says, pointing out that there is little evidence of any such celebration.

I don't know about Germany, but the winter solstice
feast celebrated in Scandinavia is at least as well established
as the birth of Jesus.
.

 

[someone]

And many of the myths that the Nazis invented are still circulating. "You can still read in places about how Christmas is really an ancient Germanic festival of the winter solstice," Breuer says, pointing out that there is little evidence of any such celebration.

I don't know about Germany, but the winter solstice
feast celebrated in Scandinavia is at least as well established
as the birth of Jesus.
.

Indeed, I seem to recall at one time learning that that is why the date was picked. Christianity had to compete with earlier pagan religions. Thus, they adopted a date around the time of an earlier pagan holiday. I also seem to recall that rituals like the Christmas tree were adopted from the Pagans (sort of like English Canada adopted many French Canadian symbols). Likewise Easter fits in with the type of Spring festivals most cultures have.
All this being said, religious superstition has always been used (and modified when necessary) to meet political ends. Indeed, one evolutionary explanation of religion is that is helped bind a tribe which was especially valuable when conflicts arose with other tribes. Thus, it helped that tribe survive at the expense of its opponents.

 

[danmand]

Indeed, I seem to recall at one time learning that that is why the date was picked. Christianity had to compete with earlier pagan religions. Thus, they adopted a date around the time of an earlier pagan holiday. I also seem to recall that rituals like the Christmas tree were adopted from the Pagans (sort of like English Canada adopted many French Canadian symbols). Likewise Easter fits in with the type of Spring festivals most cultures have.

You are correct, which explains why baby Jesus happened to be born around the time of the winter solstice.

The christmas tree, however, is a german invention from much later. Supposedly
someon noticed that the brances on the fir trees looked like crosses.

 

[someone]

The christmas tree, however, is a german invention from much later. Supposedly
someon noticed that the brances on the fir trees looked like crosses.

I am not going to debate you as I admit that I don’t know much about this. However, I did a quick search and the following Wikipedia entry (which I have only had time to glance at) claims it has pagan roots but the practice of “erecting a Christmas tree” did originate in Germany as you say: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree

 

[danmand]

Here is what Wiki says:

The custom of erecting a Christmas tree can be traced to 16th century Germany, though neither an inventor nor a single town can be identified as the sole origin for the tradition. The earliest that a pine tree was ever used and decorated for Christmas was in 1521 in Germany (in the region of Alsace). From this singular point in time, we see the rapid spread of this tradition throughout Germany and eventually the world. "It was not until the beginning of the nineteenth century, however, that it spread rapidly and grew into a general German custom, which was soon accepted also by the Slavic people of Eastern Europe…" [4] In the Cathedral of Strasbourg in 1539, the church record mentions the erection of a Christmas tree. In that period, the guilds started erecting Christmas trees in front of their guildhalls: Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann (Marburg professor of European ethnology) found a Bremen guild chronicle of 1570 which reports how a small fir was decorated with apples, nuts, dates, pretzels and paper flowers, and erected in the guild-house, for the benefit of the guild members' children, who collected the dainties on Christmas Day.[5] Another early reference is from Basel, where the tailor apprentices carried around town a tree decorated with apples and cheese in 1597.

In some accounts, Martin Luther is credited with adding lights and decoration to fir branches traditionally hung from ceilings.[

 

[Aardvark154]

I'm just going to do a C-M drop the bomb and keep on going

In a serious vein,

I think the article speaks for itself.

 

[mandrill]

I think the idea of Odin delivering Xmas toys is pretty interesting. I mean would you prefer Santa Claus, the bland, fat old guy in a red jumpsuit? Or Odin - the dude with the empty eye socket, leather armour and a flock of ravens nesting on his shoulders?

 

[Berlin]

How Hitler's Nazi propaganda machine tried to take Christ out of Christmas


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...ropaganda-machine-tried-Christ-Christmas.html

Nazi Germany celebrated Christmas without Christ with the help of swastika tree baubles, 'Germanic' cookies and a host of manufactured traditions, a new exhibition has shown.

The way the celebration was gradually taken over and exploited for propaganda purposes by Hitler's Nazis is detailed in a new exhibition.
Rita Breuer has spent years scouring flea markets for old German Christmas ornaments.

She and her daughter Judith developed a fascination with the way Christmas was used by the atheist Nazis, who tried to turn it into a pagan winter solstice celebration.

Selected objects from the family's enormous collection have gone on show at the National Socialism Documentation Centre in Cologne.

'Christmas was a provocation for the Nazis - after all, the baby Jesus was a Jewish child,' Judith Breuer told the German newspaper Spiegel. 'The most important celebration in the year didn't fit with their racist beliefs so they had to react, by trying to make it less Christian.'

The exhibition includes swastika-shaped cookie-cutters and Christmas tree baubles shaped like Iron Cross medals.

The Nazis attempted to persuade housewives to bake cookies in the shape of swastikas, and they replaced the Christian figure of Saint Nicholas, who traditionally brings German children treats on December 6, with the Norse god Odin.

The symbol that posed a particular problem for the Nazis was the star, which traditionally decorates Christmas trees.

Food for thought: A swastika-shaped cookie cutter for the kitchen

 

[Berlin]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...ine-tried-Christ-Christmas.html#ixzz0XBUqKaMK

'Either it was a six-pointed star, which was a symbol of the Jews, or it was a five-pointed star, which represented the Soviets,' Breuer said. It had to go.
In the 1930s, the Nazis tried to change the ideology of Christmas. But when World War II started, the focus became more practical.

Civilians were ordered to send Christmas cards to the soldiers at the front. There were also tips on how to make Christmas cookies in the face of food shortages.

In 1944-1945, the Nazis tried to reinvent the festival once again as a day to commemorate the dead, in particular fallen soldiers. 'By then nobody felt like celebrating,' Breuer explained.

Happily, the German people mostly ignored the clumsy propaganda efforts and continued with the same traditions as before.

The is a legacy of the Nazi Christmas. The wartime version of the traditional Christmas carol 'Unto us a time has come' is still sung. 'The Nazis took out the references to Jesus and made it into a song about walking through the snow,' Breuer said.

Surprisingly, German churches put up little opposition to the Nazification of Christmas. 'You would have expected them to protest loudly and insist that it was a Christian festival,' said Breuer. 'But instead they largely kept quiet, out of fear.'

Gold and silver Christmas tree baubles inscribed with Nazi and non-religious German iconography lying on swastika wrapping paper
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/11/17/article-0-07409D03000005DC-594_634x478.jpg

These Christmas tree decorations - shaped like a bomb, a hand grenade and an Iron Cross medal date from the First World War
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/11/17/article-0-07409BAE000005DC-649_634x474.jpg


The Iron Cross shaped Christmas tree decorations commemorate the start of World War One
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/11/17/article-0-07409EAA000005DC-682_634x430.jpg