The Hürtgen Forest Incident: Christmas Eve, 1944

On Christmas Eve 1944, deep in the snow-covered Hürtgen Forest on the German–Belgian border, a small hunting cabin became the scene of a remarkable act of humanity in the Second World War.

Inside the cabin was German born Elisabeth Vincken and her 12-year-old son, Fritz. Their home in Aachen had been destroyed by bombing, and Elisabeth’s husband was away on civil-defence duty. Outside, the forest was engulfed in the chaos of one of the war’s harshest and most costly conflicts, the Battle of the Bulge, fought amid freezing temperatures and fear.

On Christmas Eve, three lost American soldiers knocked on the door, one of them badly wounded. Elizabeth knew sheltering enemy soldiers was punishable by death, but she welcomed them in, tending to the wounded man and offering food, warmth and a place to rest.

Later that evening there was a second knock. This time, four German soldiers stood outside, also separated from their unit and seeking shelter. Elisabeth opened the door, but recognising the explosive situation she made all the soldiers agree to a truce for the night with one remarkable condition; there would be no killing in her home on Christmas Eve.

Fritz recounted her words in an article written for Reader’s Digest in 1973. “You could be my sons,” she told them. “This one night, this Christmas night, let us forget about killing.”

Both sides agreed. All weapons were left outside. Enemies became guests.

Inside the cabin they shared a simple Christmas meal of potatoes, rye bread and a single roasted rooster Elisabeth had saved for the holiday. A former medical student among the German soldiers treated the wounded American. Before midnight, they prayed together and stepped outside to look at the Star of Bethlehem. For that night, the war faded into the background.

At dawn on Christmas Day the Pax ended. The German corporal gave the Americans a compass and a map with directions to avoid patrols and find their way back to American lines. The guests shook hands, picked up their weapons and departed in opposite directions, returning to the war they had left behind.

The Hürtgen Forest Incident on Christmas Eve endures as a rare and powerful reminder that in the extreme conditions of war a moment of Pax can produce opportunities to share humanity.

That night Fritz Vincken observed the sworn enemies, now brothers in arms and reflected “the war became a distant, almost-forgotten thing.”

The "Vincken memorial" is generally considered to be the Shrapnel Cross near the Vossenack Military Cemetery. This memorial is located at the corner of Zum Naturpfad and Mestrenger Weg, in Vossenack. It was erected by local residents in 2005 and is entirely made out of grenade shrapnel and shell casings found in the area.

The story of the Christmas Pax in the Hurtgen Forest was later adapted into a 2002 TV movie titled Silent Night.