Merry Christmas, Mein Führer

Now here's a group of guys dreaming of a white Christmas.

We cannot accept that a German Christmas tree has anything to do with a crib in a manger in Bethlehem. It is inconceivable for us that Christmas and all its deep soulful content is the product of an oriental religion.

So said Nazi propagandist Friedrich Rehm, 1937. 

Hate to say it, but he's right.  Take the Christ out of Christmas?  Yes, put the sun back in there.  The days are growing longer.  Solmas?  Heliosmas?  Jesus ain't the reason for the season in my house, despite the manger under the tree.  It's about the solstice, the return to life we anticipate in a few months, the great food, the fellowship, the comfort in the cold, wet, dark winter.  A few lights in the window to make gay an otherwise dreary time of year.

But I don't want to wax too poetic when I find myself agreeing with Nazi propagandists!

Here's a Time photo essay at a Nazi Christmas dinner.  Photos from 1941, Munich.

A Curious juxtaposition....