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"Iron Christmas" -

As early as 1914, the German military was using the festive season for propaganda purposes. This Munich postcard shows a Christmas tree festooned with Iron Cross military decorations.

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Rise of Adolf Hitler -

Seven years later in a Munich beer hall, Adolf Hitler, the newly appointed Nazi party leader, delivered a Christmas speech in front of 4,000 supporters, during which he condemned "the cowardly Jews for breaking the world-liberator on the cross" and swore "not to rest until the Jews…lay shattered on the ground."

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"A German Christmas" -

While the celebration of Christmas in Nazi Germany was allowed, the regime used the occasion to promote nationalist propaganda and anti-Semitism. The Nazis achieved this in a number of different ways.

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Contrary to Nazi ideology -

After Hitler achieved power in 1933, the Nazis literally tried to take the Christ out of Christmas. The Jewish origins of Jesus and the commemoration of his birth as the Jewish Messiah went against the very core of Nazi ideology. Pictured: party officials greet Hitler on Christmas Eve in the Loewenbraeukeller in Munich in 1936.

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"Nazifying" Christmas -

As the Nazi Party grew in size, attempts were made to "Nazify" Christmas. Hitler wanted to change the way German citizens celebrated the festive season. But this would prove a challenge.

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Yule traditions -

Germany was a devoutly Christian nation. It was the country where many cherished Yule traditions were born, things like Advent calendars, Christmas trees, and the ever-popular Christmas market.

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Christmas in their own image -

The Nazis knew they couldn't completely eradicate Christmas. So they set about reworking it in their own image.

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Redefining festivities -

By redefining familiar traditions and designing new symbols and rituals, the Nazis believed they could remove aspects of Christmas seen as detrimental to party doctrine.

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Co-opting Christmas -

At first, the Nazis attempted simply to co-opt Christmas. Party officials sponsored seasonal celebrations and appeared alongside Mary and Joseph in reenactments of the Nativity. Pictured is Joseph Goebbels, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, holding hands with his daughter Helga as they stand on steps next to costumed participants at the opening of the Christmas market in the Lustgarten, Berlin, on December 8, 1935.

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Winterhilfwerke campaign -

In a cynical move to further identify National Socialism with Christmas in the public mind, the Nazis established their annual Winterhilfwerke campaign, a donation drive to help finance charitable work overseen by the National Socialist People's Welfare (NSV). Pictured is a working-class family receiving Christmas parcels from NSV officials.

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Appearing charitable -

Poorer members of German society were grateful for these seasonal gifts. Ordinarily, impoverished households were unlikely to be filled with Christmas cheer and this was the ideal way in which the Nazis could be seen as charitable.

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Great Depression -

The Winterhilfwerke campaign was established in the early days of the Great Depression. Thousands of Nazi youth members and officials were drafted in to collect money on behalf of the NSV.

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Hitler Youth lends a helping hand -

The Hitler Youth were charged with hand-crafting Christmas gifts for the public as well as those serving in the military.

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Reichsarbeitsdienst -

Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labor Service) duties included crafting toys at Christmas time.

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League of German Girls -

Here, a Berlin member of the League of German Girls packs Christmas gifts for children who are cared for by the NSV. 

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Loyal offering -

In a show of loyalty, Christmas presents were also handed out to the Nazi leadership. In this photograph, Hermann Göring and his wife Emmy receive seasonal gifts from members of the League of German Girls.

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Propaganda platform -

Christmas parties apparently organized for children in need often provided a platform for Nazi propaganda. Here, Goebbels delivers a speech in Berlin, flanked by decorated trees.

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The public needs more convincing -

This vast program of winter welfare failed to distract from the fact that many still perceived Christmas as a fundamentally Christian festival. Other measures were needed to convince the public otherwise.

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The myth of pagan origins -

The Nazis began to propagate the idea that Christmas was in fact rooted in Germany's pagan past and that it originally celebrated the supposed heritage of the Aryan race. The Nazis even attempted to move the date of Christmas to the winter solstice and tried to redefine St. Nicholas as Wotan (Odin), the ancient Germanic deity.

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'Silent Night' word change -

One of the most brazen acts by the National Socialists to redefine Christmas was to change the words to the popular carol 'Silent Night' so it made no reference to God, Christ, or religion. Additionally, the first verse of the popular carol became a song of praise to Hitler.

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The Nazi Christmas tree -

In many homes, Christmas tree decorations were replaced by symbols of the Nazi regime. Baubles were often embossed with an eagle clutching a swastika.

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Busts as baubles -

Hitler's image was omnipresent. His bust was reproduced also as a bauble, to feature prominently on the family Christmas tree.

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Swastika replaces the star -

Replacing the star crowning the tree was a glittering swastika, a symbol of Nazi might overseeing the party's subjects.

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Profitable Christmas -

Advertisers and manufactures made a healthy profit from the Nazification of Christmas. Tree decorations featuring swastikas and pagan symbolism were favorite purchases.

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Wartime Christmas -

A German family, with two sons serving in the military on seasonal leave, celebrate a quiet Christmas at home.

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Rank and file -

Meanwhile, soldiers in the field celebrated as best they could. Those of higher rank enjoyed a modicum of Christmas comfort, as with this group of German officers celebrating with food and drink in their barracks.

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Christmas greetings from the front -

A poignant Christmas postcard from a German soldier in Russia in 1942, the design of which combines a lighted candle with Nazi symbolism.

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Return to traditional ways -

By 1944 and with Germany losing the war, efforts by the Nazi hierarchy to remove Christian influences from Christmas diminished. For example, instead of being prompted to bake biscuits in the shape of swastikas, housewives could again prepare gingerbread snacks in a more traditional manner.

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A song that survived -

For all the regime's attempts to suppress Christmas customs, only one Nazi tradition survived the end of the Third Reich: Hans Baumann's 'Exalted Night of the Clear Stars' («Hohe Nacht der klaren Sterne'). Banned in 1945 as Nazi propaganda, the Nazi carol was still being sung by families into the 1950s.

Sources: (U.S. News & World Report) (Smithsonian Magazine) (Facing History and Ourselves)

See also: The art of the Second World War propaganda poster

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