One German woman found herself and her family in the middle of what could have been a deadly skirmish, but even as the Battle of the Bulge raged just a few miles away, she demanded — and got — the Christmas truce that so many others had prayed for in vain.
Elisabeth Vincken left her hometown of Aachen, Germany, after Allied bombs had put an end to the family’s bakery and their home in April of 1944. She and her 12-year-old son moved to a small cottage in the Hurtgen forest — which had previously been used by her husband Hubert when he went on long hunting trips. Hubert, who was drafted into the German army, was stationed nearby.
But Elisabeth and her son were alone when, on December 16th, the bloody campaign that would later be known as the Battle of the Bulge began — and it soon became clear that her husband would not be visiting for Christmas dinner as he had planned. The…
