Herbert A. Friedman

Note: A modified version of this article appeared in the December 2002 issue of the American Philatelic Society Journal. The entire story appears here. The Filipino website FilipiKnow used images from this article in a story entitled 9 Fascinating Facts You didn't Know About Christmas in the Philippines. The Weekly Pegasus, The newsletter of professional readings of the U.S. Air Force Military Information Support Operations Working Group recommended this article in their 23 December 2017 issue. The Philippine Diary Project requested the use of an image from this story to illustrate a Christmas card mentioned by prisoner-of-war Albert E. Holland, on 25 December 1944.

For many Americans, the Christmas season is their favorite time of the year. This is especially true of those in military service, far from home and their loved ones. Visions of Christmas trees, holly, mistletoe, and snow-covered landscapes bring back pleasant memories of their youth and happy carefree days. Our enemies are aware of this sentimental trait. For over 50 years they have prepared fake Christmas cards that featured those wonderful holiday images as propaganda in an attempt to demoralize the American soldier, make him homesick, and cause him to consider surrender. This is a wonderful and very rare field of study and I thought our readers might be interested in seeing what our enemies have done in this area since World War II.

World War II

A 1944 painting is of a WWII Marine taking a break

from playing Santa Claus and delivering gifts to the troops.

Japan

The Japanese produced at least seven different Christmas cards to be used against U.S. forces on Guadalcanal in December of 1942. The text is in English. Some of these cards are described in the Japanese-language book Paper War, published by the Preservation Society of the Peace Museum . I should point out that the first four cards are in the form of "Vargas girls" pinup posters, so GIs would be likely to collect them as much for the pictures of the girls as for the Christmas sentiments. The last few cards are classic Christmas scenes and could have been found on any Hallmark greeting card.

1. This card is on blue paper and depicts a pinup drawing of a girl in a transparent white negligee talking on a telephone. Text on the front says "Can't he be original? Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." The back of the card shows a similar picture of a girl in a black negligee. When opened, the card has a long handwritten note to "Dearest Jim," which starts "Another day passes without word from you and I write wondering whether this will reach you or not. Why, oh why don't I hear from you ? The letter is signed "Love and kisses, Claire."

2. The front of this beige-colored card depicts a pinup of a girl in a bunny suit talking on a telephone. The text reads, "It's me, darling, saying Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." The back shows a girl in a transparent summer outfit with a wide-brimmed hat. The hand-written letter inside begins "Dearest husband, It's Christmas time again and here I am, sending you my love and greetings, instead of being able to wish you the same in person. I'm sure your life is full of hardship and misery. My head aches when I wonder why we had to start this war " and ends "Love and kisses, Joan."

3. This bright yellow card features, in the front, a girl in a bathing suit talking on a telephone. The text is "The same line  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." The back shows a girl in a bathing suit on a swing. The text begins "My dearest darling. They promised us that the war would be over by autumn and so I could see you by Christmas, but their promise hasn't come true. They make all sorts of promises, these politicians, but it all just so much air!! When will the war end? It seems like it'll go on and on forever " and ends, "With love and kisses, Lorraine ."

4. A girl in a beautiful formal black dress reclines across both the front and back of this beige-colored card. Text on the front reads "Oh, Darling, you say it in the sweetest way Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" The text inside begins "Dearest Darling, it was rumored that this awful war would end by Christmas last year. We all hoped that the rumor would come true, but Christmas is here again and peace seems as far away as ever, and I feel so lonely and so despondent " and ends, "With love, Nancy." This card was first illustrated in Psychological Warfare, Paul Linebarger, Combat Forces Press, Washington DC , 1954. Linebarger treats this propaganda as sexual in nature and ignores the Christmas connection. He says, "Young human beings, especially young males, are apt to give considerable attention to sex. In areas of military operations, they are removed from the stimuli of secondary sex references, which are (in America ) an accepted part of everyone's daily life: bathing beauty photos, magazine covers, semi-nudes in advertisements, etc. Our enemies tried to use the resulting pin-up craze for propaganda purposes, hoping that a vain arousal of oestrum would diminish morale." Linebarger states that this leaflet was used in the Philippines , so it might have been dropped more than once.

5. This is the first of the more traditional cards. The front shows "Greetings!" with a candelabrum and a picture window through which we see a snowy Christmas scene. Inside on the left: "He that oppresseth the poor and just to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want. Proverbs 22. 16." Inside on the right: "The question on which strikes at the heart of the war situation like a dagger is not: who caused the war? It is not even: who brought America into the war? The revealing question is: who profited by the war, pocketed the profit and defends the profit? The major portion of the war profits goes into the hands of the wealthiest families of America . (by) Frederick Wiehl, President of the All-American Association. But whether or not these plutocrats will come to want is another question."

6. The front of this blue-colored card shows "Greetings", with three homes with snowy roofs and a bright moon above. Inside on the left is the same verse from Proverbs 22.16 as in the preceding card. Inside on the right: "The capitalists that oppress the poor to increase their riches, and the government that helpth (sic) the rich in waging this war shall surely come to grief."

7. There is another Christmas card leaflet printed only on the front of a single page. The leaflet is 128 x 90 mm in size. The card shows an American corporal in a tattered overcoat walking with crutches. His right leg is heavily bandaged. Behind him there is a nighttime holiday scene of snow-covered homes beneath a starry sky. The text on this leaflet is "Christmas Eve - All's well - Let us remember one thing...it isn't our war." The back is blank.

The Japanese used a Christmas card motif on their propaganda again in December of 1944 during the American liberation of the Philippines . Five cards are known at present.

1. A Christmas card with blue bell and red ribbon formed into "Best Wishes" on front, and three bells on back. The card opens to reveal a biblical quote on the left from Matthew 10:36, "A man's foes shall be they of his own household", and an anti-American message on the right, "So it is with a country's foes. Of course you know that under the guise of Democratic America, there is a Plutocratic Dynasty of America's sixty wealthiest families, such as the Morgans, the du Ponts, the Rockefellers, the Drexels, the Sloans, the Vanderbilts, the Roosevelts etc., etc. It is these dynasty rulers, you may well know, that plunged America into war in order to reap its fruits by the toil, sweat, blood and tears of you American soldiers."

2. A Christmas card on red paper with a candle lantern and "Greetings" on the front, holly and stars on the back. The card opens to reveal the same biblical quote from Matthew 10:36 at left, "A man's foes shall be they of his own household." An anti-American message on the right states, "Your foes are they of your own country  American Big Business which is driving you to the gigantic slaughter-house the world has ever known."

3. A Christmas card with an identical vignette on each side showing an outdoor scene of a house covered with snow. The text "Goodwill to Men" is on one side and "Peace on Earth" is on the other. The card opens to reveal a biblical quote at left "Ye cannot serve God and mammon. St. Matthew 6. 24," and on the right, "President Roosevelt cannot serve the people and the Big Business."

4. A Christmas card with a large English town scene in the style of Currier and Ives on the front with the text "Greetings," and a smaller similar scene on the back. The card opens to reveal the full text of the Henry W. Longfellow poem "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," and a boxed anti-American quotation, " America provoked Japan to such an extent that Japan was compelled to attack the Americans at Pearl Harbor ." Oliver Lyttleton, British Minister of Production allegedly made the comment at a luncheon arranged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in London on June 20, 1944 . 5. A Christmas card with a large red bell with the text "LIFE for Christmas" on the cover. The card opens to reveal the text: "HERE's ALL YOU DO!" 1. Come towards are lines waiving a white flag! 2. Strap your gun over your left shoulder , muzzle down and pointedbehind you. 3. Show this ticket to the sentry. 4. Any number of you may surrender with this ticket. Japanese Army Headquarters.

The Japanese produced numerous other propaganda leaflets with similar scenes and messages, but we have only described those that actually are in the form of the traditional Christmas card.

The United States

Christmas 1944

The United Sates did not produce many propaganda items that featured Christmas as the major theme. Such leaflets would not have been efficient against a nation with a Christian minority like Japan . The Philippine Islands under Japanese occupation was a Christian country, so a propaganda leaflet in the form of a Christmas card was distributed there. The leaflet has an illustration of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus in a manger at the top. The entire leaflet is in various shades of brown.

The Commander in Chief, the officers and men of the American Forces of Liberation in the Pacific wish their gallant allies, the people of the Philippines, all the blessings of Christmas, and the realization of their fervent hopes for the New Year. Christmas 1944.

Notice the discoloration on this leaflet. Because it was used in the Philippines it was probably produced by General MacArthurs Psychological Warfare Branch. It does not bear a code number (usually a numerical with the letter J) because I suspect it was meant as a religious and not a political message. The PWB members often kept souvenir books with the leaflets they printed. This one appears to have been glued down and then soaked in water to remove it from the page. I believe the stains are old glue marks.

The Philippine Diary Project reported that an American internee at the University of Santo Tomas Internment Camp, Albert E. Holland wrote in his diary on 25 December 1944:

Dec. 25th  Our 3rd Xmas here  And a wonderful one! First Xmas Cards dropped from our planes (copy of message attached)  Then Mass & Communion  Breakfast  Then I wrote messages to friends - Dorita gave me a pair of socks & her share of the piece of chocolate. The children each gave me a cigar  Dorita fixed luncheon  Mr. Van Vorhees gave me a can of coffee & a can of spinach soup

During the war, a total of about 7,000 people were resident in Santo Tomas. In January 1945, a doctor reported that the average loss of weight among male internees had been 53 pounds during the three years at Santo Tomas, 32.5 percent of average body weight. From January 1942 until March 1945, 390 total deaths from all causes in Santo Tomas were recorded

Sixth Christmas of the War

This American leaflet to German troops fighting in Italy is coded T-49. The front depicts a German wife at home with her daughter. Her face shows that she is deep in worry. The text under the photograph is:

Sixth Christmas of the War

The leaflet has a long propaganda text on the back. The text is:

German Soldier on the Italian Front!

What kind of Christmas Eve are your Dear Ones going to have? Do they still have a home in which to celebrate the birth of Christ? Will there be a good Christmas meal? Or will the good cheer be disturbed by an air raid? Will your father have to do service with the Volkssturm in the Christmas night? Will your young brother and your little son be kept from the family circle by military duty? Is your wife all alone? Has your mother no one with which to sing the old Christmas carols? Is there no Christmas music in German except for the detonation of bombs and the shrill voice of radio propaganda ?

What will your dear ones be thinking that night, which should be a calm and holy night? They will think of you, German soldier! They will think of the countless and senseless sacrifices which the continuation of the lost war imposes on you and on them and on everybody. In their hearts there is only one great, anxious, urgent, desperate question:

HOW MUCH LONGER?

A Martin Herz Christmas Card Martin Herz, was a Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) writer during WWII. After the war, he became an authority on psychological warfare and wrote numerous articles on the subject. He was credited with the production of this photograph depicting a German soldier reading an Allied propaganda leaflet. Herz apparently used this photo as a Christmas card, printing on the back MERRY CHRISTMAS - Martin Herz. The caption for the photo is: NAZI SOLDIER USES SURRENDER LEAFLET A German prisoner reads a leaflet printed by the Psychological Warfare Division of the Allied Expeditionary Force which he brought with him in surrendering to American forces in Normandy. The leaflet, one of thousands dropped by Allied aircraft or fired across enemy lines by guns told the German soldiers the truth about the war and described the treatment they receive as prisoners-of-war of the Allies. U.S. Signal Corps Photo  London OWI  Certified as passed by SHAEF Censor.

The United Kingdom

On April 9th 1940, without a declaration of war, German forces occupied Denmark. The Danes offered no resistance. Germany exploited the country by having Denmark's National Bank pay for the costs of the occupation. Denmark's king and government remained in the country throughout the occupation so there was never a Danish government-in-exile. There was an active resistance movement. Starting about 28 September 1943, Danish underground anti-Nazi activists begin systematic smuggling of Jews to Sweden. Thanks to Danish underground operations, only 415 Jews are captured by the Germans. 7,000 were evacuated to Sweden. Other underground groups such as Holger Danske targeted individual collaborators. Denmark remained occupied until the end of the war.

Britain for Denmark

The British produced a very imaginative Christmas card for the Danish people under German occupation during WWII. The front of the card is in full color. English-language writing on the panel of a door at the left is "Merry Xmas from the Allies." A decorated Christmas tree is at the right, and one of the decorations is a little Adolf Hitler hanging by his neck. The other decorations are all candles. The presents are depicted under the tree. There are crates labeled "Ammunition from John Bull to Danish patriots" and "From Uncle Sam." Scattered around the crates are rifles, artillery shells labeled "From Uncle Joe Stalin," pistols, mortar shells and helmets.

When opened, the text is "Julen 1944 - Glaedelig Jul og Godt Nytarr - Nheder fra Storbritanien." ("Christmas 1944 - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - from the people of Great Britain."). The rest of the card is blank and it is uncoded.

My card has a penciled 763 on the front. The meaning is unknown, but it could be the British code for that particular production.

Britain for Germany

Researcher Lee Richards mentions several other British black Christmas cards in his book The Black Art. Two versions of such a card were created to be sent to German printing firms. One was allegedly from the Swedish Master Printers Association. The second was from the Association of Swiss Printers. The cards were virtually identical and both pictured Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press on the front. We depict the Swedish version of the card. The text is:

At Christmas 1941

On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the immortal invention of Gutenberg, we greet our German brothers in the trade.

May God Bless our Art!

When opened, the card offers a verse from Deuteronomy at the left and a message at the right. The text is:

Cursed be he that encroaches his neighbors border. And all the people shall say Amen. Deuteronomy 27:17. From books anyone can gain knowledge, in quiet and solitude, and this cannot be easily stopped; all that is needed is a single free piece of ground, where a printing press can spew forth its sheets! How could  with the enormous number of many kinds of books and so many copies of the same book, with new publications that rapidly multiply  how could anyone hope to firmly close all the doors through which the truth seeks entry?

400 copies of the Swedish version and 200 copies of the Swiss version were printed and sent into Germany through Stockholm and Berne. The German government complained and the Swedes allegedly offered a reward for the originators of the cards.

Germany

The Germans made great use of the Christmas motif in their propaganda, but few were actually in the form of a Christmas card. All we know about one card is the text. On the front it says "Hello there!" Text on the inside says, "We thought you would be home for Christmas. Well boys  take it easy  you've been promised so many things. It's not your first and certainly not your last disappointment. Cheer up  console yourself with Jerry. He wishes you a very merry Christmas and the best of luck in the new year."

AI-174-12-44

The Germans prepared another leaflet in December 1944 for use against Allied troops in Italy that is not exactly a Christmas Card, but looks enough like one that it should probably be added to this story. The code AI is one of the six that the Südstern (Southern Star) Section of the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers propaganda organization used against Allied soldiers fighting in Italy . After the attempt on his life, Adolf Hitler took the propaganda responsibility away from his military and gave it to his more loyal SS.

The front of the leaflet is a perfect imitation of a Christmas card. It depicts a small fir tree in the snow in front of a house with a Christmas wreath in the window and the words "Merry Christmas!" The back is all text:

"Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend of man!" Yes, that's it - and to be far away from war and senseless destruction from bloodshed and horror. It's the same with everybody. Bill, Sam and Joe say it's that way with them too. Sure, you dream of that little place called your home. Didn't you say, "Me and Jeanne built that little home - that's our home." Or perhaps she said, "Some day we are going to get enough saved up so we can buy that little plot out in the suburb, have a couple of apple trees, peaches or perhaps some strawberries." What a word that is. "Mine, mine, mine." It makes your head stand up high and your chest stick out to say, "This is my house, my garden, how do you like them?" You liked to feel a bit independent when you said that.

AND NOW WHAT HAS BECOME OF YOU?

A soldier in the mud

Defending what?

Fighting for what?

And at home there's CHRISTMAS!

Well, make the best of it. Things will change for better or worse.

Meantime, that much abused National Socialist opposite is wishing you

A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

AI-175-12-44

A second Christmas leaflet from the same propaganda organization depicts a lonely mother with her children in front of a Christmas tree. One child asks:

Mom, why isnt Daddy with us?

The back is all text and explains in depth that dad is too busy fighting the endless war in Europe to come home. Some of the message is:

Here we are again!

Another War Christmas!

Last summer you all expected the war would be over by October. October came and the war was still in full swing. Then you were sure it would be over by Christmas. Christmas is here now and the end of the war is not in sight

Leaflet *350-11-44

Another German leaflet to Italy is coded *350-11-44 and also produced by the organization Südstern. The leaflet depicts a lonely British soldier standing in a snowstorm while owls watch him from a nearby barren tree. This leaflet was disseminated in November 1944. The text on the front is:

Merry Christmas

The back is a long text message which says in part:

Should auld Acquaintance be forgot

Remember the Christmas we once knew? The holly and the mistletoe, the rooms festooned with gaily colored steamers and decorations, the variety of good things to eat, the laughter and merry-making in an atmosphere of carefree friendship? Remember how she happened to stand smack-bang under that piece of mistletoe, thus giving you a chance that you had been looking for? And now  here you are standing in a muddy trench, and not even sure whether the parcel of cigarettes sent by loving relatives will escape the attention of those who handle them before you In this strain then, may Jerry wish you  the British soldier  a Merry Christmas!

The same vignette was used on a second Südstern leaflet coded *174-/12 44 disseminated in December 1944. This surrender leaflet was also for British troops fighting in Italy , but the message on the back was different and said in part:

HARK - THE HERALD ANGELS SING!

Pass the turkey Alf!

(Its really bully, but a guy can pretend cant he?)

Fill my glass up again with that excellent sherry.

(This bloody char gets worse!)

If I go on eating at this rate I simply wont be able to eat any Christmas pudding.

(Boiled duff six days running  who called the cook )

The Germans are trying to amuse the British with a friendly comical slang message. For instance, Duff is useless, junk or trash. The leaflet ends with a surrender message and

A very Merry Christmas!  Think it over!

Leaflet *380-12-44

The Germans used the same vignette a third time on leaflet *380-12-44 in December 1944 but with the title:

Happy New Year!

The long message on the back reminisces about the old days of Happy New Years, and then talks of the present and homesickness, danger and death. The message ends with an anti-Semitic comment:

All you can do now is hope that it wont be long before the Jews and moneygrabbers have filled their pockets sufficiently to call an end to wholesale slaughter and allow you to get back to a normal life?

A Merry Christmas!

This German leaflet depicts a wife and children at Christmas with the grandparents at their right. The text is written in a homey southern style and reminds of us old-fashioned country folk. The back has a rather long message talking about Christmas in the old days and then goes on to recommend that the soldier be injured and states that he can be home by Christmas with any luck. It tells the soldier that he wont be kept in France because of the need for beds due to massive Allied casualties. He will be sent home. The code of this leaflet is A. We dont know much about the unit that produced these leaflets except that it was German and produced a number of such leaflets for Allied troops in Western Europe in January of 1945. For instance, another leaflet with the A. code was entitled To the Men of the British 2nd Army.

Leaflet *379-12 44

This Südstern leaflet depicts a group of children singing carols by a Christmas tree. The text on the front is:

GONE!

The back is a long all-text message that says in part:

Nothing Merry about this Christmas!

Millions of men are locked in battle in the most cruel and bloody war of mankind. They no longer know the great Commandment Thou shall not kill and they have probably forgotten the lovely Christmas spirit which silently embraced all of us on Christmas Eve in the good old days

How strange to find the Germans who started the war when they attacked Poland without warning, and put Christian leaders who did not follow the Nazi line in concentration camps, suddenly reminiscing about the good old days and why nations should not fight.

They also produced a colorful Christmas card for the Italians who they hoped to motivate and keep as allies. The front of the card show a palm tree and a falling star. The title of the card is Merry Christmas to everybody, surely knowing that in 1945  On the back of the card there is a longer message in the form of a poem, There, the little Child was born with the ox and the ass. There, the three Magi arrive from far away. They are wandering. There, the gifts to the little child. Gifts to the nicest people. Churchill offers destitution. Roosevelt gives the most terrible famine and, a prone Stalin gives slavery. Long live, long live the three Magi Kings who came from far away, wandering!

When opened the card shows a scene of the three caricatured Allied leaders offering gifts to Mary and the baby Jesus. The text on the inside of the card is  the gift of the three Magi are not the gift of the enemy...we dont make the same offer to our enemy.

The literal interpretation of the card makes no sense so I asked an Italian specialist to explain what he thought the Germans were trying to say. He came up with "This year (1944) the enemies gave you misery and famine as a Christmas gift; but we hope that next year (1945) German troops will give you a rich and healthy Christmas. I am not sure how he got from the text to his translation, but the way he interprets the meaning of the propaganda message makes sense.

German Christmas Leaflet

The German leaflet depicted above is not in the form of a Christmas card, but it makes use of so many Christmas symbols that I have decided to add it to this article. The uncoded leaflet was printed in full color and dropped on members of the American 101st Airborne Division surrounded in Bastogne during the " Battle of the Bulge."

The front of the leaflet depicts a small blond-haired girl holding a sprig of mistletoe with a candle to her right. Behind her is the visage of her father, apparently killed in action with a bullet hole in his helmet, although his eyes are partially open. The text is Daddy, Im so afraid!

On the back of the leaflet there are a barrage of Christmas symbols surrounding the text. Among them are angels, the Star of Bethlehem, Christmas candles and pine sprigs, etc. The text is terribly written and full of grammatical errors. It is:

HARK the HERALD ANGELS sing!

Well soldier, here you are in no-Mans land, just before Christmas far away from home and your loved ones. Your sweetheart or wife, your little girl, or perhaps even your little boy, dont you feel them worrying about you, praying for you? Yes old boy, praying and hoping youll come home again, soon. Will you come back, are you sure to see those loved ones again? This is Christmas time, Yule-time . . . The Yule-log, the Mistletoe, the Christmas tree, whatever it is, its home and all that you think fine to celebrate the day of our Savior. Man, have you thought about it. What if you dont come back . . . what of those dear ones? Well soldier, PEACE ON EARTH GOOD WILL TOWARDS MEN . . . for where theres a will theres a way . . . only 300 yards ahead and

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Leaflet * 377-12-44

Although not a Christmas card, German leaflet * 377-12-44 depicts a Yule scene with a young child reaching into a Christmas sock with toys on the floor and a Christmas tree to the left. Over this happy scene the Germans have placed the symbol of Death strangling a soldier and the text:

Where might daddy be on this holy night?

The back has a long propaganda text including some of the following:

Somewhere a child is weeping on this holiday night.

Tired of the glare of the lights and from playing with all his new things the little boy has been brought to bed by his mother. The wooden soldiers, the grim-looking nut-crackers, the pipe and drums lie scattered under the Christmas tree with its dying candles. Good night my darling, sleep well. Good night mother. Good night wooden soldier. Good night brown teddy bear. The vaulted roof of the star-lit sky stretches over the little house somewhere in far off America .

Leaflet *378-12-44/12

This German Christmas Sudstern (Southern Cross) leaflet is coded *378-12-44/12, which indicates it was disseminated in December of 1944. The front depicts a young child carrying a Christmas tree and the text:

Seasons Greetings

May you have a Merry Christmas

The text on the back says:

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas John Calvin Coolidge Jr. Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Tank, 101st Parachute and 28th Infantry Divisions, did your officers tell you that you are surrounded and outnumbered here? Well, here you are just before Christmas far away from home and stuck in the worst imaginable military situation. Will you come back, are you sure to see your loved ones again? Put a stop to it now...one way or another.

DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES, BUT POWs DO!

Note: because of the mention of the 9th and 10th Armored Divisions, and the 101st Airborne and 28th Infantry Divisions we can say that this leaflet was probably dropped on Bastogne. The time is right and all the mentioned units were there. There is one problem with this leaflet. The Southern Star leaflets were dropped in Italy. In fact, the two leaflets on either side of this one, *377-12-44 and *379-12-44 were both dropped on Italy. BUT, notice that this leaflet *378-12-44/12 has an added 12 at the back. I can only assume that it was considered such a powerful leaflet that it was taken from Italy with a slight change in code number and dropped on Western Europe.

Leaflet 98 11 44/11

Another German propaganda leaflet that uses Christmas as a theme is coded 98 11 44/11. The code indicates that the leaflet was disseminated over the Allies in Western Europe in November 1944 . The front of the leaflet depicts a child looking at an angel on a Christmas tree with the text:

YOU SHOULDNT SEE THIS PICTURE!

The back is all Text:

ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!

Forget those millions of little kids who will have no Christmas. Forget those children who are waiting in vain for their fathers to come home, those innocents who will never look into their fathers face. Those poor ones who even at Christmas, living in ruins, will hear the crash of bombs. Forget them! Dont think of them, it breaks the morale of the soldier. War goes on. Murder is still legalized and there is no end in sight.

ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!

Note that the Germans often produced leaflets with the text Waiting in Vain. This leaflet falls into that category. It is also interesting that after starting World War Two by attacking and bombing Poland , and later all of Europe and the Soviet Union , the Germans are suddenly worried about the fate of little children.

Leaflet 98 11 44/2

Here is a second leaflet from the unit that used the 98 code. The leaflet depicts happy civilians coming home for the Christmas holidays. A train is in the background belching smoke. It tells the troops, Maybe next year. The back asks if the Americans are fighting for the Poles invaded by the Germans or the Russians, of if they fight for the Balkans where Tito is raising the red flag. As usual, it ends by offering surrender as a way to see the end of the war.

German Christmas booklet

This uncoded full-color German booklet was disseminated over American troops about December 1944. It clearly attempts to look like a Christmas card. The front shows a decorated branch and the text:

HELLO THERE!

Text on the back under another decorated branch is:

We thought you would be home for Christmas

Well boys  take it easy  youve been promised so many things.

Its not your first and certainly not your last disappointment.

Cheer up  console yourself with Jerry

He wishes you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and the best of luck in the NEW YEAR

The German leaflet above coded ECA approximates a Christmas card in that it is folded with a front and a back and two inside pages.

The Front of the card depicts a smiling British soldier six kilometers from Caen , France and the text:

Xmas at home!

The back is all text:

Every speculation has failed .

Every promise broken .

Every hope shattered .

Theres no rhythm or season.

No end in sight .

After Germany - Japan .

If you dont fall today  then tomorrow .

Put a stop to it - in one way or another

Dead men tell no tales  but P.O.W.s do!

When opened, the left page depicts a soldier under artillery fire and the text:

Xmas at home?

The right page shows the soldier dead while a crow studies him from the stock of his rifle and the text:

Xmas .