December 22, 2025 • 12 mins
Travel across the globe to witness Christmas 1945 as the world emerged from the shadow of World War II. From Britain’s ration-tight celebrations to Germany’s Christmas in the ruins, France’s liberation feasts, Italy’s rebuilding joy, the Pacific’s tropical soldier holidays, and the quiet resilience of refugee and displaced persons camps, this Strange History Podcast episode reveals how nations—and people—found light in the darkest winter. Filled with vivid storytelling, true historical accounts, and a deep emotional arc, this is the gripping second chapter of our Christmas 1945 special.
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Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-strange-history-podcast--5773362/support.
🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
Submit your ideas for The Strange History Podcast
Follow The Strange History Podcast wherever you listen and never miss an episode. 🔗 Listen & Subscribe:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
iHeartRadio
Audible
New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back, dear listeners to the Strange History Podcast, where
we travel so deeply into the past that we occasionally
need a sturdy pair of emotional hiking boots and a
flask of brandy. Tonight, we continue our journey into Christmas
nineteen forty five, but this time we leave American shores
and wander across a world trying to rediscover the meaning
(00:22):
of joy. Because while Americans were untangling victory lights and
bribing Gramma for butter ration stamps, the rest of the
world was facing a question far heavier. How do we
celebrate Christmas in a world that has been shattered? Some
nations were rebuilding, some were mourning, Some, like the UK,
were still rationing everything except oxygen and sarcasm. And yet
(00:46):
in the cold winter of nineteen forty five, something remarkable happened.
People celebrated anyway. They found tiny sparks of joy in
bombed out cities, refugee camps, military outposts, and homes without roofs.
They sang carols with cracked voices. They lit candles in
broken windows. They found hope, flickering, fragile, stubborn hope. So
(01:10):
bundle up. The world is cold. In nineteen forty five,
but its people are alight.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
The United Kingdom a Christmas on rations.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Britain's Christmas nineteen forty five was not glamorous. In fact,
it was held together with ration coupons, stiff upper lips,
and a national sense of humor so dry it could
be stored in a desert. The war was over, but
rationing was not. The UK was still cutting coupons for sugar, butter, meat, cheese, eggs, tea, yes,
(01:43):
even tea. This alone was arguably a human rights violation.
A famous London newspaper joked, Britain has won the war,
but lost the pudding. True story. A London woman wrote
in her diary that her nineteen forty five Christmas pudding
was so small it could fit inside a teacup if
one were so wasteful as to reserve a whole teacup
(02:04):
for pudding. But despite the shortages, Britain celebrated. Families decorated
bomb damaged homes with greeneries scavenged from parks, children hung
stockings over fireplaces without mantles. In some pubs, patrons shared
a single bottle of whiskey like it was the Holy Grail.
One of the most touching true stories. At Coventry Cathedral,
(02:26):
the one that had been destroyed in nineteen forty the
choir sang Christmas hymns surrounded by rubble. There was no roof,
wind blew through the aisles, and yet over one thousand
people came to hear them sing. One attendee wrote, we
sang louder than the wind. It was the first time
since the blitz that I felt Christmas might come again,
(02:47):
even in broken buildings.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
The spirit held, do you live in a world where
butter is scarce, flower is precious, and your Christmas pudding
looks like an oversight? Try ration padding, the war time
food extender that adds volume without flavor or nutrition, made
from ground disappointment air, and a whisper of optimism. Ration
(03:10):
patting because sometimes Christmas dinner needs help.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Germany Christmas in the ruins.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Germany's Christmas in nineteen forty five was unlike anything the
country had experienced before. Bombed out cities, homes turned to shells,
family scattered, millions still displaced. Yet Christmas came anyway. Churches
those still standing were packed. Some held services in basements,
others outdoors because the roof was missing, Many parishioners attended
(03:42):
wearing coats because there was no electricity or heating. Left
true story. In Cologne, residents decorated a Christmas tree in
the ruins of a building that had once been a
department store. They scavenged bits of colored paper, scraps of ribbon,
and broken glass ornaments from the rubble. One man used
(04:02):
foil from cigarette packs to create stars. A reporter wrote,
it was the most beautiful tree I had ever seen,
because it stood where nothing should have survived. On Christmas Eve,
American gis occupying Germany distributed chocolate, cigarettes, and small toys.
One young girl in Stuttgart said she had never tasted
(04:24):
real chocolate before. It had been unavailable since she was
five years old. She wrote later in life, I still
remember the soldier's face more than the chocolate. He looked
so happy to give it to us. It was a
Christmas of contradictions, sorrow and generosity, ruins and rebirth, loss
and tentative peace.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Feeling down, world destroyed. No decent chocolate you need. Goodwill
gis the nineteen forty five subscription service where American soldiers
appear out of nowhere and hand you candy canned peaches
a smile that could international hostility. Goodwill gis bringing sweetness
to the apocalypse. Since nineteen forty.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Five, France a Christmas of liberation and red wine.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
France entered Christmas nineteen forty five with a mix of
relief and celebration. Paris had been liberated for over a year,
but the nation was still recovering emotionally and physically. Still,
the French did what the French do best. They held
spectacular holiday feasts, or at least spectacular feeling feasts, because
(05:32):
even if the goose was scrawny and the vegetables were questionable,
it was served on real plates in a world no
longer under Nazi occupation. In Paris, cafes reopened with Christmas menus,
proudly advertising food items they didn't actually have yet but
felt morally confident they would acquire somehow, and the French
(05:53):
wine industry, ravaged by years of confiscation, still managed to
supply enough to ensure the country remain festive. One French
woman wrote, we drank to freedom, we drank to Christmas.
We drank because we could. True story. In the small
town of Amian, a baker baked the first Gallet des
(06:14):
rois kingcake the village had seen in six years. She
did not have enough ingredients, so she secretly substituted mashed
potatoes for half the flower. No one noticed, people declared
it magnificent. That is the power of French morale.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Italy a Christmas of rebuilding and reunion.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Italy's Christmas came in the wake of deep political upheaval,
widespread destruction, and food shortages, but Italians, being Italians, they
still found ways to make Christmas as warm and communal
as possible. Families crowded into kitchens making improvised versions of
classic dishes, panitone made from stale bread, pasta stretched impossibly thin,
(07:00):
chestnuts roasted over fires fueled by scavenged wood. In Rome,
the Vatican held a massive Christmas Eve service that drew
over twenty thousand people, many walking miles because gasoline was scarce.
Pope Pious the twelfth delivered a message of hope that
echoed across a nation trying to redefine itself. One soldier
(07:21):
returning to Florence wrote, the city was broken, but the
people were not. They lit candles in windows that had
no glass, and perhaps the most charming true story in
Naples American soldiers helped local families decorate a massive community
Christmas tree, placing US military rations beneath it as gifts.
(07:43):
Children unwrapped cans of spam like they were treasures from
the sea. They probably deserved metals for their enthusiasm alone.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Japan and the Pacific, a Christmas in transition.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
For Allied soldiers still stationed across the Pacific. Chrismus nineteen
forty five was strange, hot, and emotionally complicated. Some were
waiting to come home, some were overseeing occupation duties. Some
were still processing battles fought only months earlier, but they
celebrated in Okinawa. Gis decorated palm trees with makeshift ornaments,
(08:21):
canteen caps, mess kit lids, and string lights powered by
generators that sounded like angry lawnmowers. True story. A chaplain
in Guam wrote that Christmas Eve services were so crowded
that men stood outside in tropical rain, listening through open windows.
On ships, sailors received special Christmas dinners with turkey, fruit, cocktail,
(08:44):
and pie foods they hadn't seen since leaving home. One
sailor wrote it tasted like home, even though the ocean
was trying to kill us. The entire time, Japan itself
was in ruins, grieving, starving, and processing surrender. While Christmas
is not a traditional Japanese holiday, some families quietly celebrated
(09:05):
peace more than Christmas, lighting small lanterns, sharing rice, and
praying for the future. It was not a festive Christmas,
but it was a peaceful one, and after everything that
mattered more.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Island breeze holiday fan. Too hot for Christmas spirit, palm tree,
drooping turkey, sweating under tropical humidity, You need island breeze
holiday fan, the only fan capable of creating winter vibes
on a tropical island. Settings include North Pole k mild snowstorm,
aggressive January, and Nebraska Island breeze holiday fan. Because even
(09:43):
Santa hates humidity.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Refugee camps DP camps and the displaced millions.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
One of the most overlooked parts of Christmas nineteen forty
five was that millions of people around the world were
still displaced, living in refuse camps, displaced persons camps, temporary housing,
or with relatives. And yet even there, Christmas found a
way in. In DP camps across Europe filled with Holocaust
(10:12):
survivors POW's former forced laborers aid workers organized holiday events.
In one camp in Bavaria, children decorated a tree with
cut up pieces of their ration wrappers. One little girl,
who had lost her entire family in the war, hung
a single white ribbon on the tree. When asked why,
she said, so Christmas will know where to find me.
(10:36):
In a camp in Austria, a US army band played
carols for hundreds of displaced families. One survivor later said
it was the first time she had heard music that
wasn't filled with fear. These were not festive Christmases, They
were hopeful ones, and sometimes hope is stronger than celebration.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
The world breathes out.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Christmas nine, eighteen forty five was not one story. It
was millions. It was the UK joking through rationing, Germany
singing carols and ruins, France toasting liberation with questionable wine,
Italy rebuilding joy one candle at a time, Japan navigating
unimaginable transition, Allied soldiers far from home, refugees searching for
(11:24):
light in the ashes. It was a world bruised, grieving
but alive, and somehow impossibly, Christmas still came It came
with faltering joy and broken voices, with rubble beneath its
feet and hope in its hands. It came not as
a celebration of perfection, but as proof that the human
(11:44):
spirit insists on singing, even when the roof is gone
and the windows are shattered. Thank you for joining me
on this journey across a world trying to find Christmas again.
Until next time, dear listeners, keep your history strange, keep
your hopes stubborn, and remember, even in the darkest years,
(12:06):
someone somewhere is hanging a ribbon on a tree, so
the world knows where to find them.
Welcome back, dear listeners to the Strange History Podcast, where
we travel so deeply into the past that we occasionally
need a sturdy pair of emotional hiking boots and a
flask of brandy. Tonight, we continue our journey into Christmas
nineteen forty five, but this time we leave American shores
and wander across a world trying to rediscover the meaning
(00:22):
of joy. Because while Americans were untangling victory lights and
bribing Gramma for butter ration stamps, the rest of the
world was facing a question far heavier. How do we
celebrate Christmas in a world that has been shattered? Some
nations were rebuilding, some were mourning, Some, like the UK,
were still rationing everything except oxygen and sarcasm. And yet
(00:46):
in the cold winter of nineteen forty five, something remarkable happened.
People celebrated anyway. They found tiny sparks of joy in
bombed out cities, refugee camps, military outposts, and homes without roofs.
They sang carols with cracked voices. They lit candles in
broken windows. They found hope, flickering, fragile, stubborn hope. So
(01:10):
bundle up. The world is cold. In nineteen forty five,
but its people are alight.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
The United Kingdom a Christmas on rations.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Britain's Christmas nineteen forty five was not glamorous. In fact,
it was held together with ration coupons, stiff upper lips,
and a national sense of humor so dry it could
be stored in a desert. The war was over, but
rationing was not. The UK was still cutting coupons for sugar, butter, meat, cheese, eggs, tea, yes,
(01:43):
even tea. This alone was arguably a human rights violation.
A famous London newspaper joked, Britain has won the war,
but lost the pudding. True story. A London woman wrote
in her diary that her nineteen forty five Christmas pudding
was so small it could fit inside a teacup if
one were so wasteful as to reserve a whole teacup
(02:04):
for pudding. But despite the shortages, Britain celebrated. Families decorated
bomb damaged homes with greeneries scavenged from parks, children hung
stockings over fireplaces without mantles. In some pubs, patrons shared
a single bottle of whiskey like it was the Holy Grail.
One of the most touching true stories. At Coventry Cathedral,
(02:26):
the one that had been destroyed in nineteen forty the
choir sang Christmas hymns surrounded by rubble. There was no roof,
wind blew through the aisles, and yet over one thousand
people came to hear them sing. One attendee wrote, we
sang louder than the wind. It was the first time
since the blitz that I felt Christmas might come again,
(02:47):
even in broken buildings.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
The spirit held, do you live in a world where
butter is scarce, flower is precious, and your Christmas pudding
looks like an oversight? Try ration padding, the war time
food extender that adds volume without flavor or nutrition, made
from ground disappointment air, and a whisper of optimism. Ration
(03:10):
patting because sometimes Christmas dinner needs help.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Germany Christmas in the ruins.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Germany's Christmas in nineteen forty five was unlike anything the
country had experienced before. Bombed out cities, homes turned to shells,
family scattered, millions still displaced. Yet Christmas came anyway. Churches
those still standing were packed. Some held services in basements,
others outdoors because the roof was missing, Many parishioners attended
(03:42):
wearing coats because there was no electricity or heating. Left
true story. In Cologne, residents decorated a Christmas tree in
the ruins of a building that had once been a
department store. They scavenged bits of colored paper, scraps of ribbon,
and broken glass ornaments from the rubble. One man used
(04:02):
foil from cigarette packs to create stars. A reporter wrote,
it was the most beautiful tree I had ever seen,
because it stood where nothing should have survived. On Christmas Eve,
American gis occupying Germany distributed chocolate, cigarettes, and small toys.
One young girl in Stuttgart said she had never tasted
(04:24):
real chocolate before. It had been unavailable since she was
five years old. She wrote later in life, I still
remember the soldier's face more than the chocolate. He looked
so happy to give it to us. It was a
Christmas of contradictions, sorrow and generosity, ruins and rebirth, loss
and tentative peace.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Feeling down, world destroyed. No decent chocolate you need. Goodwill
gis the nineteen forty five subscription service where American soldiers
appear out of nowhere and hand you candy canned peaches
a smile that could international hostility. Goodwill gis bringing sweetness
to the apocalypse. Since nineteen forty.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Five, France a Christmas of liberation and red wine.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
France entered Christmas nineteen forty five with a mix of
relief and celebration. Paris had been liberated for over a year,
but the nation was still recovering emotionally and physically. Still,
the French did what the French do best. They held
spectacular holiday feasts, or at least spectacular feeling feasts, because
(05:32):
even if the goose was scrawny and the vegetables were questionable,
it was served on real plates in a world no
longer under Nazi occupation. In Paris, cafes reopened with Christmas menus,
proudly advertising food items they didn't actually have yet but
felt morally confident they would acquire somehow, and the French
(05:53):
wine industry, ravaged by years of confiscation, still managed to
supply enough to ensure the country remain festive. One French
woman wrote, we drank to freedom, we drank to Christmas.
We drank because we could. True story. In the small
town of Amian, a baker baked the first Gallet des
(06:14):
rois kingcake the village had seen in six years. She
did not have enough ingredients, so she secretly substituted mashed
potatoes for half the flower. No one noticed, people declared
it magnificent. That is the power of French morale.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Italy a Christmas of rebuilding and reunion.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Italy's Christmas came in the wake of deep political upheaval,
widespread destruction, and food shortages, but Italians, being Italians, they
still found ways to make Christmas as warm and communal
as possible. Families crowded into kitchens making improvised versions of
classic dishes, panitone made from stale bread, pasta stretched impossibly thin,
(07:00):
chestnuts roasted over fires fueled by scavenged wood. In Rome,
the Vatican held a massive Christmas Eve service that drew
over twenty thousand people, many walking miles because gasoline was scarce.
Pope Pious the twelfth delivered a message of hope that
echoed across a nation trying to redefine itself. One soldier
(07:21):
returning to Florence wrote, the city was broken, but the
people were not. They lit candles in windows that had
no glass, and perhaps the most charming true story in
Naples American soldiers helped local families decorate a massive community
Christmas tree, placing US military rations beneath it as gifts.
(07:43):
Children unwrapped cans of spam like they were treasures from
the sea. They probably deserved metals for their enthusiasm alone.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Japan and the Pacific, a Christmas in transition.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
For Allied soldiers still stationed across the Pacific. Chrismus nineteen
forty five was strange, hot, and emotionally complicated. Some were
waiting to come home, some were overseeing occupation duties. Some
were still processing battles fought only months earlier, but they
celebrated in Okinawa. Gis decorated palm trees with makeshift ornaments,
(08:21):
canteen caps, mess kit lids, and string lights powered by
generators that sounded like angry lawnmowers. True story. A chaplain
in Guam wrote that Christmas Eve services were so crowded
that men stood outside in tropical rain, listening through open windows.
On ships, sailors received special Christmas dinners with turkey, fruit, cocktail,
(08:44):
and pie foods they hadn't seen since leaving home. One
sailor wrote it tasted like home, even though the ocean
was trying to kill us. The entire time, Japan itself
was in ruins, grieving, starving, and processing surrender. While Christmas
is not a traditional Japanese holiday, some families quietly celebrated
(09:05):
peace more than Christmas, lighting small lanterns, sharing rice, and
praying for the future. It was not a festive Christmas,
but it was a peaceful one, and after everything that
mattered more.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Island breeze holiday fan. Too hot for Christmas spirit, palm tree,
drooping turkey, sweating under tropical humidity, You need island breeze
holiday fan, the only fan capable of creating winter vibes
on a tropical island. Settings include North Pole k mild snowstorm,
aggressive January, and Nebraska Island breeze holiday fan. Because even
(09:43):
Santa hates humidity.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Refugee camps DP camps and the displaced millions.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
One of the most overlooked parts of Christmas nineteen forty
five was that millions of people around the world were
still displaced, living in refuse camps, displaced persons camps, temporary housing,
or with relatives. And yet even there, Christmas found a
way in. In DP camps across Europe filled with Holocaust
(10:12):
survivors POW's former forced laborers aid workers organized holiday events.
In one camp in Bavaria, children decorated a tree with
cut up pieces of their ration wrappers. One little girl,
who had lost her entire family in the war, hung
a single white ribbon on the tree. When asked why,
she said, so Christmas will know where to find me.
(10:36):
In a camp in Austria, a US army band played
carols for hundreds of displaced families. One survivor later said
it was the first time she had heard music that
wasn't filled with fear. These were not festive Christmases, They
were hopeful ones, and sometimes hope is stronger than celebration.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
The world breathes out.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Christmas nine, eighteen forty five was not one story. It
was millions. It was the UK joking through rationing, Germany
singing carols and ruins, France toasting liberation with questionable wine,
Italy rebuilding joy one candle at a time, Japan navigating
unimaginable transition, Allied soldiers far from home, refugees searching for
(11:24):
light in the ashes. It was a world bruised, grieving
but alive, and somehow impossibly, Christmas still came It came
with faltering joy and broken voices, with rubble beneath its
feet and hope in its hands. It came not as
a celebration of perfection, but as proof that the human
(11:44):
spirit insists on singing, even when the roof is gone
and the windows are shattered. Thank you for joining me
on this journey across a world trying to find Christmas again.
Until next time, dear listeners, keep your history strange, keep
your hopes stubborn, and remember, even in the darkest years,
(12:06):
someone somewhere is hanging a ribbon on a tree, so
the world knows where to find them.
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