“There is nothing to buy in the shops for the children”. “There is no food. It is a rotten Christmas”. The war has lasted too long but it will finish early next year, “Certainly”. “The German army is pushing a bit now, but for how long?” It’s no good. The German people, civilians and guards alike, are not very optimistic this Christmas despite the morale raising counter-attack towards Liege.
We ourselves are not in the best of spirits either, for some weeks now we have been out of Red Cross food parcels and to exist and work on the German ration is hardship enough. Although many of us realise a large and powerful nation like Germany will not go under without a last desperate effort, a large number of the chaps are already considering the German push as a major defeat for the Allies. The atmosphere in the billet has been considerably relieved by a last minute arrival of 2/3 of a Canadian Red Cross parcel per man. We shall have a Christmas after all. Two thirds of a Canadian food parcel consists of 6lbs approximately of food but by the judicious use of coffee and chocolate one can very considerably augment one’s bread ration by barter with the Germans. We have decorated our rooms with coloured crepe paper and each room has its Christmas tree. Room 1 is a very fine effort of ingenuity and industry mainly of a certain Welshman “Taffy” John. They have a six foot tree fully decorated and with coloured candles and an electric Happy Xmas sign. The effect is first class.
At midday Christmas Day we had an air raid warning. If it was good enough for the Allied Air Forces it was good enough for us to add the old tag “Shower ein down Toffs”. Well Christmas is Christmas and why should Jerry go without his Christmas present.
The Schwere Lager at Magdeburg is even more inhuman still. Towards the end of 1944 the penalty for consorting with a German woman was 6 weeks on 200 grams of bread and water per day. For taking (trapping or killing) a hare the penalty was 6 months on the same diet, eleven hours work with pick and shovel and always the Gummie from the tough Nazi guards for any sign of flagging. The poor woman is also most ruthlessly dealt with, also being deported to a labour camp for upwards to 2 years and if she has the misfortune to conceive a child an abortion is performed upon her. The scarcity of eligible males makes it necessary for the German women to look to foreigners for their sexual relief and this together with the laxity of morals as compared with our standards which is fairly obvious to anyone make these “offences” fairly common. It is interesting to note that one of our own chaps went with a German woman, in exchange for a 5 ounce block of chocolate. Unluckily they were observed by two young boys who reported to the police. And within 24 hours the youth concerned was whisked from our midst to a coal mine and also was placed on a court martial. The girl also disappeared never to be seen again, at least by the prisoners.
[Here the diary ends. The War ended a few months later.]