Darkest Christmas: December 1942 and a World at War

· Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Walter Dixon
Audiobook
7 hr 48 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

December 1942 saw the bloodiest Christmas in the history of mankind. Men were killing each other in greater numbers than ever before. The Holocaust continued, and innocent civilians were murdered by the thousands throughout the evil Nazi empire, even as the perpetrators celebrated the birth of Christ. Millions stationed in far-off lands amid the greatest conflict in human history feared this was their last Christmas in freedom, or their last Christmas alive. At the same time as the slaughter continued unabated, throughout the world there were random acts of kindness. These gestures also straddled religious barriers and sometimes included those of non-Christian faiths. At the same time, Christmas 1942 saw the injunction of "good will to man" distorted in ugly and callous ways. In Berlin, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels spent time with his family while still buried in feverish fantasies about the Jewish world conspiracy. Christmas 1942 saw the entire range of man's conduct towards his fellow man, reflecting the extremes of behavior, good and bad, that World War II gave rise to. The way the holiday was marked around the world tells a deeper, more universal story of the human condition.

About the author

Peter Harmsen is the author of the New York Times best seller Shanghai 1937: Stalingrad on the Yangtze and Nanjing 1937: Battle for a Doomed City. He has been a foreign correspondent in East Asia for two decades. He has reported from nearly every corner of the region, including Mongolia and North Korea.

Walter Dixon is a winner of Audible's "#1 Editor's Choice and Customer Favorites" award. He has narrated more than 200 audiobooks; performed in musical theater, drama and opera productions, and professional stand-up comedy; and voiced commercials, corporate videos, animated features, and vintage radio dramas.

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Narrated by Walter Dixon