Yuletide Celebration

Volkish readers should attempt a modified version of this celebration during Yuletide.

Yuletide is celebrated in the evening, not in the morning. Yuletide is the feast of newborn light and renewing life. Therefore, it is the feast of the commemoration of the birth of the child, of thanks to the mother, and of good wishes for growth of the whole Folk. The reason for our giving presents at Yuletide is to show respect to other members of our Folk for the part they play in its continued existence. 

In Germany, Christmas is therefore a feast for the closer and wider family, which tends to exclude outsiders but for which a long-lost son or one living far away is always welcome. The presents, which are only valuable if the giver has himself worked on them, are secretly put under the Tree by the father. When everything is ready the family gathers in the adjoining room for the evening meal. The table should be festive and laid with care. This is the start of the Yuletide celebration. The meal is substantial and the main course should consist of carp, goose, boar, or hare. These animals have traditionally been eaten at the Yuletide meal and should never be replaced by other food. The meal should begin with a short speech by the father and end with a reference to the coming delights.

Not only the presents but the whole celebration should be full of surprises for all the members of the family. The father lights the candle in the Jul Earthenware Candlestick, from which the tree candles get their light. On the Tree should be thirteen (twelve months plus the thirteenth renewing) or twenty-seven (three lunar weeks with nine days) candles. He leaves three candles, which are close together, unlit. He now calls the wife, the children, and any other family members into the room using a little bell. As they admire the Tree the father lights the last three candles and says:  

This light should burn for our ancestors who are with us tonight.

This light should burn for my fallen comrades from the war.

This light should burn for our millions of German brothers all over the world who are celebrating Yuletide with us. 

After this all should sing the song ‘O Christmas Tree How Green Are Your Branches’, without which the Yuletide celebration is unthinkable, and open their presents. 

The evening should be quiet and sincere. At the appointed time the whole family will listen to the address to the Yuletide address of the Deputy of our Leader and will feel through it a bond reaching out from the close family to encompass the whole Folk of German brothers. During the evening, the family photographs should be shown, old family stories told, and thoughts about the success of research into the family history exchanged. 

-excerpted from The SS Family: The Yearly Celebrations and Life in the SS Family (2015)