Disclaimer: I do not own the Hogan's Heroes TV show or the New York Sun's "Is There a Santa Claus?" 1897 editorial. Special thanks to LJGroundwater's How the Gestapo Stole Christmas for inspiring this small peace. And I do mean "peace," not "piece." ;-D
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"COLONEL, some of the guys say there is no Santa Claus. Kinch says, 'If the Colonel says Santa exists, he exists.' Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?"
"CARTER, the guys are wrong. They have been affected by the despair of a desolate war. They do not believe unless they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Carter, whether they be Colonels' or Corporals', are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
"Yes, CARTER, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and sacrifice and brotherhood exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no CARTERS. There would be no Carter-like faith then, no innocence, no magic to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in Red Cross packages and letters. The eternal fortitude with which we defy our prison-world would be extinguished.
"Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in the Traveler's Aide Society! Hochstetter might get his men to raid our Rec Hall on Christmas Eve, but what would that prove? Just because we can't see the presents and decorations does not mean the spirit with which we created Christmas has disappeared. Nobody sees Santa Claus, either, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither Corporals nor Colonels can see. Did you ever see the Germans and the British celebrating Christmas together across the campfire? Of course not, but that's no proof the Christmas Truce never happened. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
"You may tear apart the coffeepot and see what makes it work inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest nation, nor even the united strength of all the strongest nations that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, imagination, affirmation, brotherhood and devotion can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, CARTER, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
"No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Carter, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of all."
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A/N: Instead of the WWI Christmas Truce, I originally wrote: "Did Schultz ever see us dancing around him in the camp?" as a spoof on Schultz's "I see nothing!" but somehow the earlier war's Christmas miracle seemed more in keeping with the sentiment of the story. What do you think?
I also referenced LJGroundwater's Christmas story in the fourth paragraph. I highly recommend you go and read it if you haven't already.