The new organ awaited on one side of the altar, but before the Mass began the priest climbed the steps to the altar and told the congregation that he had some very bad news. The church's organist had come down with pneumonia and would not be able to play.
In the midst of the disappointed silence, one of the German prisoners spoke to a soldier who was guarding the group. The soldier whispered for a few minutes with his commanding officer, who nodded back to him and ordered the prisoner to stand up. The prisoner was unshackled and led to the organ, then sat down and played through the entire Mass while a soldier stood guard next to him.
People who remembered the scene years later insisted that they had never heard a more talented organist than that German prisoner.