They came for the Communists, Socialists, Trades Unionists, Jews…
Martin Niemoller was a decorated U-boat captain in the First World War but subsequently
became a minister of religion and a relatively high profile opponent of the Nazis as they increasingly
gained firm hold of the reins to power in Germany.
Niemoeller was active as a leader in a so-called Pastors' Emergency League and in a Synod that denounced
the abuses of the dictatorship in the famous "Six Articles of Barmen." Such activities finally led to his arrest on
1 July 1937. When the subsequent court appearance was followed by his release with only a modest 'slap on the wrist'
Hitler personally ordered his incarceration with the result that Niemoeller remained in concentration camp, including long periods
of solitary confinement, until the end of the war.
Niemoller occasionally traveled internationally after the war
and delivered many speeches and sermons in which he
confessed of his own blindness and inaction in earlier years when the Nazi regime rounded up the
communists, socialists, trade unionists, and, finally, the Jews.
In this regard he framed a now famous quotation that is often presented in a corrupted form. Niemoller
himself however lived through the events associated with the Nazi seizure of absolute power and knew
which groups had been persecuted by the Nazis and also knew the order in which those groups had come particularly
under persecution.
First they came for the
communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was
not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak
out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they
came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak
out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then
they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Since preparing the above quotation we have received an e-mail from one of our German visitors who
took the trouble to visit the Martin Niemoeller Foundation web site (www.martin-niemoeller-stiftung.de) to track
down their version of the famous quotation. He has provided the following translation of the quotation available at
the Martin Niemoeller Foundation web site:-
When the Nazis came for the communists, I said nothing; I was, of course, no communist.
When they locked up the Social Democrats, I said nothing; I was, of course, no Social Democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists, I said nothing; I was, of course, no trade unionist.
When they came for me, there
was no one left who could protest.
Our German visitor's e-mail, sent in the hope of establishing greater precision, further
suggests that although Niemoller may have himself translated or restated the saying later with some mention of
the Jews his original formulation was perhaps aimed at political and not social organizations.
We hope to investigate this matter futher and to present a definitive version in the future.
The following version of Martin Niemoller's famous quotation or poem actually comes from the text
of an Address he gave to the United States Congress in 1968 and which appears in the Congressional Record,
October 14, 1968, page 31636.
"When Hitler attacked the Jews
I was not a Jew,
therefore I was not concerned.
And when Hitler attacked the Catholics,
I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned.
And when
Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists,
I was not a member of
the unions and I was not concerned.
Then Hitler attacked me and the
Protestant church --
and there was nobody left to be concerned."
