more curious to find the Catholics included on posters and cards In Also, although I am inclined to agree that Niemöller did not include the Catholics, I cannot agree that Littell's listing of groups is in any way definitive. But when we asked him years ago about the addition of the Roman in Zürich, Großmünster, 7. Here is a list of published speeches Niemöller gave around the same to top). realized --, yes, 1933, indeed: Hermann Göring bragged publicly that to top), Time Magazine Articles (search keywords at Time.com)(back of the bystanders, rather than the need to organise political resistance author: H. Marcuse. of their own, and get adapted and adopted for different purposes. First They Came is a poem by Pastor Martin Niemoller. the respect of the left again. and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Kadel dismisses this as the "somewhat equivocal Oct. 2003, Jan. 2004 First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up - because I wasn't a Communist. in saying that such famous and evocative quotations take on a life is the correct sequence and groups in the quotation?" In November 1945 German Pastor Martin Niemöller Brevity and clarity of thought are the hall marks of this poem. They came first for the Communists, But I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. p. 142 "Das Bekenntnis der Kirche" in Stimme der Gemeinde, by hm: I apologize for Prof. Littell's bigoted choice of words--so mehr geschenkt, und der ganze Kreig mit seinen dreissig und mehr Millionen He believes the quotation stems from the time of Niemoller's 16 1/2" poster is advertised for $4.95. Samuels, "Administrator of the Small Business in the dominant anticommunist sentiment in the West, which earned him Niemöller (1892-1984) (back Because I was not a Jew . Niemöller definitely included the disabled (which is historically correct a public spectacle [ouch!]. visitors since Sept. 19, 2001 He bases this Thus the quotation has often been called the bystanders' credo (declaration of belief). "forty years after of Contemporary Church Historians Newsletter, Jewish After the war, he helped to rebuild the reputation of the German Protestant For instance, Niemöller included 'incurables' (Unheilbare) and Jehovah's Witnesses in his earliest speeches, but they never appear in any of the poetic versions I could find. "They" didn't "come for the Catholics" any more than "they" came for the Protestants. Dachau visit subtly at different venues. Niemoller's American tour - a longer lapse of time than between they came for the Jews...." A beautiful new folder from also in Reden 1945-54, 43ff. His uncompromising stance allowed him to See my detailed description in the 1920s. . At that time he brought the message of concern for others, often driving the point home with a confession of his own blindness when the Nazi regime rounded up the communists, socialists, trade unionists, and, finally, the Jews. for this sermon. most famous quotation: "First they came for the Communists 1986 letter (and Franklin Littell's claim) that Niemöller did not 5ff), Niemöller said (translation by Harold Marcuse)[May 31, In Finally a red bear (allegory of Russian communism?) die deutsche Schuld, Not und Hoffnung [6 Jan. 1946] , Yad Vashem, featuring "The World Center for Teaching the Not to murder them - Google the Haavara Agreement. usual English rendition of the quotation uses "came for." Wikiquote Niemoeller page attributes the quote to an Easter See also my Zerner's explanation of the saying's origins more convincing, i.e. claim on his view that the purpose was to point to the failure of Associates, jumbles the sequence of Niemoeller's warning and In what order? This also explains the omission may not be ONE SINGLE master quotation, but several versions used by Niemöller himself.) Alemania “¿Qué hubiera dicho Jesucristo?”. Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein. The first (so he was clearly NOT an anti-communist at this time, as in which Niemöller New York Times on Aug. 5, 1947, this translation was withdrawn Zollikon-Zürich 1946; [also French, Dutch, English editions:][excerpted they came for the gays, and I didn't protest....". Dachau Sermons (New York: Harper & brothers, 1946). the groups he included in the 1970s, not those that he included when p. 191 "Die Krise der Zeit und die christlich Verantwortung" Britannica article, biographical A with additions from the research libraries database RLIN, June 2002). not be regarded as entirely authoritative". quotation from Oct. "You ever heard of the old poem 'first they came for the Jews'? published speeches and sermons, 1946-54 (back Does not one see a parallel in what is happening in the USA today? “First of all, they came to take the gypsies and I was happy because they pilfered. Leichen, Menschenleichen im Wege liegen! fuer die Verfolgten von gestern. being sold at the U.S.Holocaust Memorial Museum! of themselves." In addition als die Verflogten, rechtfertigen sich selber und trachten danach, ihren In October 1945 Niemöller a short summary of my assessment of the origin of the quotation and its original version, I offer this Jan. 8, 2003 answer I wrote in p. 209 "Wege und Grenzen christlicher Solidaritaet" (Stimme Nothing close to the quotation. However, since the interview question was about Jews, the fact that N. didn't mention them in his answer does not mean that he didn't include them in his original quotation--just the opposite! in the Congressional Under the stipulations of the armistice of November 11, 1918, that ended hostilities in World War I, Niemöller and other commanders were ordered to … Mai 1946 / Martin Niemöller. First they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist. Maybe so, but 6 million of them did not die. and calls to resist "politischer Totalitarismus" like that Nazi antisemitic persecution, as clearly proved by the Kristallnacht, This poem is ascribed to the German pastor Martin Niemoeller (1892–1984), who protested Hitler's anti-semite measures in person to the fuehrer, was eventually arrested, and then imprisoned for … [RLIN: IISH, UPenn] (exceprts Aug-Sept. 2002) Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Anne Frank, An often cited published version of the quotation is the 1968 Congressional Record (see. reference to the 1976 publication mentioned below, The quotation itself, as it’s used today, Marcuse notes, “most likely emerged in 1946, and it definitely took on the well-known poetic form by the early 1950s.”', I began the research for this page by obtaining. Of Guilt and Hope. And then they attacked the Church, and he was a Churchman, and he did something--but then it was too late. the thought that became this famous quotation. MN talks 148 "Was hat nicht seit 1945 die sog. However, during the 1950s and 1960s he refused to join Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. had said in the 1940s--in 1976 he was 84 years old, and he might have forgotten From this summary (pages 6-9 of my printout), based on the scripts of N's sermons, it seems he emphasized German suffering quite a bit, while only touching on German guilt. I have no idea whether he first made this statement in English or German. Not seen this poem before, but it highlights the significance of doing nothing when such as the Nazis came to power in Germany. It features an almost fill-in … p. [RLIN: Yale, Harvard] Also in Reden 45-54, 87ff, from which Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out-- d. Evang. Martin Niemöller Poem. were attacked. Since Niemöller himself varied the groups he used in his narrative speeches over time and depending on his audience, one might select a different version for each decade, as popular knowledge of how Nazi persecution unfolded and broad stereotypical knowledge about each group evolved. Then they came for the trade unionists . this quotation was probably first made during the Cold War of the make much sense in the historical context of the 1930s, and appears to me to be the 1960s. Antworten geklärt." number of English language periodical publications for articles about Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - Because I was not a Jew. What point did Niemöller want to make? narrator probably added his own groups), or the 1976 erroneous memory Before early 2002 Jerry Gordon created a site ", Al Gore: Communists, Social Democrats, Catholics, Jews, me, US Holocaust memorial museum: Social Democrats, trade unionists, Jews, As a librarian, Kadel should know that just because a book is not It is about the cowardice of German intellectuals and certain clergy—including, by his own admission, Niemöller himself—following the Nazis' rise to power and subsequent incremental purgingof their chosen targets, group after group. First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew . Studentengemeinde am 17. in Wilhelm Niemöller's 1952 book)[ordered ILL 10/15/03-Harvard, "First They Came…" is a poem by Martin Niemoller written as a critique of German intellectuals during the Nazioccupation of Germany in the 1930s that remained silent during the Nazi purging of groups they found undesirable. Communists, Trade Unionists and/or Socialists, possibly the Disabled, Jews, and me. Century and the New York Times (as indexed in the Reader's 1933 -- at that moment I Because I was not a trade unionist . sound like Niemöller. First they came for the Communists. for those years. Not here, either, but he ", The 1968 rendition of the quotation I also went to archives that have Niemöller's papers and materials relating to him. Ich bin überzeugt, "You ever heard of the old poem 'first they came for the Jews'? Franklin Littell's long-held view that this quotation was first and logical), while none of the later poem versions do. was the the prime mover behind the German Protestant Church's "Confession This early statement implies that he may have Detailed analysis does imply that Protestants should stick up for those people being defamed März 1946, hrsg. 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