First they came...
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"First they came…" is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.
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[edit] History
Martin Niemoller was a German pastor and theologian born in Lippstadt, Germany, in 1892. Niemoller was an anti-Communist and, for that reason, supported Hitler's rise to power – at first. But when Hitler insisted on the supremacy of the state over religion, Niemoller became disillusioned. He became the leader of a group of German clergymen opposed to Hitler. Unlike Niemoller, they gave in to the Nazis' threats. Hitler personally detested Niemoller and had him arrested and eventually confined in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. Niemoller was released in 1945 by the Allies. He continued his career in Germany as a clergyman and as a leading voice of penance and reconciliation for the German people after World War II. His poem is well-known, frequently quoted, and is a popular model for describing the dangers of political apathy, as it often begins with specific and targeted fear and hatred which soon escalates out of control.
[edit] Controversy over origin and text
The poem was published in a 1955 book by Milton Mayer, They Thought They Were Free, based on interviews he conducted in Germany several years earlier. The quotation was widely circulated by social activists in the United States in the late 1960s. The poem's exact origin is unclear, and at least one historian has incorrectly suggested that the poem arose after Niemöller's death.[1] Recent research has traced the sentiments expressed in the poem to speeches given by Niemöller in 1946.[2] Nonetheless, the poem's wording remains controversial, both in terms of its provenance, and the substance and order of the groups that are mentioned in its many versions. While Niemöller's published 1946 speeches mention Communists, the incurably ill, Jews or Jehovah's Witnesses (depending on which speech), and people in occupied countries; the 1955 text, a paraphrase by a German professor in an interview, lists: Communists, Socialists, "the schools, the press, the Jews, and so on," and ends with "the Church." However, as cited by Richard John Neuhaus in the November 2001 issue of First Things, when "asked in 1971 about the correct version of the quote, Niemöller said he was not quite sure when he had said the famous words but, if people insist upon citing them, he preferred this version:
- "In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
- And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
- And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
- And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."
[edit] Poem (1976 version)
| Original | Translation |
|---|---|
| Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Kommunist. Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten, Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten, Als sie die Juden holten, Als sie mich holten, |
When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. Then they locked up the social democrats, Then they came for the trade unionists, Then they came for the Jews, When they came for me, |
[edit] Influence on pop culture
- In 1965, Jazz musician Charles Mingus paraphrased this poem in his composition "Don't Let it Happen Here"
- In 2006, the American punk rock band Anti-Flag referenced the poem in the song "Émigré" off their album For Blood And Empire.
- In 2003, American punk rock band NOFX paraphrased the poem in the song "Re-gaining Unconsciousness" on the album War on Errorism
- In 2005, the Boston Legal character Shirley Schmidt quoted the poem in the episode "Witches of Mass Destruction".
- In 2007, Bill Prince, English songwriter, recorded "None Of My Business", based on the poem, on his album "Peace And Freedom".
- In 2007, ABC's Desperate Housewives referenced this poem in the episode "Art Isn't Easy". The character Lee McDermott (played by Kevin Rahm) recites a modified version to Felicity Huffman's character Lynette Scavo.
- In 2006 Irish Folk Singer Christy Moore recorded 'Yellow Triangle' based on this poem
[edit] References
- ^ "Martin Niemöller". Spartus Educational, by John Simkin. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERniemoller.htm. Retrieved on 2006-02-16.
- ^ Harold Marcuse (September 12, 2000). "Martin Niemöller". http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/niem.htm. Retrieved on 2006-02-16.
[edit] External links
- Niemöller, origin of famous quotation Harold Marcuse, UC Santa Barbara (2005)
- Niemöller's famous quotation as posted by Holocaust Survivors' Network
- First They Came for the Jews Franklin H. Littell
