Martin Niemöller's Famous Quotation: "First They Came For The ...

FAQ (back to top) (updated July 14, 2020)

1. What did Niemöller himself say?

• A: Niemöller told a narrative anecdote upon which the poetic version of this quotation is based many times during the years from 1946 to 1979. In those prose versions he named different groups on different occasions. However, even after exhaustive researching I could find NO printed document connected directly to Niemöller quoting or authorizing his exact words in a or the poetic version. In his many narrative (non-repeating, non-poetic) uses in speeches he published he varied some of the groups in the middle, while always starting with Communists and ending with himself--see question 2. For a detailed history of Niemöller's own uses and his own answers to questions about the quotation, please read my article "The Origin and Reception of Martin Niemöller's Quotation 'First They Came for the Communists...'" (2016) (pdf). I think you'll find it quite interesting--it addresses questions 2, 3 & 4 below, as well..

2. Which groups did he name? In what order?

• A: In the narrative versions directly traceable to Niemöller he always started with "the Communists." He always ended with "me." As far as I can tell he always included "the Jews." He usually also named Social Democrats and/or trade unionists. In his first invocation in January 1946 he also included disabled people, whom he called 'the sick, so-called incurables' [in the original German "Kranke, sogenannte Unheilbare," and in a speech shortly thereafter he used another Nazi term for that group, 'lives unworthy of life']. At that time he also named 'occupied countries' (namely those conquered by Nazi Germany). In 1946 and 1964 he included Jehovah's Witnesses ["ernste Bibelforscher"]. An April 1954 article with the earliest poetic version includes Catholics--a group some scholars have claimed he would not have included. However, Niemöller was imprisoned with many Catholic priests in Dachau, so we know he knew that they 'had been come for." Additionally, "Dear Abby" van Buren included the version with Catholics in at least seven columns from 1977 to 1993, making that a common version seen today, including on the Boston Holocaust memorial. In a 1984 column van Buren said she first encountered the quotation "nearly 30 years earlier," thus around 1955. Thus I conclude that he didn't include Catholics before 1950, but that he did at least beginning in 1954.

3. What point did Niemöller want to make?

A: The point he wanted to make was that we--bystanders--have to stand up even for people being physically persecuted, even and especially when we disagree with their views. Thus the quotation has often been called the bystanders' credo (declaration of belief). Right after the war in 1946 he wanted his German audiences to admit that they had failed morally, to accept their responsibility for the mass atrocities committed by their Nazi government in their name. Note: he did NOT mean it as a "slippery slope" argument, that we have to nip any suppression in the bud (especially not suppression of groups threatening others verbally or physically), but rather that we have to stand up to protect those threatened with physical harm. When groups threatening others with harm invoke the quotation to call for protection for themselves, they are perverting his meaning, turning it into a kind of perpetrators' credo, that is for perpetrators wanting to see themselves as victims.

4. What version of the quotation is the most accurate?

A: Given the answers to Qs 1, 2 & 3, there is some leeway in determining a version. 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. 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. A case might be made that they should be added back in in the 21st century, where awareness mainstream society's marginalization of mentally and physically challenged people needs to increase. Today Jehovah's Witnesses aren't persecuted, nor is their persecution under Nazism widely known, so most people wouldn't understand their inclusion. Still, given the history of the poetic quotation, I would suggest (in English): Communists, Trade Unionists and/or Socialists, possibly the Disabled, Jews, and me.

5. Is the poem/quotation copyrighted? Do I need permission to use it?

A: The Niemöller Foundation in Germany includes an--incorrect!--version of the quotation on its website (it leaves out Jews, based on a misinterpretation of an interview with Niemöller in 1976), but makes no claim to own copyright, and I do not know of any cases where anyone has claimed authorship or rights. Thus I think you are safe from violating copyright in using whatever version you want. Of course, if you want to refer your readers to information about the quotation's history or why you chose your version, I would appreciate a link to this webpage, or a citation of my 2016 print publication about it:

• "The Origin and Reception of Martin Niemöller's Quotation 'First they came for the communists …'", in: Michael Berenbaum et al (eds.), Remembering for the Future: Armenia, Auschwitz, and Beyond (St. Paul: Paragon House, 2016), 173-200. (18 page pdf)