Martin Niemoller
A well-known quote that you likely have heard comes from a Lutheran Pastor named Martin Niemoller. This quote, stated in 1946, comes from a longer response when he was asked to explain his previous anti-Jewish stance and former support for Adolf Hitler. Though he eventually regretted his vote for Hitler, Niemoller was a complex character because German nationalism continued to dominate his preaching up until his later years. The quote goes like this:
“They came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
Niemoller finally turned on Hitler after he discovered the Gestapo had tapped his phone calls and began surveilling his activity. Niemoller was finally charged with “abuse of the pulpit” and sent to a concentration camp near Berlin. He was eventually liberated by Allied troops in 1945.
The reason why Martin Niemoller is such as interesting case study is because he did not oppose Hitler for being racist or fascist, he opposed him for interfering with the church. Standing up for your own institution is not necessarily the same as standing up for people being persecuted. Niemoller remained silent and tolerant of Nazi mistreatment for far too long. We often remember his quote but overlook the devastating context that inspired it.
The question worth asking is… “what principles will we defend even when the people being harmed are not a part of our own group?” This is the question for all Christians. Jesus spends most of his time trying to teach his disciples why “those people” need to be included in our circle of care and concern. In Jesus’ day, it was the Samaritans, the widows, the poor, the crippled, and the lame, that were ostracized. In mid-20th century Europe, those targeted by the Naiti’s were Jewish people, gay men, people of color, and the disabled. In today’s context, who is being harmed?
The story of Niemoller is not merely about Hitler’s wrongdoing. His story reveals a lesson about how ordinary people can rationalize hateful movements, overlook warning signs, and discover too late the moral boundaries that we will easily cross when driven by fear. The greatest danger may not be with those who openly embraced hatred, but with ordinary people who slowly convince themselves that silence, compromise, or indifference are justifiable.
God is revealed, even in flawed individuals like Martin Niemoller. God is revealed in you and in me. God calls us to be courageous in moments such as these. When we turn toward love for one another, we can never be wrong. Once we remember that we were all orphaned, then we can cling to the promise that we all belong to God. Nothing is powerful enough to separate us from God and one another.
With hope and prayer,
Pastor Lucas
