Martin Niemöller

Also known as Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller

German theologian (1892–1984)

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Martin Niemöller was a German Protestant theologian who initially supported Nazi Germany but later became a vocal critic of the regime, eventually being imprisoned in concentration camps. He is remembered as an important voice against tyranny and authoritarianism, and his writings about the dangers of political indifference have made him an influential figure in discussions about moral responsibility and speaking out against injustice.

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Person · Open Library

Born: 1892
Died: 1984
Works: 69

Top works

Tagebuch aus der Ruinenstadt
Die politische Verantwortung des Christen im akademischen Stand
"God is my fuehrer"
Wir predigen den gekreuzigten Christus
Herr, wohin sollen wir gehen?

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Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person

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Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 7
Total plays: 9

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Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

Article

Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller ( German: [ˈmaʁtiːn ˈniːmœlɐ] ; 14 January 1892 – 6 March 1984) was a German theologian and Lutheran pastor. He opposed the Nazi regime during the late 1930s, and was sent to a concentration camp for his affiliation with the Confessing Church and his opposition to state involvement in Church. After the war, he went on tour around the world to condemn the Nazi cause and educate people about the importance of human rights. In 1946 he published the confessional piece "First They Came".

Niemöller was a national conservative and initially a supporter of Adolf Hitler and a self-identified antisemite. He became one of the founders of the Confessing Church, which opposed the Nazification of German Protestant churches. He opposed the Nazis' Aryan Paragraph. For his opposition to the Nazis' state control of the churches, Niemöller was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp and Dachau concentration camps from 1938 to 1945. He narrowly escaped execution. After his imprisonment, he expressed his deep regret about not having done enough to help victims of the Nazis. He turned away from his earlier nationalistic beliefs and was one of the initiators of the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt. From the 1950s on, he was a vocal pacifist and anti-war activist, and vice-chair of War Resisters' International from 1966 to 1972. He met with Ho Chi Minh during the Vietnam War and was a committed campaigner for nuclear disarmament.