The Quote

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

—Martin Niemöller

 

This quote is attributed to the prominent German pastor Martin Niemöller.

After World War II, Niemöller openly spoke about his own early complicity in Nazism and his eventual change of heart. His powerful words about guilt and responsibility still resonate today.

Niemöller’s Quote at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The quote “First they came for…” has been part of the permanent exhibition at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) since its opening in 1993. Initially, Niemöller’s words were part of a text panel within the main exhibit. Today, they are prominently featured at the end of the USHMM’s permanent exhibition. They are the final words read by Museum visitors and serve as an indictment of passivity and indifference during the Holocaust. They are also a powerful reminder about the consequences of individual action and inaction more broadly.

Origins of the Quote

In postwar Germany, Martin Niemöller was well-known for his opposition to the Nazi regime and as a former victim of Nazi persecution. In 1946, he traveled on a lecture tour in the western zones of Allied-occupied Germany. Niemöller publicly confessed his inaction and indifference to the fate of many of the Nazis’ victims. He used phrases such as “I did not speak out…” or “we preferred to keep quiet.” He explained that in the first years of the Nazi regime he had remained silent as the Nazis persecuted other Germans. Many of the Nazi regime’s earliest victims were members of leftist political movements, which Niemöller (who was a conservative) vehemently opposed.  

But, Nazi persecution quickly expanded to encompass a variety of other people and groups, including Niemöller himself. Most Germans did not object to Nazi actions. Rather, they either supported the regime or ignored the plight of their fellow citizens.

Niemöller believed that after the war many Germans were reluctant to confront their complicity with Nazism. In his lectures, he bemoaned that individual Germans failed to accept responsibility for Nazism, German atrocities in German-occupied countries, and the Holocaust. According to him, individual Germans were passing the blame onto their neighbors, superiors, or Nazi organizations like the Gestapo.

Thus Niemöller considered his fellow Germans as the primary audience for his confession. He wanted his words to serve as a model of how to accept personal responsibility for complicity in the Nazi regime.