When the Nazis Came for the Communists mini essay. “When they came for the communists, I was silent, because I am not a communist…: oboguev — LiveJournal. Who was the good pastor

It's not uncommon to see this expression. "When they came for the communists, I was silent. I was not a communist ...", sometimes without attribution, which lists groups of people who are united by a certain sign (polit. views / belonging to the imyarek party / religious and ethnic sign). The order of enumeration, as well as groups of people, varies. What exactly did the priest of the Evangelical Church Martin Niemöller say?
But first, a little about him:
Martin Niemoeller ( Martin Niemoller) (there are also the following variants of his surname in Russian : Niemeller, Niemeller) born January 14, 1892 in Lipstadt ( Lippstadt) in the family of the Lutheran priest Heinrich Niemoller ( Heinrich Niemoller). He went from an officer on the submarines Thüringen" and "Vulkan" to a priest in the parish of the Evangelical Church in the Berlin district of Dahlem. Martin Niemöller sympathized with the National Socialists in the 1920s. He did not welcome the Weimar Republic - but he welcomed the introduction of the Fuhrer state in 1933. However, he was disgusted by the mixing of watered. expressions and creeds. He is one of the founders in May 1933 of the Young Reformers Movement ( Jungreformatorische Bewegung), which united evangelical priests and theologians who opposed the Union of German Christians ( Deutschen Christen (DC)). Mitteilungsblatt der Deutschen Christen (Notice to German Christians, Weimar, 1937)

The "young reformers" were, however, quite loyal to Hitler and sometimes declared this, but they pointed out that the Church should be independent even from the Führer. Then there was the foundation of the so-called Confessing Church (Bekennenden Kirche), which was also initiated by Martin Niemöller. The theological foundation of this church was adopted on May 31, 1934 in the city of Barmen (now Wuppertal) by the Extraordinary Synod of Lutheran Priests "Barmen Declaration", six articles of which contain theological arguments in defense of the spiritual freedom of Christians and affirm the dependence of the church solely on God. ( full text in German). In particular, it stated:
“We reject the false doctrine that the state supposedly must and can, going beyond its specific task, become the only and total order human life and thus take on the tasks of the Church as well. We reject the false doctrine that the Church supposedly must and can, going beyond the framework of her specific task, appropriate to herself the appearance and tasks and dignity of the state and thereby herself become an organ of the state.
Wir verwerfen die falsche Lehre, als solle und könne der Staat über seinen besonderen Auftrag hinaus die einzige und totale Ordnung menschlichen Lebens werden und also auch die Bestimmung der Kirche erfüllen. Wir verwerfen die falsche Lehre, als solle und könne sich die Kirche über ihren besonderen Auftrag hinaus staatliche Art, staatliche Aufgaben und staatliche Würde aneignen und damit selbst zu einem Organ des Staates werden.

In January 1934, Niemoller met with Hitler along with other religious leaders of the Churches. Since Niemoller, for religious reasons, does not accept even then the use of the "Aryan paragraphs" ( Arierparagraphen) on the priests, he is fired, he is forbidden to speak, but he does not obey the order and continues to read sermons. Then, in 1935, Niemoller's arrests followed along with several hundred other priests, his temporary release, and arrests again. In 1937, Niemoller was arrested and in 1938 became a prisoner of the KZ Sachsenhausen. From 1941 to 1945 he was a prisoner of the KZ Dachau
A brief overview of the biography until 1937 in the period of supplement

Description of events, again brief, that took place in 1933.

January 4, 1933- an agreement between Hitler and Franz von Papen (Franz von Papen) in the house of a banker about the formation of a government.
January 30, 1933 President Hindenburg (Hindenburg) appointed Hitler chancellor.
February 15, 1933 NSDAP propaganda march in Leipzig.
February 19, 1933 in Leipzig, trade unions demonstrate with communists and social democrats against the government of Hitler.
February 22, 1933 as a reaction to the demonstration, all activities by the Communist Party are prohibited in it.
February 23, 1933 Assassinated Social Democrat Walter Heinze (Walter Heinze) attack aircraft from the NSDAP.
February 23 1933 In Berlin, the police and storm troopers finally capture the Head Building of the Communist Party
Several thousand communist functionaries were taken by storm troopers under arrest or killed or forced to flee abroad within a few weeks throughout Germany.
February 27, 1933 the Reichstag is on fire. It captures left-wing anarchist Marinus van der Lubbe (Marinus van der Lubbe), back in 1931, who left the ranks of the Communist Party of Holland. Back on the night of the Goering fire Hermann Goring) as a Prussian acting. Minister of the Interior declares an attempted uprising by the Communists.
February 28, 1933 The Decree of the Reich President on the Protection of the People and the State is issued. As a rationale for the exit of the Precept serves, where it was said about the possibility of applying military force in case of violation of security and order in the country.
The Precept speaks of protection from the violent actions of the communists. Paragraph 1 of the Order allows: restriction of personal freedom of persons, restriction of freedom of expression. Infringement of the right of privacy of correspondence is allowed, etc.

Early 1970s Niemoller participates in a demonstration in Bonn against the Vietnam War.
V 1980-83 Niemoller is a co-initiator of the Krefeld Appeal (Krefelder Appell), in which they call on the government of the Federal Republic of Germany to demand unilateral disarmament in NATO, as well as the renunciation of the deployment of Pershing 2 missiles in Central Europe and cruise missiles (die Zustimmung zur Stationierung von Pershing-II-Raketen und Marschflugkörpern in Mitteleuropa zuruckzuziehen;). It also called for preventing Central Europe from becoming a US nuclear platform. ( eine Aufrüstung Mitteleuropas zur nuklearen Waffenplattform der USA nicht zulässt)

If you ask an ordinary Ukrainian layman if there is fascism in Ukraine, most likely, after a short pause, the answer will follow: “there is no fascism in Ukraine.” Today, it is possible not to recognize the obvious both because of a certain political narrow-mindedness, and because of fears for one's own safety. Indeed, it is much easier to say and do what society expects from you, even if this society is afflicted with misanthropic ideas. Say what they want to hear from you, do not stick out, do not have your own point of view that differs from the generally accepted one, and no one will touch you. Approximately this logic is guided by an ordinary layman when it comes to the issue of Ukrainian fascism, which has become for many, albeit an annoying, but everyday reality. Such is the classic of the totalitarian genre.

Meanwhile, fascism in Ukraine is growing stronger and spreading like an epidemic. Thus, the recently formed "National Squads", and in fact the Nazi assault squads, began to work on the "re-education" of dissidents. The communists were attacked.

On February 8, neo-Nazi "teams" attacked the leader of the communist organization "Anti-Fascist Committee of Ukraine" Alexander Kononovich and his brother, Mikhail Kononovich. The video of the beating was posted on his page by the Nazi punisher and "veteran" of the ATO - Sergei Filimonov. According to the Nazi, the brothers were beaten for distributing leaflets calling on them to resist the Bandera occupation. The video shows how a crowd of “vigilantes” attacks two young people, knocks them to the ground, beats them, demanding an apology “to the people of Ukraine”. In the comments under the video, you can see the approval of the actions of the attackers.

By the way, this is far from the first act of violence by vigilantes on the streets of the capital. Two days earlier, a resident of Sevastopol, who was released after 4 months of imprisonment, was severely beaten, who in October last year destroyed a memorial plate in the alley of the “Heavenly Hundred” in Kiev. At the exit from the detention center, neo-Nazis attacked the man, beat him and posted a photo of the bloody victim on the social network. The photo garnered dozens of approving comments and likes from fascist followers.

Today in Ukraine, any ideology is prohibited, except for the nationalist one. From the very beginning of the Bandera bacchanalia on the Maidan, the radicals declared that if they came to power, they would arrange terror not only against Russian and Russian-speaking citizens, but also against leftist forces. Not a single rally, not a single procession of nationalists could do without the slogans "Muscovites to knives" and "Communist to Gilyaks." And if then it was a relatively small bunch of raging freaks with torches and portraits of Bandera, today not just half-drunk rags, but a well-organized and encouraged by the state bandit formation has come to the streets of the capital to create lynching.

Not only leftists, communists and anti-fascists are being persecuted. The temples of the canonical UOC-MP are being attacked by fascist gangs. So, a week ago, on February 3, nationalists attempted to seize the Church of the Tithes, located on the territory of the “national museum” in Kiev. And only thanks to the fact that hundreds of believers came to his defense, the pogrom was stopped. On the same day, the Nazis smashed the editorial office of the Union of Orthodox Journalists website. Also on the night of February 3, they set fire to the Church of the Holy Prince Vladimir of the UOC-MP in Lvov. All these monstrous atrocities in the style of terrorist ISIS occur with the connivance of the authorities, the non-interference of law enforcement agencies, and the silence of the media.

Apparently, the attack on the Kononovich brothers is only the beginning. Feeling impunity, the nationalist scum declares that it will continue to “educate” dissident citizens. The newly-appeared assault squads promise to make Kiev a nightmare, to fight against “domestic separatism”, “scoop” and “Ukrainian phobia”, in fact, with everyone who has retained common sense, has not succumbed to Bandera propaganda and has not changed his beliefs in favor of official policy.

And for those who still believe that "there is no fascism in Ukraine" I would like to remind famous quote German Pastor Martin Nemeller:

“When they came for the communists, I was silent - I was not a communist.
When they came for the Social Democrats, I was silent - I was not a Social Democrat.
When they came for the trade union activists, I was silent - I was not a union member.
When they came for me, there was no one to intercede for me.”

“When they came for the communists, I was silent, because I am not a communist. When they came for the Catholics, I was silent, because I am not a Catholic. When they came for the Jews, I was silent, because I am not a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one to protect me.”

[...] let me remind you that pastor Martin Niemeller, the author of these words, was an ardent nationalist [...] Member of the NSDAP, by the way. Despite the fact that since 1937 he had been in prisons and camps, his hatred for the Soviet Union did not go away - he wrote petitions to be sent to the front ... In 1946, this servile pastor quickly changed his mind and noisily admitted the guilt of Germany and THE COLLECTIVE GUILT of the Germans for the actions of the Nazis. In 1961-68 he was already president of the World Council of Churches, an ecumenical organization that served the interests of the Protestant States.

"In Germany they first came for the communists, but I didn't say anything because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, but I didn't say anything because I wasn't Jewish. Then they came for the union members, but I wasn't a union member. and did not say anything. Then they came for the Catholics, but I, being a Protestant, did not say anything. And when they came for me, there was no one to intercede for me."

And on this occasion, completely different words are remembered.

Where are the screamers and mourners now?
Noiseless and perished from a young age ...
And the silent ones became bosses,
Because silence is golden.

“We are talking about the “eternal Jew” and in our imagination the image of a restless page that has no home emerges ... We see a highly gifted people developing ideas for the good of the whole world, but all this is poisoned and brings them only contempt and hatred, because time from time to time the world notices the deceit and avenges it in its own way." He said this in 1937. from the pulpit of the church, one of the most illustrious opponents of Nazism, the Protestant pastor Niemoller. Immediately, without naming them, he stigmatizes the Nazis, comparing them ... with the Jews: the Jews are responsible not only "for the blood of Jesus and the blood of his messengers," but also "for the blood of all the ruined righteous who confirmed the holy will of G-d against the tyrannical the will of man."
It turns out that the Jews are worse than the Nazis: they, the bearers of eternal evil, in alliance with the devil, killed myriads.

A submarine captain during the First World War, then a pastor, he supports Hitler, but not wanting to renounce the Christian religion, which the Nazis wanted to replace with pagan myths, becomes his opponent. From the camp, a patriotic pastor writes to Hitler, asking to go to the front. Released by the Americans, he takes part in the writing of "Stuttgarter Schuldbekkentnis," which raises the issue of German collective guilt. As they say, - sorry for the bird ... After that - he becomes a pacifist and president of the World Council of Churches, who collaborated with the USSR (1961-68). advocates reconciliation with Eastern Europe, goes to Moscow in 1952. and North Vietnam in 1967. Laureate of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1967.
Speaking in March 1946. in Zurich, Niemöller said: "Christianity has a greater responsibility to God than the Nazis, the SS and the Gestapo. We had to recognize Jesus in a suffering and persecuted brother, despite the fact that he was a communist or a Jew..."
It's flattering to read this "despite"!

Some German theologians wanted to get rid of the Jews in a peaceful way, others preferred total extermination. [...] Niemoller did not stand aside, silently watching what was happening, but zealously, with Christian zeal, a follower of Martin Luther, who demanded to burn Jews, prepared this Catastrophe, kindling with his sermons an all-devouring fire in the Gehenna of the German spirit, infused with beer, Wagner's music and the theory of the "Aryan race."

Today, Niemoller's words are being recast in their own way by Muslims and their left-wing defenders. "Niemöller is a model of a staunch opponent of the Nazis, who was also a staunch anti-Semite," concludes D. J. Goldhagen. References to Niemoller are contrary to historical justice and Jewish dignity. They insult the memory of 6 million people who bequeathed to us not to forget and not to forgive.

Do you know Martin Niemöller? Maybe you don’t know ... Martin Friedrich Gustav Emil Niemöller (German: Martin Friedrich Gustav Emil Niemöller; 1892 - 1984) - Protestant theologian, pastor of the Protestant Evangelical Church, one of the most famous opponents of Nazism in Germany, president of the World Council of Churches (from Wiki- quote book).

In November 1945 Niemoller visited the former concentration camp Dachau.where he was a prisoner from 1941 to April 1945. An entry in his diary shows that this visit was the impetus for the future famous quote. There are several versions of this quote that differ slightly from each other. Most likely, it was first uttered in1946. It was first published in printed form in 1955(from Wikipedia).

And here is the quote:
When the Nazis came for the communists
I remained silent.
I was not a communist.

When they imprisoned the Social Democrats,
I said nothing.
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the union members
I didn't protest.
I was not a union member.

When they came for the Jews
I didn't get angry.
I was not Jewish.

When they came for me
there was no one left to stand up for me.

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie die Juden Holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestierte.

There are many allusions to this statement. I will add to this list and I (if no one is ahead of me - it really asks).

When they came for the civil servants,
I remained silent.
I was not a government employee.

When they imprisoned ordinary workers and employees,
I said nothing.
I was not a simple worker and employee.

So far, there is nothing to add to the quote, because behind the “members of trade unions” from the quote, and from reality - behind the military, - until they come, they are only preparing the ground. And I must say that it is prepared very carefully. This video explains exactly how:

If anyone does not understand, we are talking about pension reform. It all started with the fact that the retirement age was raised for civil servants - from January 1, 2017 (respectively,The Federal Law on this was adopted on May 23, 2016 ) :

The age bar is raised for civil servants every year by six months. Thus, male civil servants will be able to claim an insurance pension from the age of 65 by 2027, and female officials will receive an insurance pension from the age of 63 by 2032.

In this regard, the minimum length of service in the civil service, which gives the right to a seniority pension, is also increased from 15 to 20 years.

The norms established by the adopted law apply to persons who hold both federal and regional government positions, as well as municipal employees.

They want to do better with the rest of the people - every year they are going to increase the retirement age by one year (starting from 2019). It turns out that every second year until 2028 new pensioners will not appear, and for women - until 2034 (with the exception of civil servants, for whom the step of changing the retirement age is half a year).

For the military, it seems, there should not have been any changes in the retirement age, as the reformers promised (the same Dmitry Medvedev). An, no. Planned - and more planned (see video above).

Most likely, the goal of the reformers is to generally get away from the social obligations of the state, despite the fact that they are proclaimed by the 39th article of the Constitution of the Russian Federation:

Article 39

1. Everyone is guaranteed social security in old age, in case of illness, disability, loss of a breadwinner, for the upbringing of children and in other cases established by law.

2. State pensions and social benefits are established by law.

3. Voluntary social insurance, creation of additional forms of social security and charity are encouraged.

If this happens, it will be a complete rejection of all the conquests that our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers made in Russia socialist revolution. After all, before the revolution, in principle, there was no free healthcare and education, social security for old age and illness ... Well, again, soon there will not be. If only the people would keep silent!

Citizens of Russia! The welfare state is in danger! signAppeal to the president:

“We ask you to urgently take measures that mark the beginning of a new, anti-liberal, social-conservative course:

1. Categorically reject the pension reform.

2. To dismiss the government that dared to put forward such a predatory and insulting reform.

3. Return the state policy of the country to the principles of the social state defined by the Constitution: reverse the policy of commercialization of health care and education systems, which makes quality medical care and education practically inaccessible to the majority of citizens of the country.

4. Show the people a fundamentally new socially conservative strategy before the end of 2018.

5. Create not just a new government, but a government of people's trust, that is, a socially conservative government that is fundamentally different from all other post-Soviet governments” .

Otherwise, there will be no one left to stand up for you.

Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemeller was born on January 14, 1892 in Lipstadt, Germany. He was a famous German pastor who adhered to religious views Protestantism. In addition, he actively promoted anti-fascist ideas during the Second World War and advocated for peace during the Cold War.

Beginning of religious activity

Martin Niemeller was trained as a naval officer and commanded a submarine during the First World War. After the war, he commanded a battalion in the Ruhr area. Martin begins to study theology in the period from 1919 to 1923.

At the beginning of his religious activity, he supported the anti-Semitic and anti-communist policies of the nationalists. However, already in 1933, pastor Martin Niemeller opposed the ideas of the nationalists, which is associated with the rise of Hitler to power and his totalitarian policy of homogenization, according to which it was necessary to exclude employees of Jewish roots from all Protestant churches. Because of the imposition of this "Aryan paragraph", Martin, together with his friend Dietrich Bonhoeffer, creates a religious movement that strongly opposed the nationalization of German churches.

Arrest and concentration camp

For his opposition to Nazi control of German religious institutions, Martin Niemeller was arrested on July 1, 1937. Held on March 2, 1938, the tribunal convicted him of anti-state actions and sentenced him to 7 months in prison and a fine of 2,000 German marks.

Since Martin was detained for 8 months, which exceeded the period of his conviction, he was immediately released after the trial. However, as soon as the pastor left the courtroom, he was immediately arrested again by the Gestapo organization, subordinate to Heinrich Himmler. This new arrest was connected, most likely, with the fact that he considered the punishment for Martin too favorable. As a result, Martin Niemeller was imprisoned in Dachau from 1938 to 1945.

Article by Lev Stein

Lev Stein, Martin Niemeller's prison companion who had been released from the Sachsenhausen camp and immigrated to America, wrote an article about his cellmate in 1942. In the article, the author recounts Martin's quotes that followed up on his question about why he initially supported the Nazi party. What did Martin Niemeller say to this question? He replied that he himself often asks himself this question and every time he does it, he regrets his act.

He also talks about Hitler's betrayal. The fact is that Martin had an audience with Hitler in 1932, where the pastor acted as an official representative from Protestant Church. Hitler swore to him to protect the rights of the church and not to issue anti-church laws. In addition, the people's leader promised not to allow pogroms against Jews in Germany, but only to impose restrictions on the rights of this people, for example, take away seats in the German government, and so on.

The article also says that Martin Niemeller was dissatisfied with the popularization of atheist views in the pre-war period, which supported the parties of the Social Democrats and Communists. That is why Niemeller had high hopes for the promises that Hitler gave him.

Post-World War II activities and credits

After his release in 1945, Martin Niemeller joined the ranks of the peace movement, among whose members he remained until the end of his days. In 1961 he was appointed president of the World Council of Churches. During the Vietnam War, Martin played an important role advocating for its end.

Martin was instrumental in validating the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, which was signed by German Protestant leaders. This declaration acknowledges that the church did not do everything possible to eliminate the threat of Nazism even in the initial stages of its formation.

cold war between the USSR and the USA in the second half of the 20th century kept the whole world in suspense and fear. At this time, Martin Niemeller distinguished himself by his activity for maintaining peace in Europe.

After the Japanese nuclear attack in 1945, Martin called US President Harry Truman "the world's worst assassin since Hitler." Strong indignation in the United States was also caused by Martin's meeting with the president. North Vietnam Ho Chi Minh in the city of Hanoi at the height of the war in this country.

In 1982, when the religious leader turned 90, he said that he began his political career as a hardline conservative and was now an active revolutionary, and then added that if he lived to be 100 years old, he might become an anarchist.

Disputes about the famous poem

Beginning in the 1980s, Martin Niemeller became well known as the author of the poem When the Nazis Came for the Communists. The poem tells about the consequences of a tyranny that no one opposed at the time of its formation. A feature of this poem is that many of its exact words and phrases are disputed, since it was mostly written down from Martin's speech. Its author himself says that there is no question of any poem, it is just a sermon that was delivered during Holy Week in 1946 in the city of Kaiserslautern.

It is believed that the idea of ​​writing his poem came to Martin after he visited the Dachau concentration camp after the war. The poem was first published in print in 1955. Note that the German poet Bertolt Brecht, and not Martin Niemeller, is often mistakenly called the author of this poem.

"When they came..."

We give below the most accurate translation from German language poem "When the Nazis Came for the Communists".

When the Nazis came to take the communists away, I was silent because I was not a communist.

When the Social Democrats were imprisoned, I was silent, because I was not a Social Democrat.

When they came and started looking for trade union activists, I did not protest because I was not a trade union activist.

When they came to take the Jews away, I didn't protest because I wasn't Jewish.

When they came for me, there was no one left to protest.

The words of the poem clearly reflect the mood that reigned in the minds of many people during the formation of the fascist regime in Germany.