Q: Then They Came For Me – Professor Matthew Hockenos – INTRO:

A:

• Studied Modern German History

• Specifically regarding Protestant Church

• Came across Dietrich Bonhoeffer

• Nazi Era Church

• Led to Martin Niemoller

Q: What were the Early Influences that shaped Martin Niemoller?

A: 

• Born into family dedicated to Nationalism

• Conservative Prussian Protestant

• Father a pastor

• Studies in Naval Academy

• Serves as U-Boat Commander in WWI

• Went too divinity school

• Becomes a Lutheran Pastor

• Disillusioned by Weimar Republic

• Supports Free Corps & Nazis

Q: Why did Niemoller change from Nazi supporter to opponent?

A:

• Niemoller ecstatic at Hitler’s rise in 1933

• Believed Nazis would be conservative

• Hitler supports German Christian Movement

• Aryan Racial Christianity versus traditionalists

• Nazis aim to eliminate basic dogma

• Niemoller opposed these new policies

Q: What were PEL & The Confessing Church?

A:

• July 1933 Church elections

• Pastors Emergency League (PEL) set up Sept. 1993

• PEL opposed Nazi supported German Church

• Advances Scripture, Reformation Confession

• Institutes 4 part anti-Aryan Pledge

• PEL morphs into Confessing Church

Q: Did Niemoller’s defiance extend to non-Protestants?

A:

• Niemoller’s opposition was focused on Protestants

• Catholics had reached Concordat with Hitler

• Confessing Church secret memo to Hitler 1936

• Attacked Nazi anti-Semitism

• But anti-Semitism on Christians          

Q: What was Niemoller’s experience in the concentration camps?

A:

• Spoke openly from pulpit

• Critical of Nazi regime

• Arrested July 1937

• Held in Gestapo HQ, moved to Moabit Prison

• February 1938 trial; guilty of using pulpit for politics

• Himmler sends Niemoller to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

• Extremely difficult conditions 1938-1941

• Moved to Dachau in July 1941

Q: What was Niemoller’s initial postwar mission?

A:

• Taken  by SS to Italy

• Liberated by Americans

• Still had Nationalistic orientation

• Critical reception to 1945 interview

• Pressure to confess on behalf of Church

• Experiences shift / turnaround

• Confesses guilt & suffering caused by Germany

• Helps author the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt

Q: Did Niemoller engage in post-war Christin-Jewish reconciliation?

A:

• 1946 Speaking tour in Germany

• Famous “They Came for Me” Confession

• Spent 5 months on USA speaking tour

• Little contact with USA Jewish leaders

• Participated in Berlin Conference 1948 – Leo Baeck

• 1950 Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany

•  “Statement on its Guilt against Israel”

Q: Why wasn’t Niemoller a post-war German political leader?

A:

• Thousands of supporters during concentration camp years

• Considered by many as possible post-war political leader

• 1945 Naples “nationalistic” interview decreased popularity

• Active Church leader

• Importance of Church role in society

• Faith based activism

Q: Why did Niemoller become an anti-war pacifist?

A:

• 1948-1954  Foreign Minister of Protestant Church

• Connects with Fellowship of Reconciliation

• Impacted by Korean War

• Fear of conflict between East and West Germany

• Critic of Vietnam War

• Evolves to progressive, anti-nuke pacifist

Q: Why study the life of Martin Niemoller?

A:

• Niemoller’s famous confession resonates

• Prominent place in USA Holocaust Museum

• Danger of indifference to oppressed

• Need to speak out against injustice, anti-Semitism

• Ability to reflect and change

• Power to evolve politically and morally