Protestant Reformers & Pastors Codexery

Martin Niemöller

Lutheran pastor who opposed the Nazi regime and later championed human rights.

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Martin Niemöller

via Wikipedia: Martin Niemöller · see source

After the war, he became a vocal pacifist and anti-war activist.[1] Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller was a German theologian and pastor, but the evidence does not specify his denomination as Lutheran.[2] From 1938 until 1945, Niemöller was held in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps after being rearrested by the Gestapo.[3][4]

Last updated 2026-10-08 from the source article.

Life and work

Niemöller was born on 14 January 1892 in Lippstadt to Lutheran pastor Heinrich Niemöller and his wife Pauline.[5] In 1919, he married Else Bremer.[6] He was ordained on 29 June 1924 and became pastor of the Jesus Christus Kirche in Dahlem in 1931.[7][8] He was arrested on 1 July 1937 and tried on 2 March 1938.[4]

He was held in Sachsenhausen and Dachau until 1945.[4] During World War I, Niemöller was a U-boat commander in the German navy.[9] In 1924, 1928, and 1933, Niemöller cast his ballot for the Nazis.[10] To address the growing discrimination against Christians of Jewish background, Niemöller established the Pfarrernotbund in 1933.[11]

At the age of 92, Niemöller passed away in Wiesbaden on 6 March 1984.[12]

What the cited sources add

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum notes that Niemöller was an early Nazi supporter who later opposed Hitler's regime.[13] Werner Cohn, who as a Jew lived near Niemöller's church in Berlin, stated that Niemöller preached hatred against Jews as late as 1935.[14] The Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, which Niemöller helped to initiate, admitted that the churches had failed to adequately resist the Nazi regime.[15][16]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stöhr, "…habe ich geschwiegen'. Zur Frage eines Antisemitismus bei Martin Niemöller", Martin Niemöller Foundation, 10 October 2011; Stöhr, "…habe ich geschwiegen'. Zur Frage eines Antisemitismus bei Martin Niemöller", Martin Niemöller Foundation, 10 October 2011; Prasad, Devi, 2005. War Is a Crime Against Humanity: The Story of War Resisters' International, London: War Resisters' International.; Rupp, Hans Karl, 1986. "Niemöller, Martin", in The World Encyclopedia of Peace. Linus Pauling, Ervin László, and Jong Youl Yoo, ed. Oxford: Pe en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pace, "Martin Niemöller, Resolute Foe of Hitler", The New York Times, 8 March 1984, p. D22; "Niemöller, (Friedrich Gustav Emil) Martin". The New Encyclopædia Britannica (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1993), 8:698. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stöhr, "…habe ich geschwiegen'. Zur Frage eines Antisemitismus bei Martin Niemöller", Martin Niemöller Foundation, 10 October 2011; "Germany: Dynamite", 21 February 1938; Cross, F.L. & E.A. Livingstone, 1983, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 975 sub loco (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Shirer 1960, p. 235; S. Wistrich, "Who's Who in Nazi Germany", Routledge, 4 July 2013, p. 180 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stöhr, "…habe ich geschwiegen'. Zur Frage eines Antisemitismus bei Martin Niemöller", Martin Niemöller Foundation, 10 October 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Martin Niemöller: Biography", United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Current Biography 1943, p. 555 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Niemöller", 8:698. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Stein, "Niemöller speaks! An Exclusive Report by One Who Lived 22 Months in Prison with the Famous German Pastor Who Defied Adolf Hitler", The National Jewish Monthly, May 1941, p. 284–5, 301–2. facts only, no text reused. history.ucsb.edu
  10. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Shirer 1960, p. 235; Shirer 1960, p. 235; Shirer 1960, p. 235; Stöhr, "…habe ich geschwiegen'. Zur Frage eines Antisemitismus bei Martin Niemöller", Martin Niemöller Foundation, 10 October 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: LeMO, "Die Bekennende Kirche", Dhm.de; "Niemöller", 8:698.; "Niemöller", 8:698.; Stöhr, "…habe ich geschwiegen'. Zur Frage eines Antisemitismus bei Martin Niemöller", Martin Niemöller Foundation, 10 October 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pace, "Martin Niemöller, Resolute Foe of Hitler", The New York Times, 8 March 1984, p. D22 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. "Martin Niemöller: Biography", United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. facts only, no text reused. encyclopedia.ushmm.org
  14. "Correspondence about Niemöller's Antisemitism", UCSB. facts only, no text reused. history.ucsb.edu
  15. "Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, Oct. 1945", UCSB. facts only, no text reused. history.ucsb.edu
  16. Wikipedia, "Martin Niemöller" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, Oct. 1945", UCSB (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Martin Niemöller (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year did Martin Niemöller die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1984.

From the source: “Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller (; 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 Confe”

2. In which place was Martin Niemöller born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Lippstadt, German Empire.

3. In what year was Martin Niemöller born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1892.

From the source: “Niemöller was born in Lippstadt, the Prussian Province of Westphalia (now in North Rhine-Westphalia), on 14 January 1892 to the Lutheran pastor Heinrich Niemöller and his wife Pauline (née Müller), and grew up in a very conservative home.”

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