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. —Martin Niemöller (1892—1984), German pastor
* * *
Indeed. That’s not poetic hyperbole. That’s what happened.
They came for Niemöller.
They came for him even though in his youth he had supported Hitler—had even parroted Hitler’s antisemitism. Niemöller was an enthusiastic nationalist. Germany and Germans were superior to all others. A master race was in the making.
Niemöller preached it.
He was convinced that Hitler would restore the glory Germany lost after World War I. Hitler would rebuild the nation, bring back its pride, make Germany great again. He would purge the land of scum and vermin.
Niemöller was swept up in the rhetoric, the boundless optimism, the Teutonic vision, the merging of Christianity with German nationalism.
Blood. Soil. Führer.
Sacred!
And then something happened.
The Nazis suddenly coopted the churches and dictated what preachers could and could not say. Criticism of the Reich and its führer was not permitted.
Niemöller had a rude awakening.
He saw the light. He saw what he had fallen for. He saw authoritarianism up close. He repented and aggressively and persistently denounced Hitler and the Reich from the pulpit.
And so they came for him.
They arrested him for treason in 1938 and sent him to a concentration camp where he languished until 1945.
Niemöller’s lament (“First They Came”) has been much on my mind lately. It’s not hard to figure out why. The names have changed but “they” are still coming.
First they came for undocumented criminals. Then they came for undocumented field workers. Then they came for foreign students; then law firms and universities; CBS, ABC, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal; James Comey, Adam Schiff, Lisa Cook, Jack Smith, Letitia James, Democratic mayors, and Jimmy Kimmel.
They came for the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, the National Parks, and the Commanders.
They haven’t come for me.
I feel safe.
I’m white. I’m male. I’m straight. I’m a citizen. I speak English.
Nobody’s coming for me.
Oh wait!
I’m also a Democrat. And that makes me a “lefty.” And that makes me “a communist, a fascist, a thug, a lunatic, sick, and evil.”
And that puts me in their sights.
Let ’em come. I’ve got the United States Constitution in hand!
