Then They Came for Me: Martin Niemöller, the Pastor Who Defied the Nazis by Matthew D. Hockenos (review)

The title of Matthew Hockenos’s new biography comes from Pastor Niemöller’s iconic statement lamenting his earlier reluctance to stand up for various Nazi victim groups (trade unionists, socialists, Jews . . .) until there was no one left to support him when his turn came. His famous words, appearing in the Permanent Exhibition at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and often employed as a rallying cry for various social justice groups, challenge scholars today, both with regard to the actual origins of the statement and in terms of Niemöller’s rather complex life.

The version in rather standard use has not been found in any of Niemöller’s writings, though it accurately reflects several of his presentations in America. Its present form may come from some of his supporters rather than his own hand.

The more important misperception about Niemöller’s life as a pastoral leader that the title of this volume suggests is his portrayal as a long-standing and adamant critic of the Nazi Party in the 1934 elections. He saw Communism and the social liberalism of the Weimar Republic as greater threats to the moral influence of the Lutheran Church in Germany. He was an ardent supporter of the monarchy and of the military, a proud veteran of the navy. But he combined this strong commitment to religious nationalism with an equally strong belief that the Lutheran Church should never be subservient to the state.

This perspective, which Niemöller regarded as imbedded in Lutheran theology, eventually generated his public opposition to Hitler’s government. While it is true that Niemöller maintained a measure of social criticism throughout his pastoral years, and while this gave rise to the image of a consistent progressive critic, any superficial view must now give way before the far more complex— and partly disturbing—picture that emerges from Hockenos’s well-written, well-documented, and insightful volume.

In this first comprehensive English-language biography covering Niemöller’s years as a congregational pastor and national and international Christian leader, Hockenos follows a chronological methodology from his subject’s World War I naval command through his passionate Vietnam Warera pacifism. Hockenos highlights Niemöller’s early pride in his military service and ends with his work for the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the leading religiously-based peace organization of its time. Niemöller’s incisive critique of U.S. involvement in Vietnam ultimately led to his controversial journey to Hanoi, where he met with Ho Chi Minh and other North Vietnamese leaders in an effort to resolve the conflict.

Niemöller’s post-World War I ministry was largely confined to two minor congregations. In his autobiography he affirmed that his first love belonged to both of these. His other love was clearly his family, with his first wife Else becoming a strong source of support. Two family tragedies would profoundly impact Niemöller in later years: the death of a son at the front during World War II, and the automobile accident (he was the driver) that took Else’s life—and eventually opened the way to Niemöller’s marriage to Sibulle von Sell when he was in his seventies.

During his initial pastoral ministry Niemöller clearly believed that Protestant Christianity had a special relationship to the German soul. His views on Catholics and Jews were largely negative. Despite his 1934 vote for the Party, Niemöller resisted all offers of more formal involvement with the Nazis. Though he considered many parts of the Nazi social vision compatible with Christian values, and felt that the Party was the lesser evil of other political options, he was greatly concerned at the Nazis’ desire to control the Church.

Hockenos goes on to describe Niemöller’s role as pastor and regional Church leader, coupled with the churchman’s increasing responsibility for mobilizing...