Voting Station

Martin Niemoller

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Religious Figure

The Resume

    (January 14, 1892-March 6, 1984)
    Born in Lippstadt, Germany
    U-Boat commander in World War I
    Ordained as a Lutheran minister (1924)
    Imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps (1937-45)
    President of the World Council of Churches (1961-68)
    Wrote the biography 'From U-Boat to Pulpit' and the poem 'When They Came...'

Why he might be annoying:

    He sailed his U-boat under a false French flag to pass by British warships and sink two Allied troop ships.
    He called the Nazi party 'a renewal movement based on a Christian moral foundation' (1933).
    In one of his sermons, he asked, 'What is the reason for the Jews' obvious punishment which has lasted thousands of years? Dear brethren, the reason is easily given: the Jews brought the Christ of God to the cross' (1935).
    He upset Americans when he said that, after Hitler, Harry Truman was 'the greatest murderer in the world.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He signed a petition denouncing the Nazi persecution of the Jews as incompatible with Christian charity (1936).
    He was freed from the concentration camp by US troops shortly before he and other political prisoners were scheduled for execution.
    He was a principal author the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, in which German Protestant church leaders acknowledged they had not done enough to resist the Nazis (1945).
    He became an ardent pacifist and campaigner for nuclear disarmament.
    'When They Came...'
    They came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
    Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
    Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
    Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
    Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 90 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 28 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 34 Votes: 32.35% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 23 Votes: 43.48% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 16 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 29 Votes: 62.07% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 43 Votes: 58.14% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 54 Votes: 77.78% Annoying