It is about the cowardice of German intellectuals and certain clergy—including, by his own admission, Niemöller himself—following the Nazis’ rise to power and subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

Throughout the poem, Niemöller uses repetition to describe the Nazis actions. Niemöller conveys this through the repetition of, “First they came for the Communists” and then proceeds to repeat that phrases with different minority groups until it reaches him.

Answer: What does the phrase “because I was not” emphasize about the speaker? The speaker is lonely and distanced from the rest of society, which is why he did not speak out. The speaker is deeply sorry and wants to justify why he did not speak out against the arrests.

Niemöller’s poem reminds modern Jews that, as a people who were almost wiped out, it’s our duty—as it is everyone’s duty—to speak up for other minorities under attack, lest we be next. The shema sets us apart from other peoples; “First they came” binds us together again.

Martin Niemöller Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps, despite his ardent nationalism.

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany. He emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. He is perhaps best remembered for his postwar words, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out…”

The Deutsches Jungvolk in der Hitler Jugend ([ˈdɔɪ̯t͡ʃəs ˈjʊŋfɔlk]; DJ, also DJV; German for “German Youngsters in the Hitler Youth”) was the separate section for boys aged 10 to 14 of the Hitler Youth organisation in Nazi Germany.

The Nazi argument was simple: the strongest race would survive and the weak ones would perish. The Aryan race was the finest. It had to retain its purity, become stronger and dominate the world. The other aspect of Hitler’s ideology related to the geopolitical concept of Lebensraum, or living space.

Martin Niemöller

February 28, 1933 The Reichstag Fire Decree permitted the regime to arrest and incarcerate political opponents without specific charge, dissolve political organizations, and to suppress publications.

Nazism is a form of fascism, with disdain for liberal democracy and the parliamentary system. It incorporates fervent antisemitism, anti-communism, scientific racism, and the use of eugenics into its creed.

On April 30, 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler’s dreams of a “1,000-year” Reich.

Membership was voluntary until 1936, when all boys and girls in Nazi Germany were required by law to join a Nazi youth group. All boys over 10 years old joined the Jungvolk (meaning “Young People”), and then graduated to the Hitler Youth when they turned 14.

Parallelism helps make an idea or argument clear and easy to remember. It also shows that each repeated structure is of equal importance. And, it is a powerful tool for public speaking. Throughout history, many famous leaders have used parallel structure to communicate with the public.

In his poem, First They Came for the Communists, Martin Niemöller conveys the theme of the Holocaust and discrimination, through repetition of both words and themes, and also creates a sense of detachment from the victims. Throughout the poem, Niemöller uses repetition to describe the Nazis actions.

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany. He emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. He is perhaps best remembered for his postwar words, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out…”30