Part Two: Martin Niemöller, the author of 'First They Came', was a murderous fascist

Martin Niemöller is remembered for one of the most quoted poems of the 20th century—“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out…”—a stark warning against silence in the face of persecution. But the man who wrote those lines was not a quiet bystander who later found his conscience. He was, for many years, an enthusiastic Nazi supporter, a Freikorps veteran who helped crush leftist uprisings, a decorated U-boat commander who refused to hand over his submarines after World War I, and a pastor who believed Hitler was an instrument of God. This episode of Behind the Bastards walks through the full, uncomfortable arc of Niemöller’s life, showing that the author of the poem was himself a violent nationalist who only turned against the regime when it threatened his theology, not his humanity.

From U-Boat Commander to Freikorps Fighter

Niemöller ended World War I as one of the most decorated sailors in the German fleet. When the Armistice required him to sail two U-boats to England for surrender, he refused, saying, “I have neither sought nor concluded this armistice.” His defiance made him a minor celebrity on the German right. After the war, Germany’s socialist revolution—which began as a naval mutiny—infuriated him. He fully embraced the “stabbed in the back” myth, blaming socialists for the defeat.