Martin Niemö²ller (Niemoeller)( Protestant theologian, pastor of the Protestant Evangelical Church, one of the most prominent opponents of Nazism in Germany. Born January 14, 1892 in Lipstadt, Westphalia.)
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Biography Martin Niemö²ller (Niemoeller)
Niemö²ller, Martin (Niemoeller), a Protestant theologian, pastor of the Protestant Evangelical Church, one of the most prominent opponents of Nazism in Germany. Born January 14, 1892 in Lipstadt, Westphalia. During the 1-st World War II submarine commander (Lt. Navy), was awarded the Medal of Merit. After the war he studied theology and in 1924 ordained. In 1931-37 was pastor of the church in the wealthy Berlin Dahlem. A committed nationalist and an ardent anti-communist, Niemö²ller, like many Protestant pastors, at first welcomed Hitler's rise to power and joined the Nazi party. But his disappointment in Nazism came when Hitler began to assert the primacy of state over church. Who headed the church confessional Niemö²ller opposed the intervention of the Nazis in the affairs of the church and founded with the support of many pastors in Germany T. n. Pfarrenbund.
June 27, 1937 in Berlin with a huge gathering of parishioners held last sermon Niemö²ller in the Third Reich: "More we can not remain silent, commanded the man, when the Lord tells us to speak. We must obey God rather than man! ". Hitler was furious when he learned about preaching Niemö²ller. He hated the pastor for many years, seeing his sermon as a political campaign, while Christians and Catholics and Protestants, considered a national hero Niemö²ller. July 1, 1937 Niemö²ller was arrested and imprisoned in Moab prison in Berlin.
To do away with Niemö²ller, Hitler decided to use instead of the Gestapo ordinary legal system. Court (t. n. zondergeriht - extraordinary court in charge of the affairs of the crimes against the state) began after repeated postponements of March 3, 1938. Blaming Niemö²ller in the "hidden attacks" on the state, the court sentenced him to 7 months in the fortress (preferred prison for officers) and a fine of 2 thousand. marks for "abuse of preaching and the collection of parishioners in the church".
Enraged by the softness of the sentence, Hitler declared that Niemö²ller "should sit up until he turns blue, but to the whole of the court threatened punishment. After serving 8 months, t. e. a month longer term, Niemö²ller was released to be arrested again, this time by the Gestapo, "preventively". Until the end of the 2-nd World War Niemö²ller was kept in concentration camps, . first in Sachsenhausen, . and then to Dachau, . where he was with former Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg, . bankers Thyssens and Mine, . as well as with members of the royal houses of Philip of Hesse and Frederick of Prussia,
. In 1945 Niemö²ller was liberated by Allied troops.
Speaking in 1946 in Geneva, Niemö²ller admitted guilt of Germany for war crimes. In 1947-64 he was bishop of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Hesse-Nassau, consistently advocating for peace and nuclear disarmament. In 1952 he visited Moscow, and in 1967 North. Vietnam.
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