What is the theme of First they came?

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.

Besides, what is the quote First they came for?

Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation¹ : First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Similarly, when they finally come for me there was no one left? Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Finally, they came for me and there was no one left to speak out.

Subsequently, one may also ask, how does the repetition used in the text contribute to its overall meaning First they came?

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.

What does it mean when he says came for?

When he says "they came for", it means that the Nazis came to abduct the people and take them away to either concentration camps or some place else.

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What religion was Martin Niemoller?

Niemöller was president of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau from 1947 to 1961. He was one of the initiators of the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, signed by leading figures in the German Protestant churches. The document acknowledged that the churches had not done enough to resist the Nazis.