When Hitler attacked the Jews … I was not a Jew, therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then, Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church—and there was nobody left to be concerned.
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Source, in full
Congressional Record (October 14, 1968), vol. 114, p. 31636. This statement has not been documented in biographies of Niemöller, nor was it contained in the 1945 Stuttgart Statement of Guilt, but the attribution is widely accepted.