Then They Came for Me

"[A] clear-eyed biography.... Hockenos's portrait sheds valuable light on a man and a society willing to overlook the sins of a leader whose interests initially seemed to dovetail with their own."

"A supremely nuanced account of an enigmatic figure."

"Hockenos provides an honest view of Niemöller's heroic and not-so-heroic sides."

"Using extensive research, Hockenos writes a nuanced, well-rounded analysis of Niemöller's transformation from fervent nationalist and supporter of the Nazi regime to opponent of Hitler's attempts to control the Lutheran Church in Germany."

"Hockenos's impressively nuanced study captures a major 20th-century religious leader and his contradictions."

"A valuable study in individual resistance to tyranny."

"In this engaging biography, Matthew Hockenos explores the many lives of Niemoller as he evolved from U-boat captain to clergyman to critic of Hitler to defender of the German people. Combining historical empathy with honest critical analysis, Hockenos masterfully demonstrates how a deeply flawed religious activist challenged an authoritarian political leader and changed the course of history."

"Martin Niemoeller is best-remembered as an outspoken critic of Nazi Germany. As Matthew Hockenos shows in this penetrating and fast-paced biography, he was also an ardent early supporter of Hitler. By showing how strongly Niemoeller identified the Nazi regime with Germany's spiritual as well as political rebirth, Hockenos asks us to rethink what we understand about the nature of consent and opposition in Nazi Germany."

"In this riveting and searingly honest work of humane scholarship, Matthew Hockenos shows how a deeply flawed figure can nevertheless bequeath a moral legacy of timeless relevance. The complex, if 'ordinary,' Niemoller merits a superb biography, and now has it."

"Niemoller sunk Allied ships and called out for a Führer. He put God above Germany even though it was the same God who had cursed the Jews. In many ways, he was 'too German' and 'too Lutheran'--even in a concentration camp for the dissidence of his sermons, Niemoller volunteered to fight in Hitler's army. Hockenos makes sense of these jarring contradictions, portraying a remarkable, self-critical man in a highly readable but also critical biography. Readers will turn the pages of this book just as history turned the pages of Niemoller's life."

"Then They Came for Me is a moving and surprising look at Martin Niemoller. Based on extensive research and a profound understanding of history, it reveals Niemoller as a complex and flawed hero who embodied the nationalism, antisemitism, and militarism of his German Protestant surroundings but nonetheless proved able to change. Hockenos's wise and unsentimental biography is sure to challenge, inform, and entertain every reader."

"A well-told story of faith, personal courage and repentance that speaks to a nation's journey through delusion and horror to contrition. With skill that weaves his deep research and knowledge of German history into a finely-knit biography, Matthew Hockenos takes us swiftly through Martin Niemoller's nine decades, from his origins in a family of monarchist, anti-Semitic, Lutheran ministers through his career as a naval officer and U boat commander, from his early support for the Nazis to his disillusionment and 8 years in concentration camps through his evolution into a pacifist icon and moral authority in turbulent post-war Germany."