‘First They Came’

‘First They Came’ by Mar tin Niemöller

PRE-READING: READING

Use the internet or other non-fiction reference books to research the answers to the questions below. 1 Find out the meaning of the following terms: communist, socialist and trade unionist. 2 What groups of people were targeted by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps? 3 What happened to the property and possessions of the people that the Nazis came for? 4 How many German citizens lost their lives during the Holocaust? All about ‘First They Came’ Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was an important church leader in Germany during Nazi rule. He began to speak out against Hitler and the Nazis when he saw what was happening to his community. Niemöller spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps and survived to tell his story upon his release. He is best remembered for his post-war confession, found in this piece of prose poetry. ‘First They Came’ by Mar tin Niemöller First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist. Then 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. Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me.©The Educational Company of Ireland

READING

1 Summarise the poem by choosing the most important word in each stanza and making a list. 2 Who is the speaker in this poem? What narrative perspective is being used and how do you know? 3 What is the subject of the poem? 4 What is the theme of the poem? 5 Complete the quote quest task in your activity book (see page 29) to practise choosing appropriate quotations, embedding them and punctuating them. 6 How would you describe the tone of this poem? Look back at page 69 to see if the tone of this poem matches any of the tones described there. 7 Compare how the poem makes you feel at the beginning and at the end. What mood are you in at the end of the first stanza compared to at the end of the last stanza? 8 Each stanza uses only one punctuation mark. Choose one stanza and edit the punctuation. Add in an exclamation mark, a comma or a second full stop. What impact does your punctuation edit have on the text? 9 Does this poem remind you of any other text you have studied? ACT IVITY COMMUNICATING Watch the dramatic reading of ‘First They Came’: edco.ie/8qcg In small groups create a choral reading of the poem. A choral reading is a group reading, where different people in a group take different lines to read and sometimes everyone reads a line or two together. How you read and deliver the poem completely depends on the point you are trying to get across to your audience. You could record this choral reading on a voicerecording app or perform it for the rest of your class. WRITING Write your own version of ‘First They Came’. First think about all of the injustices you have seen but done nothing about. They need not be things that are a big deal; they are more likely to be things that you regretted not doing anything about that stuck with you afterwards. Writing Tips There is a writing frame in your activity book (see page 30) to help you write the poem. ACT IVITY ©The Educational Company of Ireland