MARTIN NIEMÖLLER - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH - HFSID 279414

MARTIN NIEMÖLLER
B/w picture postcard with a bust photo of anti-Nazi Martin Niemöller, originator of the famous quote "First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out." Accompanied by a 1961 secretarial letter of transmittal on Niemöller's personalized stationery as "Church President".
Picture post card signed "Martin Niemöller" in blue ink. 3¾x5½ overall, 3½x5¼ image, one surface. Embossed photo credit in lower right corner: "Müller/Wiesbaden". Blank message side. Lightly toned and bowed. Parts of signature have low contrast; signature is legible. Errors in negative were reproduced in photo. Otherwise in fine condition. Accompanied by: Typed letter on Niemöller's personalized letterhead as "Kirchenpräsident" ("Church President") in Wiesbaden, Germany and signed by "Christer Rieseberg", who appears to be Niemöller's secretary. Dated July 21, 1961. In full: "Dear Mr. Kirschstein! To my great consternation, I found your letter of February 28, 1959 during the office rearrangement behind a small filing cabinet to which I already added a photo of the Church President and then perhaps slid behind the cabinet. - I hope greatly that I can treat you to a pleasure in sending you the photo this very day?! And please excuse me that you had to wait so endlessly for it! Sincerely Yours". Lightly creased. Folded once and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition. Protestant pastor Niemöller (1892-1984, born Martin Frederick Gustav Emil Niemöller in Lippstadt, Germany) was a submarine Commander in World War I. He was an anti-Communist and initially supported the Nazis until the church was made subordinate to state authority. Niemoeller spent seven years in concentration camps in "protective custody". He was liberated in 1945 and was elected President of the Protestant church in Hesse and Nassau in 1947, serving until 1964. He is best known for his powerful statement about the failure of Germans to speak out against the Nazis: "First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."