Niemöller, Martin

Born Jan. 14, 1892, in Lippstadt. Public figure of the German Federal Republic, antifascist, participant in the Partisans of Peace movement, pastor of the Evangelical Church.

During World War I, Niemöller was a submarine officer. In 1919 he took up the study of theology in Münster. In 1924 he became a clergyman. In 1937, Niemöller was arrested for his opposition to Nazism. He was held in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp until 1941, when he was transferred to Dachau. He was later moved to the southern Tirol and remained there until he was liberated in 1945. From 1947 to 1964 he was the head of the Evangelical Church in Hessen and Nassau. From 1961 to 1968 he was one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches. He has visited the USSR a number of times. Since 1957 he has been president of the German Peace Society (War Resisters’ International). Since 1969, Niemöller has been a member of the Presidium of the World Peace Council. He was awarded the Joliot-Curie Gold Medal of Peace in 1965. In 1966 he received the Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace Between Nations.