Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.

Hear, O children of justice and truth, the solemn words of Martin Luther King, Jr., who declared: “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.” This utterance strikes like thunder across the ages, for it tears away the veil of false righteousness that often cloaks the law. It reminds us that legality and morality are not always wed, and that there are moments when obedience to unjust laws is itself a betrayal of the sacred duty to humanity.

The origin of this saying lies in the struggle for civil rights in America. King, facing segregation, discrimination, and violence sanctified by the law of the land, sought to awaken the conscience of a nation. He pointed to the horrors of Nazi Germany, where persecution, disenfranchisement, and even extermination were all carried out under the banner of legality. What was written in statutes, proclaimed in courts, and executed by officials was clothed in the appearance of justice, but in truth, it was evil given formal permission. By reminding his listeners of this, King sought to show that one must not worship the law itself, but measure it against a higher standard—the eternal law of justice, mercy, and human dignity.

Consider the fate of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, which stripped Jews of citizenship and forbade them from marrying non-Jews. These laws, enacted through proper channels of government, bore all the marks of legal authority. Yet they were nothing more than instruments of hatred, paving the path to the Holocaust. It was legal to exclude, to silence, to dispossess; it was legal to deport; it was legal, finally, to kill. King’s words remind us: do not confuse legality with morality, for the machinery of oppression often cloaks itself in the robes of law.

This truth is not confined to Germany alone. Think of slavery in America, upheld for centuries by courts and legislatures, defended by statutes, and even sanctified by constitutions. It was legal to own men, women, and children as property, to tear families apart, to whip, to sell, and to deny education. Yet legality could not cleanse the sin of slavery, nor shield it from ultimate judgment. When laws enshrine injustice, they stand condemned before the tribunal of history.

King’s words are thus a call to civil disobedience, the ancient principle that when human law strays too far from the law of conscience, it loses its binding power. Just as Socrates refused to renounce his pursuit of truth though condemned by Athenian law, and just as the early Christians defied Roman decrees demanding worship of false gods, so too did King and his followers march, sit, and protest against laws that enforced segregation. They understood that true justice is measured not by what is written in law books, but by what uplifts the human spirit.

The lesson to be drawn is this: legality is no guarantee of justice. Each citizen must look deeper, testing every law against the eternal principles of equality, compassion, and truth. Do not fall into complacency, thinking that what is legal is automatically right. Ask: does this law protect the weak? Does it honor human dignity? Does it build peace rather than destroy it? If the answer is no, then you must resist it, even if resistance brings suffering. For as King himself taught, one has not only the right but the duty to disobey unjust laws.

Therefore, O listener, take this teaching into your own life. Examine the laws and policies that govern your community, your nation, your world. Support those that bring justice and oppose those that perpetuate harm, even if they wear the mask of legality. Speak, act, and stand firm, for silence in the face of unjust laws is itself a form of complicity.

So let King’s words echo through the generations: that everything Hitler did was legal, but legality did not save it from being evil. Let this be your guide: do not bow before the false idol of legality, but rise always in service of the higher law of justice. For it is not what men write that sanctifies truth, but what uplifts humanity and honors the divine spark in every soul.