Who first coined the phrase "knock on the door in the middle of the night ?"?

Question

Postscript : it is commonly used to describe totalitarian regimes especially nazis and Stalin. Earliest reference in Time is 1949. Was it a newspaper or a speech then or during the war ?

Postscript : it was used to describe Gestapo tactics and later Stalin's. Earliest reference I have found is 1949 Time. When did it arise and how - a speech, a newspaper article, a quote ?

Answer 1

the drug squad

Answer 2

There probably is no way of determining exactly the answer to this question!

It certainly dates back further than 1999...... Take for example 'Pet Shop Boys' track called 'In the Night' ... It contains the line "A knock on the door in the night" and that dated back to 1985.

It probably originated from World War 2 ..... during which the secret police would wake families up in the middle of the night to interrogate them, but maybe dates back even further!

Hope this Helps!

Answer 3

It first shows up in the 1950's as a reference to the Soviet situation under Stalin. I provided a few newspaper uses and a 1958 presidential speech.


Once again a knock on the door in the middle of the night is the symbol of terror. It has meant arrest and imprisonment for thousands of Soviet zone ... 1953
and the knock on the door in the middle of the night which has become rou-tine in totalitarian countries 1951


Time May 5, 1958
"Freedom under law is like the air we breathe," wrote President Dwight Eisenhower as he prepared his speech celebrating the first U.S. Law Day this week. "People take it for granted and are unaware of it—until they are deprived of it. The clearest way to show what the rule of law means to us in everyday life is to recall what has happened where there is no rule of law. The dread knock on the door in the middle of the night . . ."

Answer 4

It probably became commonly used to refer to the Nazis' habit of arresting suspect during the night and carting them off to concentration camps or Gestap Headquarters.

Answer 5

Richard Stallman first coined the phrase "Knock on the door in the middle of the night--It is a real threat and a real danger."
It was in a speech he made on the 25th November 1999.

Answer 6

Its also in the bible where a neighbour knocks on your door in the middle of the night asking for bread. Do you answer or continue sleeping.

Answer 7

Just a guess - George Orwell in "1984" (published 1948)?
It would ceratinly fit...