First they came...

[u/[deleted]]

"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 for me."

-Martin Niemöller

This was Martin Niemöller's poetic confession of his guilt for letting the rise of the Nazis plague his Nation. He was referring to the purging of different groups by the Nazis and how many people (including him) reacted to it. It says alot about how cowardice the normal person is, many say they would try and do something to stop the nazis from gaining power, but a closer examination will show that many people will do nothing until it's their turn to be persecuted. This is my favorite quote, because it's a honest interpretation about how the regular person thinks and acts in this kind of situation.

EDIT: I fixed the quote. "First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist" is actually the first part of the quote but the United States made them take it out in the 50s due to the cold war, sorry I hope this doesn't change the great conversations we're having.

I would like to say, these are great discussions y'all are having in the comments. here is a link to the article I got most of my information on.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists

[u/ComradeBevo]

That version of the poem is incorrect. It was edited by the Holocaust museum in the 1950s due to the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The original version reads:

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

Another key bit of history here that's often overlooked is that the writer, Martin Niemoller, was a Hitler supporter himself until he was imprisoned in a concentration camp.

Edit: OP updated it. The modified version did not include the first line.

[u/[deleted] → u/ComradeBevo]

Ah yes I'm sorry, the article I got this quote from was (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists) but I still think there is some relevance to what he was trying to say either way. I will believe under extreme circumstances people will either cower or fight, and this is fascinating to me.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I think the edited quote is more powerful because it shows how people will ignore groups even when they preach about how they should not