“First 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 poetic speech, which Niemöller himself adapted many times, was originally penned by the German theologian and Lutheran pastor on January 6, 1946. Though he was initially a supporter of Hitler, he became an anti-Nazi activist and was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps from 1937 to 1945.
