First they came for

 

The following is adapted from the original poem by Martin Niemöller written in 1946 following the horrors of WW2 that lots of people are currently sharing after Jimmy Kimmel and  all others repressed in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death. While most understand the poem’s a reflection on the Nazi rise to power, we can’t forget how ultimately it does start from state repression of the left. 

It also came into my mind because of the orgy of hate that is being whipped up in Britain against asylum seekers. I think too of the many journalists killed and silenced in Gaza.

First they came for

First they came for the Palestinians 

And I did not speak out 

Because I was not Palestinian. 

Then they came for the refugees 

But I did not speak out 

Because I was not a refugee 

Then they came for people of colour

but I did not speak out

Because I was not a person of colour 

Then they came for the Muslims 

but I did not speak out 

Because I was not Muslim 

Then they came for the disabled 

But I did not speak out 

Because I was not disabled 

Then they came for the Trans community

But I did not speak out 

Because I was not Trans 

Then they came for the rest of the LGBTQ+ community 

But I did not speak out Because I was not LGBTQ+ 

Then they came for the socialists, 

But I did not speak out 

Because I was not a socialist 

Then they came for the trade unionists 

But I did not speak out 

Because I was not a trade unionist 

Then they came for the anti-fascists 

But I did not speak out

Because I was not an anti-fascist 

Then they came for the poor, the vulnerable

But I  did not speak out 

Because I was none of these 

Then they came for the journalists 

But I did not speak out

Because I was not a journalist 

Then they came for me 

And there was no one left 

To speak out for me

Nobody left at all.  

First they came for- Martin Niemöller 

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.  

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a German Lutheran pastor and prominent Confessing Church leader who initially supported the Nazis but later became a vocal critic.and was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau from from 1938 to 1945. but survived the war. After the war he became a campaigning pacifist.  died on  the  6th  of  March 1984 aged 92.

His lines, written just after the Holocaust, were used as a confession of his own inaction  and to argue against apathy, inaction in the face of oppression and for the moral connectedness of all people. At the core of human nature whether religious, secular or spiritual, is a profound evolutionary disposition towards compassion, fairness and kindness. 

Niemöller’s words still act as a warning about the ease with which such an event could occur again, if we of the present allow ourselves to become ignorant of the lessons of the past. Human beings are capable of doing such wicked things, so that is why we should continue to confront the dangers of intolerance, hate, racism and fascism, and defeat the ideas that continue to create so much pain  and continue to use our voices and speak out.

Elie Wiesel  once  famously stated, "What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander" and "Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented"

Martin Niemöller didn't think the Nazis would come for him. People who are comfortable with other groups of people being rounded up, tortured, and murdered are always surprised when they are members of the next group to hate. Niemöller's "First They Came..." is a reminder that a totalitarian government starts by persecuting people it's easy to dislike, to get us used to the abuse. And by the time you're on the list yourself, it's too fucking late,

We have to learn from history, and we have to fight like hell to shift our course towards a future in which all people are treated with dignity, and human rights and international law are universally upheld. Everything depends on it.

Martin Niemöller