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.
