Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.. Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the following quotation:
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.
The following is it updated by food writer Jack Monroe. I thought it deserved a wide audience.
Niemoller Updated - Jack Monroe
First they came for the socialists
But you did not speak out
Because you were definitely not a socialist
Those mad bastards campaigning for decent wages
and universal healthcare
Waving their hand painted placards through
Westminster
You were definitely not a socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists
And you did not speak out
Because Unions are awful
The Daily Mail said so
Those people representing ordinary workers
And fighting for decent pay
And human working conditions
And maternity and paternity leave
And adequate rest between shifts
And making sure people have a voice
They’re definitely terrible self-aggrandising egotists
And they get paid to represent people
And you had to get a bus to work once because of a
strike you didn’t bother to research beyond a
screaming scheming headline
So you are not a Trade Unionist.
and the refugees
And you did not speak out
Because they are not your people
Coming over here
Why can’t they integrate?
Religion causes all the problems, right?
All the wars
Leave them to it
Close the borders
We’re full up
Can’t take any more
Of this PC multicultural bullshit
Who do they think they are?
You spoke over
And you spat and you raged
in hatred and fear
But you did not speak out
Because you were not a Muslim
nor a refugee.
And then they came for the poor
and the unemployed
the single parents on benefits
the workless
And you did not speak out
Because you thought they were lazy
Loads of jobs out there innit?
Easy to eat cheaply on the dole, you claim
Having never had to make £71 last a week
with a broken refrigerator
or holes in the bottom of a pair of school shoes
Bet they’ve all got Sky TV and iPhones
and how did she pay for her tattoos?
And you saw someone smoking outside a food bank once
So you did not speak out.
Then they came for the disabled
Shame, you thought, but you did not speak out
Most of them could probably work, you thought
You saw that chronically depressed woman smiIe once
And the guy in the disabled parking space
looks young and healthy to you
We all get down sometimes, you shout
What’s wrong with you anyway?
Bunch of fucking scroungers, you thought
So you did not speak out.
Then they came for the teachers
And the doctors
And the nurses
And the fire-fighters
And the domestic abuse workers
And the rubbish collections
And the rape crisis centres
And the social workers
And the children’s centres
And the education funding
And by the time they come for you
By the time they fucking come for you
There will be nobody left to speak out for you
Nobody left at all.
-Jack Monroe
So please remember to defend and speak out with all your might.
