Then They Came For Me

The following is a heart-breaking poem by Martin Niemöller. He was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian born in Lippstadt, Germany, in 1892. Niemöller was an Anti-Communist and supported Adolf Hitler's rise to power at first. But when Hitler insisted on the supremacy of the state over religion, Niemöller became disillusioned. He became the leader of a group of German clergymen opposed to Hitler. In 1937 he was arrested and eventually confined in Sachsenhausen and Dachau. He was released in 1945 by the Allies. He continued his career in Germany as a clergyman and as a leading voice of penance and reconciliation for the German people after World War II: 

“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”

It is a reminder to everyone that when our democracy is in danger, it is our patriotic duty to speak out.  If we don’t, then it would be our fault if we lose our valued and treasured democratic institutions and freedoms. This is what happens to people, in many parts of the world and in the annals of history, when they succumb under the clutches of despots and tyrants because they were afraid to speak out