And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me,
And by that time no one was left to speak up."
- Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945
I remember reading this poem in high school and being moved by it's honesty. The transgressions of Nazi Germany on humanity will never be forgotten. Yet in this short prose we see that the responsibility not only rested with Hitler and the Nazi Party, but it also rested with those that did not stand up against them. As Edmund Burke said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." I know this is a heavy concept, but it is a constant reminder of what happens when we stand aside and allow injustice to continue as a means of self-preservation.
I'm out.
