Whats that quote from WWII ?? They went after the Jews but I didnt speak..

[southernleftylady]

up because I wasnt jewish....
then they came after me...
know the quote im talking about??
anyone know which one??
thanks!

[Waya]

1. First They Came for the Jews

First They Came for the Jews
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.


Pastor Martin Niemöller

[texpatriot2004]

2. Thanks for this post nm

[southernleftylady]

3. thanks thats it!

[gasperc]

4. THANKS

I WAS TRYING TO PARAPHRASE IT THE OTHER DAY

[Waya]

5. There are several variations of this Poem.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...#Poem

[TechBear_Seattle]

6. It isn't really a poem, and it isn't really a quote

Martin Niemoller was imprisoned for his opposition to the Nazi regime, and even served time at the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. He was a founder of the Confessing Church, a Christian association that opposed the ideology of National Socialism. After the war, he became a prominent pacifist and anti-war activist, and went on tours around the world speaking against violence, nuclear armament and the dangers of fascism.

There are many variations of Niemoller's "First they came for" passage because it was a regular part of his speaking tours, and as such, it changed depending on the audience. Even when Niemoller himself wrote it down for publication, there were usually variations. When these inconsistencies were pointed, he would shrug and say that he spoke from his heart, not from a script, and that the sentiment was the same regardless of the actual words used.

[The2ndWheel]

7. They Thought They Were Free

http://www.thirdreich.net/Thought_They_Were_Free.html

"How is this to be avoided, among ordinary men, even highly educated ordinary men? Frankly, I do not know. I do not see, even now. Many, many times since it all happened I have pondered that pair of great maxims, Principiis obsta and Finem respice - "Resist the beginnings" and "consider the end." But one must foresee the end in order to resist, or even see, the beginnings. One must foresee the end clearly and certainly and how is this to be done, by ordinary men or even by extraordinary men? Things might have changed here before they went as far as they did; they didn't, but they might have. And everyone counts on that might.

"Your "little men," your Nazi friends, were not against National Socialism in principle. Men like me, who were, are the greater offenders, not because we knew better (that would be too much to say) but because we sensed better. Pastor Niemoller spoke for the thousands and thousands of men like me when he spoke (too modestly of himself) and said that, when the Nazis attacked the Communists, he was a little uneasy, but, after all, he was not a Communist, and so he did nothing: and then they attacked the Socialists, and he was a little uneasier, but, still, he was not a Socialist, and he did nothing; and then the schools, the press, the Jews, and so on, and he was always uneasier, but still he did nothing. And then they attacked the Church, and he was a Churchman, and he did something - but then it was too late."

"Yes," I said.

"You see," my colleague went on, "one doesn't see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for the one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don't want to act, or even to talk, alone; you don't want to "go out of your way to make trouble." Why not? - Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.