http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/prisochr.htm
JULY 1, 1937
MARTIN NIEMOELLER,
CHURCH DISSIDENT LEADER, ARRESTED
Martin Niemoeller, one of main opponents of Nazi racial ideology in the Lutheran church and one of the founders of the oppositional "Confessional Church," is arrested. He is sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1938 and spends the next seven years in concentration camps. After the war, Niemoeller's condemnation of bystanders to Nazi policies will become a call to early action.
His words:
"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist - so I said nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat - so I did nothing. Then they came for the trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew - so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left who could stand up for me."
...
Truely haunting words. It can be altered and refreshed, and the meaning remains.
--Marty
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Comments: 9
I think the quotation is profound. It shows the potential price of inaction. There may be some who miss the significance of the words, the particular time in history.
In the words of Bob Dylan,
"I can't think for ya, you'll have to decide, whether Judas Iscarriot had God on his side"
--"God on your side"
Again, if the significance is lost on the reader, I have sorrow.
for evil to florish good men must do nothing?
love and light to you
I don't think there's a copyright problem. You ARE allowed to quote small portions of things, so long as they are properly attributed, and this quote is so widely distributed (on posters, etc.) that I doubt you're violating anything by sharing it here.