I Did Not Speak Out

Martin Niemöller was a German Lutheran pastor who was imprisoned in a concentration camp by the Nazis during the Second World War. His famous untitled poem, which begins, “First They Came for the Socialists…”, is engraved in granite at the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston, as well as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

His poem immediately came to my mind after the recent shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, which was the deadliest attack on Jews in American history. I lived and ministered near Pittsburgh for thirteen years, until we moved back to New Hampshire in 2011. This is my interpretation of his poem.  I have updated the words to apply to our present time and our country.

First they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out –

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they shot young black men, and I did not speak out –

Because I was not African American.

Then they demonized the Muslims, and I did not speak out –

Because I was not a Muslim.

Then they came for the illegal immigrants, and I did not speak out –

Because I was not Hispanic.

Then they denied rights to LGBT people, and I did not speak out –

Because I was not gay.

Then they ignored women’s accounts of sexual assault, and I did not speak out –

Because I was not female.

Then they came for the journalists, and I did not speak out –

Because I was not a journalist.

Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.