Speak out, protest against all injustice

About Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)

"Is Hitler a great man?" Niemöller’s frightened wife, Else, asked him. "He is a great coward," her husband replied.

Niemoeller warned her that Hitler would certainly hound and brutalize him, for Niemöller had that day contradicted the Führer at a public meeting.
That evening the secret police raided and searched the Niemöller home.
A few days later a bomb exploded their home, setting it on fire. Friends offered to smuggle him and his family to Sweden, a neutral country, but he declined.

Martin Niemöller was an early supporter of Adolf Hitler, by 1934 he opposed the Nazis, however his high connections to influential and wealthy businessmen saved him until 1937, after which he was Dachau concentration camps. imprisoned, at Sachsenhausen and he survived incarceration to becoming a leading voice of penance and reconciliation for the German people after World War 2.

His poem is well-known, and is frequently quoted; it is popular and effective because it clearly describes the dangers of political apathy.

Political apathy often begins with specific and targeted fears and hatred which can quickly escalate out of control.

Do not be apathetic, fearful, weak willed, but be strong, steadfast, brave and at the same time be pure hearted and humble.

Speak out, protest and fight peacefully against injustice, racism, economic inequalities, hatred, intolerance, suppression of human rights and every form of oppression.

Stand up and be counted, every individual can effectively contribute to a better world.

Martin Niemöller's Poem:

German Original

An English Translation

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Kommunist. Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat. Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten, habe ich nicht protestiert; ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter. Als sie die Juden holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Jude. Als sie mich holten, gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not protest; I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I wasn't a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to protest or to speak out.

"Prost!"