Niemöller Nation

First they came for you

Pastor Martin Niemöller was complicated. An antisemitic supporter of Hitler through the Nazi takeover of Germany, he believed that Hitler would make Germany great again, and blamed immigrants, Jews, and the weakness of the government on Weimar’s problems. Sound familiar?

But Niemöller had misgivings when the Nazis began to control Christianity, chose to speak out against Hitler, and was sent to Dachau concentration camp — which he survived. After the war he wrote a famous poem, “First they came for,” and travelled the world speaking out about the Holocaust, and encouraging Germans to take responsibility for it.

I had to tell him, “Dear brother, fellow man, Jew, before you say anything, I say to you: I acknowledge my guilt and beg you to forgive me and my people for this sin.”

– Martin Niemöller, sermon in Erlangen, Germany 1946

Here is one version of his poem:

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

While most people have heard this poem at some point and thought, “That would never be me! I would not stay silent!” many don’t realize it was written by someone who did, in fact, stay silent for years before having a change of heart.

Starting Monday, with the installation of Donald Trump and the “Dark Enlightenment” of the PayPal Mafia into the White House, every American will be Martin Niemöller. We will be a Niemöller nation.

When they come for transgender and queer people, will you speak out?

When they come for immigrants, will you stay silent?

When they come for women, again, will you remain aloof?

When they come for Black, Brown and Native people, will you hide behind your skin?

The cold reality is that it happened here. We allowed a regurgitated Nazi Party, led by a demented rapist felon, to latch itself to an out-of-control plutocracy, collude with our foreign enemies, and seize power — from within. This wasn’t history rhyming, it was plagiarism. It is 1933 in America.

Monday at Noon ET, America will be the Fourth Reich. But America, like Niemöller, is complicated. We will all have Niemöller’s choice — individually, and collectively.

Make it wisely.

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