Errors & Omissions Excepted
Martin Niemoller said in 1945:
First they came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.
When his words are quoted in the United States,
they often leave out the reference to the Communists.
How disgusting, I thought.
And then I wondered why this ex-U boat commander
who voted for the Nazis in 1924
had omitted other minority groups the death squads also came for
and he didn't speak up for them, either.
I wonder why he didn't mention the homosexuals?
Or the disabled or mentally ill?
Or the gypsies?
April 22, 2000
