First they came...

The poem First they came... was written by Martin Niemöller. It is a criticism of the way people in Nazi Germany did not stop the Nazi Party from treating other people poorly.

The poem is as follows:[1]

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.