We all know the words attributed to the German Protestant Pastor Martin Niemoller, who was sent to Dachau by the Nazis. They appear at the back of the paperback edition of “The Diary of Anne Frank”:
“First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out — because I was not a communist
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me. — (Pastor Niemoeller, Victim of the Nazis in Germany)”
It turns out that the story is far more complicated than we knew (as reader GregB has written here on more than one occasion).
The Washington Post explains here that Pastror Niemoller was a Hitler supporter and an anti-Semite. He became concerned that the Nazis were trying to politicize and control the church. His critical views led to his arrest and assignment to Dachau.
After the war, he toured American cities, and he said the things for which he is now remembered, but not always in the same words or the same order.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thank you for posting this article. But I think you highlighted that “quote” from the back of Anne Frank’s diary just to mess with me. 😁
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Hahahaha! Suck it up, buttercup.
Just teasing, Greg. 😉
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When you are correct, you are correct! Trying to refrain from using the word right these days.
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Can’t say that I blame you, given the ever-worsening actions of those who consider themselves part of “the right.”
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The link in the WaPo article to the Marcuse paper is incredibly interesting. The first sentence of his conclusion fits Diane’s comments on the transgender ban (“Why? They are the easiest people to attack. Their numbers are tiny. Who cares about them?”) like a glove: “As a final point: Niemöller’s original argument was premised on naming groups he and his audience would instinctively not care about. When his poem is invoked today it is usually to add one’s own group to the list of persecuted. That was not a meaning that Niemöller ever wished to convey. The omission of Communists in Washington, and of Jews in Germany, distorts that meaning and should be corrected.”
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I think the larger point needs to be made–silence about injustice can function as an endorcement of it. Republicans who remain silent about Trump are aiding and abetting his horrible views and actions.
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He is coming after Republicans, is it too late.
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Like Washington and the Cheery tree . The narrative serves a function. The failings of its author aside.
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Indeed, Joel. I wonder if it wasn’t the intention of WAPO to divert our focus from the message. Whatever this man did, the message certainly conveys the experience he lived.
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