Niemöllers

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I was silent,
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I was silent,
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I was silent,
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,
there was no more,
to speak out.

— Martin Niemöllers, Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten.

This is a text for a speech that Niemöllers gave several times. Harold Marcuse has studied how it has coined an almost poetic shape.