First they came for
First They Came is a poetic adaptation of a 1946 postwar confessional prose piece by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984). The text serves as a stark warning against the dangers of apathy and silence in the face of persecution, indirectly condemning the complicity of German intellectuals and clergy during the Nazi rise to power.
The most widely circulated English version, often attributed to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, follows this structure:
Altered,
First they came for the (immigrants) and I did not speak out because I was not a (immigrant). 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.
As America builds prisons around the nation, they say for the criminal immigrants. But they pull women and children, and Canadians off the street.
When will they come for you...