The welcome irony is that Martin Niemöller’s words about not speaking out are everywhere. If you were not already familiar with First They Came, his urging of resistance in the face of tyranny and persecution, from history lessons or documentaries on the Holocaust, you will be from countless Instagram feeds during the past three weeks.
Niemöller’s words, repurposed from a speech he gave in 1946, are a cautionary tale and mea culpa, deploring his own inertia in the face of Hitler’s growing persecution of minority groups (the majority of victims, of course, Jews). His words, along with the Dietrich Bonhoeffer quote, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil”, have spread on social platforms following the latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.
