Complaining is not entirely an unproductive thing. If you have a valid complaint, don’t be afraid to speak up. If someone tells you that if all you’ll do is complain, you better shut up, don’t.

Below is a poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller about German intellectuals’s apathy during the Nazi party’s rise to power and gradual elimination of their target groups.

First, They Came…

First 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 for me.

Here’s the German version (circa 1976):

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

Tags: apathy, first they came, Germany, intellectuals, Martin Niemöller, Nazi, rights, social cause, speaking up

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