Eighty years ago, on July 1, 1937, the Nazis came for Pastor Martin Niemöller, a prominent Lutheran minister, who was once an early supporter of the Nazi regime but was now a political dissenter. They arrested him, sent him to prison and then to a series of concentration camps.
Pastor Niemöller famously said of his transformation from enabler of the Nazis to dissident:
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.
Pastor Niemöller’s message has served as a testament, cautioning us to never look away from the plight of others. Seventy years after they were written, his words are still relevant in this country, where the rights of many have been under constant assault: people of color, religious minorities, and numerous other under-represented Americans.
One need not be a liberal to abide Pastor Niemöller’s message. In fact, the Pastor himself had been a right-wing nationalist who voted for Hitler. But Niemöller’s views on the regime changed after he saw its tyranny, its impact at a personal level.
Similarly, the U.S. Southern Baptists were founded to protect slavery as an institution. It had a long history of racism but now it has resolved to speak out against “white supremacy and every form of racial and ethnic hatred.”
Fighting injustice should not be a conservative or liberal issue. Pastor Niemöller’s words are permanently affixed to the walls of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a reminder that they are an American value. Pastor Niemöller and the Southern Baptists both framed fighting injustice as a Christian value.
There are those in this country who supported politicians and policies which targeted minorities, whether it was directly agreeing with prejudices behind the policies or the rhetoric used to support them—until suddenly it was someone close to home who was affected. A friend, a family member, or a neighbor. For example, Helen Beristain voted for President Trump despite his anti-immigrant sentiments. She changed her mind about the president after her undocumented husband, with no criminal record, was deported.
Similarly, Pastor Niemöller supported Hitler’s antisemitism until Nazi racial policies affected baptized Christians. It was when the Nazis reached into the operations of the church, and challenged its doctrines, that he began to see the impact of Nazi policies.
Pastor Niemöller’s message is that we do not have to wait for a policy to impact us to recognize that an attack on one person’s rights is an attack on the rights of everyone. The erosion of rights is a slippery slope, where the most vulnerable are stripped of their protections which then paves the way for others to lose their privileges. It is for that reason that we must continue to stand up for those facing injustice. To protest these injustices is exhausting and in some cases, such as on the Portland Max train, deadly. But to not protest is dangerous as well.
It can be overwhelming to protest with so many kinds of assaults—deportations, killings for minor infractions at the hands of law enforcement, physical threats, belittlement by elected leaders as rights are stripped away, denials of bodily autonomy, etc. However, Niemöller was not writing, in the early aftermath of World War II, only about Jews. He was writing about a society where the erosion of rights started with just a few minorities and billowed up until it included the stripping his of his own liberty.
It can be dangerous to stand up for the rights of others, as we have seen. Pastor Niemöller would spend over seven months in solitary confinement and then go to a series of concentration camps.
Not everyone is able to take great risks but it is important to take action and to not grow weary of pushing against injustice. A simple act that you can do—write a letter or call your legislators to remind them that their job is to protect all of their constituents, especially those from the most vulnerable groups—collectively will have an impact.
It is important for you to speak out so that you will not live with the regrets Niemöller faced for the rest of his life. Speak up before there is no one left to speak out for you.