Apathy & Nazi Germany
This poem entitled “First They Came” is attributed to Pastor Martin Niemoller:
When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist.
Then they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.
Then they came for the trade unionists, I did not protest; I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, I did not speak out; I was not a Jew.
When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.
The Pastor who wrote this was ordered arrested by Hitler himself and was held at Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. Allied troops freed him in 1945.
There is a lesson to be learned here, and that lesson is this: Waiting to speak up is waiting until it is too late. There is no time like the present to speak up, step up, and get active. Once your liberty is gone, your right and ability to assemble and speak out are gone, what will you do? No one--let me repeat that--NO ONE is coming to save you once you are locked up for dissenting. Who are you counting on, the French?
There are no excuses in the fight for liberty. There are no excuses in the fight for freedom. There are no excuses in the fight to save the Constitution. There are no excuses in the fight to save America. None.
Work hard? Not as hard as you will in a concentration camp, or under a communist regime. No time with your family? You’ll have plenty of time together (unless they ship you to different locations) in a concentration camp. Tired? How about sixteen hours making big rocks into little rocks, for the government-sponsored highway project they drag you out of camp for each day? Think I’m making this up? So did the Germans and the Jewish in Germany.
Re-read the poem above. Close your eyes and remember what you learned about Hitler; he gave great speeches too. Hitler and Obama both took care of dissenters, just ask the Inspector Generals Obama and company have made go away. Hitler took over the auto business--where do you think the Volkswagen came from? The people's car. We now have GM (Government Motors). Hitler put in the first interstate system. What does Obama want to do for the economy?...put you to work building highways! Hitler was a eugenicist; he was willing to use government healthcare to eliminate costly or undesirable people. Obama’s healthcare system sounds strangely similar. Get old, have health issues, be born with a costly health issue...bummer, you are too expensive for the care program. He is Hitler without the ovens.
As I look around America today, I see a handful of Patriots willing to speak up. I see even fewer willing to take to the streets and protest. I see even fewer willing to do it on a consistent and regular basis. No one is going to save you, but you.
Read the poem again. Let it sink in. When they come for you, who will speak for you? Apathy worked for the Germans, if you don’t mind a totalitarian regime. I guess it will work for you too.
~Bill Turner (Used with permission of the author)
