First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a communist. 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 for me. This was a post-war confession first made in 1946 by the German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller. It was a comment on the cowardice of German intellectuals and certain clergy (including, by his own admission, Niemöller himself) following the Nazis’ rise to power and subsequent purging of different groups.