Americans would do well to open a history book and learn from the past 

There is a famous post-World War II poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller that is often adapted for modern situations. The most-cited original version of it reads: “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.” 

I always assumed that Niemöller had adopted a persona in the poem – someone who didn’t realize what a slippery slope it was to allow the persecution of first one less powerful group of people, then another. 

I recently learned that Niemöller sympathized with the Nazi party in the 1930s. It wasn’t until he met with Hitler that he realized the party expected Protestants to compromise their beliefs.

Following this realization, Niemöller became an outspoken critic of the Nazi party, was arrested, and then spent eight years as a political prisoner until Allied forces defeated Nazi Germany. The poem is about a lesson he learned the hard way.

Americans would do well to open a history book and learn from the past – or just apply the poem to the present day. 

The Trump administration has made cruelty a centerpiece of its policy. Among other attacks on vulnerable populations, it has enabled over 20,000 ICE agents to arrest anyone who looks or sounds like anything other than their idea of an American first and ask questions later. 

Earlier this month, an ICE agent opened fire on Renee Good, a white American citizen and mother of three who was slowly driving away from him, killing her and sending her vehicle careening into a parked car while witnesses watched in horror. ICE agents stopped medical professionals at the scene from administering aid. In the following days, ICE agents released chemical agents on bystanders at an alarming rate, including on a six-month-old baby whose family was just trying to get home.

The Nazi regime was only as deadly as it was because “good Germans” did nothing. The second-best time to stand up to the Trump regime is now. We are running out of lines in the poem. 

Kari Sommers 

Dover