In Niemöller’s poem “”First they came …“, he warns of behaviour that will help fascists to take over. The picture above I found online a little while ago. There are two reasons to post this article: First – pride month. Second – people keep asking me why I speak out against fascists – even though people tell me that “fascists will not like that”.
Happy pride , a very happy pridemonth to all!
Just make a happy pride year of it!
And be happy – there is just no better way to make your opponents mad
Rights were never claimed by begging but by fighting
And they can be taken from you, if you are not ready for the fight
The poem in the picture refers to Martin Niemöller‘s poem, he was in the resistance against fascism part of the Confessing Church.
Fight for your rights!
I wish all the best live & the best allies we all can imagine!
[This part was first posted on chaos.social, a Mastodon instance]
This is why I wrote this little piece: I thought Niemöller’s poem was very well known in Germany. I grew up with it and I like it because from my point of view I consider it a beautiful way to tell fellow humans that ignoring the horrible treatment of other people, like getting snatched from the street, will not help anyone but the bad ones.
Political violence is always hardest to the people in vulnerable positions, as we see at the moment in the US, for example, with queers, especially trans people, and migrants.
But during the last year, after my talks and interviews I got addressed by people that asked me, why I am openly speaking against fascists. I was bewildered. And replied with the question what the questioner meant by that. It came out that people considered my statements as dangerous. For myself. Because right-winged people might notice. I would turn myself into a target by speaking out against fascists.
So Niemöller’s poem was not known enough. It describes how not caring, because you and your community is not under attack, not interfering, will help the attackers and will end in protecting know one. Especially not you.
Martin Niemöller did not start as an antifascist. Be became one. He was arrested for his political and social work and imprisoned in concentration camps.
Others, like his colleague Paul Schneider, lost their lives. Martin Niemöller survived the Nazis and stayed active in political struggles, among them the peace movement.
More than 75 years later, people asked my why I was opposing Nazis. And assumed I was making myself into a target for them. From my point of view, we are endangering ourself, our neighbourhoods, and our society by not talking about and against fascism.
There are multiple reasons why you can be a target for Nazis. The colour of your skin, the form of your nose, your sex, your gender, the art you love, the way you love. But never safe in any authoritarian system. You and your group or family can become a target any time.
But what I tried to tell my questioners was, whenever we start to behave in a way that will make fascists comfortable – we are the ones creating fascism. Nazis and other fascists are supposed to feel uncomfortable in a free society. Not well cared for.
We see so many people targeted these days. Their lives and ours are too precious to be harmed and wasted. Whenever we have a chance to speak out, to help out, to protect each other, we have the obligation to do it. Yes, it means that some fascist can notice you – but they might do anyway. No fascist ever changed because you were secretly against fascism.
It might be dangerous some times. But we have so much to lose. And we can win so much more, if we do not comply, if we speak out and if we work together.
We are worth it. So be a good ally to good people.
There are different versions of Niemöller’s poem “First they came…” and various translation into English and other languages. One of the best known translations is by the British Holocaust Memorial Day Trust:
First they came for the Communists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_They_Came
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 out for me