I have never concealed the fact and said it before the court in 1938 that I came from an anti-Semitic past and tradition... I ask only that you look … - Martin Niemöller

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew. When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

I began my political responsibility as an ultra-conservative. I wanted the Kaiser to come back; and now I am a revolutionary. I really mean that. If I live to be a hundred I shall maybe be an anarchist, for an anarchist wants to do without all government.

We have no more thought of using our own powers to escape the arm of authorities than had the Apostles of old. No more are we ready to keep silent at man's behest when God commands us to speak. For it is, and must remain, the case that we must obey God rather than man.