I remained silent？我还沉默吗？

"First they came…" is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

此诗句被翻译成多个版本，因为政治因素，在美国反共期间（麦卡锡主义）共产党这敏感的字眼被删除。

在美国波士顿的犹太人死难纪念碑前有一段话:

当他们屠杀犹太人时,我没有作声,因为我不是犹太人;当他们屠杀基督徒时,我没有作声,因为我不是基督徒;当他们来抓共产党人时，我保持沉默因为我不是共产党员人;后来他们要杀我时,已经没有人能为我作声了 .



Poem (1976 version)
Original Translation
Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.


Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

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.

New England Holocaust Memorial
The version inscribed at the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston, Massachusetts reads:

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

参考资料

无论如何从多个版本的演变可以看到人们非常需要这样的诗句来提醒自己不应该在面对不义的事情保持沉默！