“First they came ..." is the poetic form of a post-war confessional prose by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984).

It is about the cowardice of German intellectuals and certain clergy - including, by his own admission, Niemöller himself- following the Nazis' rise to power and subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

Many variations and adaptations in the spirit of the original have been published in the English language. It deals with themes of persecution, guilt, repentance, and personal responsibility.

The best-known versions of the confession in English are the edited versions in poetic form that began circulating by the 1950s. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum quotes the following text as one of the many poetic versions of the speech:

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.

A longer version by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, a charity established by the British government, is as follows:

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 out for me.

Eric Bach on the Big Tech Censorship:

“We can always find justification to shut up the stupidity of our opponents. Censorship it’s a dangerous way to deal with it. What we’ve  tolerated as 1984 is clearly moving into 1939”.