First They Came

This is one of my favourite poems. I remember reading it in school and firmly believe in it. The summary of the poem is simple. If today you do not raise your voice for the down-trodden and the lesser fortunate, then tomorrow there will be nobody left to support you when in need.

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.

You can find more information about the poem here:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Niem%C3%B6ller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...