Speaking Up

First They Came...

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.

-Martin Neimoller

Naturally people have the tendency to want to hold back, to not want to speak up, but this is what tears people apart. To be passive gives power to the oppressor which in this case were the Nazis. The bystander plays one of the biggest roles in a situation. My message to you is to not sit there when others are in pain and watch them suffer because it is not for you. This could come when you're least expecting it, and think, if it were you in that situation what would you want someone to do? If the people who'd seen the torture had taken what power they had a stuck up for fell people whatever race the holocaust would not have been able to happen.