1705
speak out now (lemmy.ml)
submitted 4 weeks ago by kingshrubb@lemmy.ml to c/microblogmemes@lemmy.world
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[-] badmin@lemm.ee 34 points 4 weeks ago

That's not the original.
Hint: any version that doesn't mention "communists" is "filtered".

[-] wieson@feddit.org 37 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Good call, I didn't know that. This is the original

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 geschwiegen,
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

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

It's not straight forward to translate, because there is no active verb in English for "to remain silent".

When the Nazis came and took the communists 
I remained silent
Since I wasn't a communist.

When they imprisoned the social democrats 
I remained silent
Since I wasn't a social democrat.

When they took the trade unionists 
I remained silent
Since I wasn't a trade unionist.

When they took me
There was no one left
Who could protest.
[-] seeigel@feddit.org 3 points 3 weeks ago

And the poem doesn't mention the disabled, who died first.

[-] BreadOven@lemmy.world 5 points 4 weeks ago

Good point. I forgot about the communist part and only copied the first one on wiki due to laziness. Thanks for reminding me.

[-] seeigel@feddit.org 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Which already tells you too much about Wikipedia.

[-] Nalivai@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

Wikipedia is not an entity, it's a collective. You, personally, can fix whatever is incorrect there. And some would say, should.

[-] glitchdx@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

that the best we've got is still not good?

[-] BreadOven@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Not that I love wiki or anything, but in their defense, the translated original is below the one I copied. Only separated by a sentence or two. I didn't read them out of laziness, so that's on me.

this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2025
1705 points (100.0% liked)

Microblog Memes

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