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.
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.
Good idea, but I think “remain silent” applies a bit more generally. The phrase “you have the right to remain silent” is always translated to “sie haben das Recht zu schweigen”. So I went with that.
I think I’d say ‘I kept silent’ as more common or ‘I kept quiet’, probably an even more common phrase.
‘Kept’ would be slightly more ‘active’ than remained I think.
But “remain” does some nice extra poetic work here; it foreshadows another usage of [narrator’s] “remains” - the corpse or ashes or whatever lifeless material is left after their death.
Just in case people don’t know the original.
That’s not the original.
Hint: any version that doesn’t mention “communists” is “filtered”.
Good point. I forgot about the communist part and only copied the first one on wiki due to laziness. Thanks for reminding me.
Which already tells you too much about Wikipedia.
that the best we’ve got is still not good?
Wikipedia is not an entity, it’s a collective. You, personally, can fix whatever is incorrect there. And some would say, should.
Good call, I didn’t know that. This is the original
It’s not straight forward to translate, because there is no active verb in English for “to remain silent”.
And the poem doesn’t mention the disabled, who died first.
Does “I chose silence” work?
Good idea, but I think “remain silent” applies a bit more generally. The phrase “you have the right to remain silent” is always translated to “sie haben das Recht zu schweigen”. So I went with that.
(“schweigen” being the verb I’m looking for here)
I think I’d say ‘I kept silent’ as more common or ‘I kept quiet’, probably an even more common phrase. ‘Kept’ would be slightly more ‘active’ than remained I think.
But “remain” does some nice extra poetic work here; it foreshadows another usage of [narrator’s] “remains” - the corpse or ashes or whatever lifeless material is left after their death.