When Will You Say Something?

Each time I make a presentation about my father’s story, I list the groups targeted by the Nazis. Those include Jewish people, disabled people, gay people, Romani people, Slovenes, Free Masons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Soviet and Polish POWs and civilians, and POLITICAL DISSENTERS. In total 11-12 million people were targeted and murdered because of who they were or what they believed in.

Yesterday, as I read these targeted groups aloud during a presentation, I couldn’t help but think about our country during the past week. Today’s news didn’t help. So, I wrote this. You may recognize that it is based on a poem by the German pastor Martin Niemöller, who wrote about the complicity of not speaking out during WWII.

Any of us who still are not speaking out, in some way, are complicit in the United States of 2025. We must speak out NOW. Not tomorrow, not next week, not when they finally come for “us.”

 

WHEN WILL YOU SAY SOMETHING?

Today, they came for the illegal immigrants, presumably those who are criminals.

But I’m not an illegal immigrant. I’m not even an immigrant. So I say nothing.

 

[Oh, so, I guess I won’t worry if some illegal immigrants who aren’t criminals get nabbed in the process. Or if some legal immigrants get nabbed. Or if people who “look” like they might be immigrants are detained.]

[And, I won’t worry about the fact that my landscapers, nail salon workers, lettuce and cucumber harvesters, caregivers might be targets of a raid. Even if they are legal, they will be targets. Some won’t show up at work. I may not be able to afford to have my nails done. My friends might not have much-needed help for their aging, ailing parents.]

But I won’t worry because I’m not a landscaper, nail salon worker, lettuce harvester. And, sadly, my parents are gone, so I won’t need a caregiver for them. So I say nothing.

 

Then, they came for people who were born in the USA, just because their parents weren’t US citizens.

[Even though this act is blatantly unconstitutional.]

But I was born to naturalized American parents. So I say nothing.

 

Then, they came for anyone who tried to speak truth.

But I’m not in the Department of Justice, so I say nothing.

I’m not in a job that provides impartial oversight to government entities to ensure they act legally. So I say nothing.

And I’m not Dr. Fauci or John Bolton or Mike Pompeo or Brian Hook.

So I say nothing.

 

Then, they came for my Medicare medication costs.

But I’m not on Medicare, so I say nothing.

 

And remember: First, they came for all of us. They did this by freeing convicted criminals, some of whom violently attacked police officers as said officers were bravely doing their jobs, defending a United States government building from insurrectionists.

Still, I say nothing. Because, you know, Biden and his last-day pardons.

 

Make no mistake, they WILL come for the rest of us.

Muslims. Jews. Women. Intellectuals. Teachers and Professors. Small business owners. Shoe salesmen.

People who write things like what I just wrote.

 

When will you say something?


Photo: Engraved words of Martin Niemöller at the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston.

Irene Stern Frielich regularly speaks about her father’s Holocaust survival experience and how she unraveled his story. She is a periodic blogger covering topics such as Holocaust and WWII history, current events, memory, and hope. She is also the owner of an award-winning instructional design consulting firm in Sharon, Massachusetts. Irene is deeply grateful to the eighteen courageous individuals who helped her family survive the Holocaust. She carries their legacy forward through her book and through her acclaimed multimedia presentations.

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