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.

"First they came ..." is a poem written by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892--1984). It is about the cowardice of German intellectuals following the Nazi's rise to power and subsequent* purging of their chosen targets, group after group. *