Editor:
Upon reflection of recent news articles such as the story on the local commemoration of Kristallnacht in the Nov. 10 Reading Eagle, the wars overseas and the political strife and growing hatred towards each other in our own country, I would like to share a poem written by a Lutheran minister who first supported the Nazis but turned against the regime and wound up as a political prisoner. It goes like this:
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 Niemoller, 1892-1984
We have all heard versions of the same prophecy that if we don’t learn from the past, we will surely repeat it. I fear it’s happening on many fronts today.
Laurel Schaeffer
Upper Tulpehocken Township
Source: Berkshire mont