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.
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.
That’s not the original.
Hint: any version that doesn’t mention “communists” is “filtered”.
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.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)
And the poem doesn’t mention the disabled, who died first.
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.
Wikipedia is not an entity, it’s a collective. You, personally, can fix whatever is incorrect there. And some would say, should.
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.
that the best we’ve got is still not good?