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In his song Don’t Let It Happen Here, Charles Mingus uses a version of the famous poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller. We reprint it here.
One day they came and they took the Communists
And I said nothing because I was not a Communist
Then one day they came and they took the people of the Jewish faith
And I said nothing because I had no faith left
One day they came and they took the unionists
And I said nothing because I was not a unionist
One day they burned the Catholic churches
And I said nothing because I was born a Protestant
Then one day they came and they took me
And I could say nothing because I was as guilty as they were
For not speaking out and saying that all men have a right to freedom
On any land
I was as guilty of genocide
As you
All of you
For you know when a man is free
And when to set him free from his slavery
So I charge you all with genocide
The same as I
One of the 18 million dead Jews
18 million dead people
To show your support for Holocaust Memorial Day 2008, visit the official HMD website and, like over 15000 people, light a virtual candle.
Find out more:
* The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum offers a page on the persecution of homosexuals in the Third Reich.
* History of gay men in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust
* Homosexuals and the Holocaust, an essaie by Ben S. Austin
* Gay Holocaust Memorial Site
* Pink Triangle Coalition
* Searchlight – Against Racism
and Fascism.