When I was trying to recall folktales or family stories from my childhood one of the first things that popped into my head was a story I remember hearing in Hebrew School when I was probably eight or nine years old. After all these years I couldn’t remember the title but after a quick search I found Eve Bunting’s Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust. From what I found the book is based on a quote by Pastor Martin Niemoller about the inactivity of some Germans during the Nazi rise to power in the 1930’s and 40’s. The quote is as follows:

“First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the socialists and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.”

There is a longer version of the quote that mentions other groups, including Jews and Catholics, and there are slight variations of it that exist in the U.S. and other countries. The book that I remember from my childhood adapts this quote through the use of different types of animals living in a forest that are one by one taken away by the “Terrible Things.” This story clearly resonated with me because I remember the impact it had on me to this day. The quote itself may not be a folktale but I think that the many variations that have been told at different times and in different cultures could be.

When I first heard this story I was too young to really comprehend what had happened in the Holocaust but I was able to understand that when the animals were only concerned with protecting themselves and the other animals like them then the entire forest ended up suffering in the end. The story stays true to the form and intent of Niemoller’s quote, but by using birds and rabbits instead of communists and socialists it conveys its message in a way that children can understand. Looking back I think that this story is not only an effective way to introduce children to the concept of the Holocaust but also to teach them to stand up for what they believe is right, even if it means putting themselves at risk for the sake of someone different from them.