Several versions of this quote exist. The essence of each version is the same -

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn�t speak up because I wasn�t a Communist; And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn�t speak up because I wasn�t a trade unionist; And then they came for the Jews, And I didn�t speak up because I wasn�t a Jew; And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

I know there is a sense of "panic" in the Jewish community because our last generation of Holocaust survivors are getting older. They are very powerful in speaking to younger generations (and older, Jewish and non-Jewish) and in keeping history alive. As survivors die, as in any war, the war becomes a part of history we read about only in books. We no longer have the opportunity to hear from and learn from the people who were alive and experienced it.

I think that naturally impacts the evolution of history and changes it a bit. The Holocaust is something that impacts every Jew, no matter how old, how young, how connected, how disconnected.... it changed the future of Judaism and will continue to impact future generations for years to come.

Right similarly they were saying that the very last WWI veteran is probably going to die soon and once he does, that this war will be only history - nobody will be left to talk to about it (at least in the US) ... when we think about the Civil War right now it's something obscure in the far past for many people.