On 14 January 1900, “Tosca” premiered in Rome, so 14 January is a day for testing loyalties.
Mark Antony was born on 14 January 83 BC, with the Senate declaring him a traitor 52 years later.
Benedict Arnold was born on 14 January 1741 and died in England in 1803, at a time when his father-in-law was chief justice of Pennsylvania.
Martin Niemoller was born on 14 January 1892. He initially supported Adolf Hitler but was imprisoned in concentration camps from 1938 to 1945.
Niemoller’s poem about loyalty to humanity has many versions. That on the US Holocaust Memorial reads:
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.
