Defending freedom of expression can be expensive. October 27 is one of the days that reminds me of this fact. That was the day 82 years ago that one of my free speech heroes, Helmuth Hübener, was executed for speaking out against Hitler’s Nazi Germany.

Hübener was just a teenager, but his deeply held religious beliefs disgusted him with the anti-Semitism and bigotry he witnessed in Nazi Germany. After Kristallnacht, “the night of broken glass” which led to the deaths of nearly 100 Jews in 1938, Hübener stopped participating in the Hitler Youth (which was then obligatory).

This is how Hübener’s life as a member of the resistance against the Nazis began. During an apprenticeship at the Hamburg Social Authority in 1941, he met other resistance fighters. He began listening on a radio to enemy broadcasts that his older brother had received from a French soldier, even though this was illegal. Listening to these broadcasts revealed to him the extent of the evil of Hitler’s regime and the fact that Germany was losing the war.

Hübener knew that if he spoke out he could be arrested, imprisoned or killed. He could have kept silent, but he believed that telling the truth was worth it, even if it was costly.

Over the next year, he and two of his friends began publishing and distributing up to 60 pamphlets revealing the truth about the Nazi regime. One pamphlet described Germany as “the country without freedom, the country of terror and tyranny.” Other pamphlets described the true realities of the war and urged Germans to rise up in protest.

Eventually, a colleague discovered what Hübener was doing and reported him to the Gestapo. In February 1942, Hübener and his friends were arrested and tried for treason. Because he was only 17 at the time, Hübener had a chance of receiving a pardon if he apologized for his actions. But he refused. He was sentenced to death and tortured and mistreated. But Hübener stood firm, and in doing so he may have saved the lives of his friends, who were given lighter sentences even though he bore the responsibility.

After his death sentence was read in August 1942, Hübener turned to the judges who had just sentenced him and courageously said: “Now I must die, even though I have committed no crime.” So now it’s my turn, but your turn will come.

We are not faced with something like Helmuth Hübener. We will neither be imprisoned nor beheaded for denouncing this situation. We are fortunate to live in a nation where free speech and dissent have strong protections.

But we have things to fear. We could be deconstructed or fired for speaking out what we think. We might offend and lose our relationships with the people we care about because of our different opinions. This might make us step back and choose silence over speaking out, but Hübener’s courage and conviction should inspire us all to be more courageous. We should know how many people have fought for rights we take for granted, and we should be willing to speak out even if it costs money.