The Paper Clip Project

Eighth graders in the small town of Whitwell, Tennessee, created a monument to commemorate Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Their project was inspired by Europeans who wore paper clips on their lapels as a statement of protest against the Nazis. It originally honored Johann Valer, the Norwegian Jew who invented the paper clip. Their goal was to collect six million paper clips, one for each Jewish victim of the Holocaust. The students received over 20 million, along with letters from survivors and their families. The inspiration for the project came after the Associate Principal became inspired by a Holocaust survivor's speech. He wanted to teach the school's largely white and protestant student population about the issues of hate and intolerance and have them learn about the Holocaust. To go to the school's site go here:
http://www.marionschools.org/holocaust/

HBO is presently airing the documentary this month. To find out when it is on go to this link and type in Paper Clips:

http://www.hbo.com/apps/schedule/ScheduleServlet

The book "Six Milllion Paper Clips: The Making of A Children's Holocaust Memorial" is available in bookstores nationwide and the video is at Blockbuster Video.