‘Paper Clips’

by Rebecca Kurlander

It is amazing how a simple eighth-grade project can evolve into a worldwide phenomenon. In 1998 students of Whitwell Middle School in Tennessee began studying the Holocaust in an after-school class. It was incomprehensible for the students to grasp the number of Jews who died during the Holocaust. How can children truly understand the magnitude of six million individuals?

After much thought and research, and with the support of dedicated teachers and administration, the students decided to collect paper clips because they were invented by Norwegians who wore them on their collars as a silent protest against the Nazis. Their efforts culminated in the creation of the Children’s Holocaust Memorial on the school grounds which includes a rail car that was used to transport victims to concentration, labor and death camps. The railcar contains 11 million paper clips, six million representing the Jews and five million representing other minority groups who perished such as gypsies, homosexuals and the disabled.

“It’s an inspiring story that gives everyone hope for the future as well as the past,” said Lauren Clement, a junior at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School in Great Neck. The documentary “Paper Clips” is the journey of middle school students in their quest to learn. They demonstrate qualities that should be emulated by the rest of the world.

“We call it a non-Holocaust, Holocaust film because it is not directly about the Holocaust,” said Yeeshai Gross, one of the executive producers. “It’s not a photo montage of pictures from Auschwitz. Instead it is about hope and the future.”

What amazed Mr. Gross was that sixth, seventh and eighth graders really cared about the memory of the people who died. “Sometimes it’s hard for young people to think of their own heritages, but these students managed to honor someone else’s heritage,” he said. “We should follow in their steps, learn about other people, take that kind of an interest and follow through.”

“Paper Clips” is great for teenagers because it’s a project and story told from the point of view of young people. Teens relate better to a story told by their peers instead of from their parents and teachers.
It’s amazing that a town full of non-Jews would have the ability to raise awareness about an important human and Jewish issue. These students have become role models to us all about never giving up and keeping the Holocaust alive.

“Paper Clips” is a film that enthusiastically reminds viewers that young people can really change the world.

Rebecca Kurlander is a junior at the North Shore Hebrew Academy in Great Neck, L.I.

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