Paper Clips (2004)

This is a documentary from Ergo Entertainment about the students at Whitwell Middle School in Whitwell, TN and an experiment they did about Holocaust Education.

This is a wonderful story that is made all the better because it is true and because it took place in a somewhere like Whitwell, TN. It is hard to put into perspective the impact of the location of this film. Whitwell is in the deep south in rural TN. When I was on my mission I served about 10-15 miles away in Signal Mountain (which is an affluent area separated from Whitwell by a small forest. About 15-20 miles away is a town we covered that was the most racist place I have ever been in my entire life. Whitwell is also only a short distance from Dayton, TN where the famous Scopes "monkey" Trial took place. This is a place where racism in not uncommon and where tolerance is not the most common place in the world.

In an attempt to teach more tolerance the school sought something they could teach to emphasize their point. They decided to teach about the Holocaust. When they were teaching about it a student asked about the victims ans pointed out that they couldn't visualize the 6,000,000 Jews who were killed. Their teacher realized that she wasn't sure she could visualize 6,000,000 either and ultimately allowed the children to find something they could collect 6,000,000 of. Eventually they settled on paper clips.The students wrote to celebrities, politicians, business people and others. The donations began to come in but it was quickly apparent that 6,000,000 may not be attainable. Then some reporters heard of their efforts and did a story. From their the story spread and eventually the students had so many paperclips that the school could struggled to store them all, well beyond the intended 6,000,000.

Eventually thoughts turned to making a memorial using the paper clips. At some point there was an idea to use a German cattle rail car, the kind that was used to transport Jews to the prisoner camps, to house the paperclips for the memorial. A cattle car was located and imported to the United States, then transported to Chattanooga TN and then to Whitwell, TN where it was used to build a memorial to the Holocaust.

This was a touching documentary that would benefit most everyone to see. This story has forever changed the town of Whitwell, the students who participated, and continues to change students who now give tours of the memorial.

Great movie, 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.