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‘CHANGING the world, one classroom at a
time.’
This is the motto of the Whitwell School Project
– whose work is documented in Paper Clips. The film is being shown in Victoria this month, as part of
a campaign aimed at promoting “the concepts of diversity and
tolerance.”
 | | This is a holocaust memorial with a difference, paying tribute to children who died under the Nazis. |
The project began with a teacher in the town of
Whitwell, Tennessee. She decided to teach the story of the Holocaust. To
give it more impact, students were asked to collect six million paper clips
from around the world – each representing a Jew killed in the
Holocaust. Each child was assigned to research the story of the person
behind their paper clip.
The paper clip, invented by a Norwegian, was worn in
Norway as a symbol of solidarity against the Germans during the occupation
of their country.
These six million paper clips now fill a cattle car,
which was once used to transport victims to the gas chambers. The structure
forms a permanent Children’s Holocaust Memorial. The six million
paper clips eventually were extended to 32 million, to represent the many
other victims of concentration camps.
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 | | Now a small museum, this building is a converted railway car - which once transported Jews to gas chambers. |
Linda Hooper, principal of Whitwell Middle School,
calls the project “an affirmation of my beliefs . . . that
evil must be constantly battled by education; that everyone must study the
past so that we do not forget nor repeat our mistakes; and that there is a
higher power guiding our destiny.”
The film showing will also include a discussion of
tolerance. The event is sponsored by Canadian Hadassah-WIZO, a Zionist
organization that provides support to Israeli women and youth. March
29, 2 pm at the lecture hall in the Victoria Conference Centre. Call: 250
412-7986.
– Edie Southward
March 2009
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