xaara

The paper clip was invented in 1899 by a Norwegian man named Johan Vaaler. During World War II, it was worn by Norweigians as a symbol of solidarity against the Nazi regime--often the possession of a single paper clip was grounds for arrest at that time.

In 1998, students in Whitwell, Tennessee took it upon themselves to collect 6,000,000 (yes, six million) paper clips as part of a class Holocaust project. The paper clips would represent the Jewish lives lost during the Second World War, and would give the children a greater appreciation for a number like six million.

Upwards of 29 million arrived. To make a long and wonderful story short, people affiliated with the school managed to collect, count, and store the paper clips. Two Germans who had lived in the United States for over two decades returned to Germany in pursuit of an authentic rail car that had been used to transport Holocaust victims and managed to raise the funds to transport it back to the town.

There's a memorial there now: a German boxcar filled with 11 million paper clips (the total number killed in the Holocaust). And there's a sense of what intolerance can do to the world. It's chilling and heartwarming at the same time.

If Paper Clips is playing in your area, I highly encourage you to watch it. It's quite an experience.

Holocaust Rememberance Day is on May 5 this year--I'm still working out the details of a plan to have all the students in my school (in my school system?) wear paper clips that day. I'll have to talk to my teachers.

As for the good news, I co-won the