Message in a Minute; Paperclip Project, her name is Chelcie.

Her name is Chelcie. That is the way she spells it as displayed on her nametag. She is in the 8th grade at Whitwell Middle School.

The place is the small, rather poor town of Whitwell, Tennessee, population 1600. Whitwell is nestled between two mountain ranges just west of Chattanooga in the Sequatchie Valley.

The Paperclip Project story began one day in the year 1998 in a middle school classroom studying the holocaust. The students were appalled that people could be so cruel, that people could treat others like dirt and that so many were killed. One student exclaimed to his teacher, “I just want to see what 11,000,000 looks like, referring to the number of estimated dead,

That was the beginning of the Paperclip Project and the Children’s Holocaust Memorial in Whitwell, the extent of which could not have been imagined or believed on that day.

In writing this blog, I wish to avoid violating my premise of brevity for “a message in a minute” or to evade redundancy in the telling. I refer you to the website www.marionschools.org/holocaust for a more accurate and engaging history of this project than I can provide. I strongly URGE you to visit the web site and to view the documentary “PAPERCLIPS” now available for rent in video stores.

Whitwell, TN served as a railroad town a long time ago. No tracks even remain in the town today, except a short span of track at the Children’s Holocaust Memorial. The Paperclip Project memorializes the 11,000,000 dead and is centered in a German railroad car that was actually used for transport of Jews to concentration camps. This car sits on that short span of track and contains upwards of 11,000,000 paperclips; more than 25,000,000 have been received to date and they are still counting. The paperclip served as the Norwegian symbol of protest against the Nazis during WW11 and was chosen as the symbol for the project after that fateful day in the Whitwell classroom in1998.

Chelcie, Logan, Robby and her other classmates in the 8th grade serve as student guides and skillfully share what they have learned about the holocaust and fully explain the scope of their Paperclip Project. The video mentioned above has played around the country and indeed around the world. People of all walks of life, all religions, and backgrounds and with varied agendas have visited in person or sent memories, photos, materials and contributions to the school. The program will be expanded next year to include the 9th grade and some students will travel as far as Poland and Capetown, South Africa to meet other young people and exchange country visits.

Because of the great international interest and significant financial support, Whitwell Middle School will have a new building and a new domed arena to contain the Children’s Holocaust Memorial railroad car and to allow display of more of the collectables and paperclips, butterflies and other symbols now in the school’s archives (currently stored in the railroad car, the library, under the gym and everywhere there is space).

Through the years, I have visited several holocaust memorials, including Yad Vashem, met many survivors, visited camps, museums, Jewish communities and various cities in Eastern Europe. However, the emotions I carried away from Whitwell are hard to match. It was hard to leave, but the 8th grade class had to continue their schedule for the day. Chelcie gave us a hug at the exit and sent us off with her big smile and a cheerful, see ya’all again soon, I hope. You will see us again Chelcie or your counterparts now in a lower grade. We will never forget what we have learned this day.

Ann Carol Goldberg