All language subtitles for Paper Clips.English

To the students of
the Whitwell Middle School:

l recently learned from a friend
about your paper clip project.

l was so moved by the story
that l found myself in tears.

You've embarked on a journey
that begins in the brain but
ends in the heart.

Six million Jews will never
again dance, love, sing or
learn,

but the souls of six million
Jews will be honored, remembered
and treasured

because of your little school
in Whitwell, Tennessee,

and the tolerance and love
that live there.

My name is Linda Hooper.

l've lived here,
in Whitwell, Tennessee, all my
life,

and l've been the Principal
of the middle school for nine
years.

A lot of people have said
that our little town

is an unlikely place
for what happened.

l guess l can understand that.

Probably most people,
if they drove into Whitwell,

would not be terribly impressed.

lt's a very rural town, about
24 miles northwest of
Chattanooga.

lt's got just two traffic
lights...

...several gas stations,
and a couple of restaurants.

Whitwell used to be
a coal mining community,

and then about 30 years ago,
we had a really bad accident,

and the coal mining industry
just went bust.

So now we're what's called
a depressed community.

But let me tell you something,
we're not depressed;

we're poor, we're extremely
poor.

But let me tell you
about our children.

We have wonderful children.

They're respectful,
they are thoughtful,

they are caring...

but they are pretty much
homogenous.

We are a community of 1600
people; however, we really have
no diversity.

There are no Jewish people,
no Catholics,

and in our school, we have only
five
black kids and one Hispanic
child.

We are all alike.

And when we come up to someone
who is not like us,

we don't have a clue.

So, in 1998, we began an
adventure.

lt was no great mission.

lt was a need, our need.

We were looking to do a project
that would involve tolerance and
diversity.

So Miss Hooper sent me
to a conference in Chattanooga,

and l went to this conference
and went to many, many classes

to try to find a project
that would fit our need.

So he came back to me,
and he said,

''You know, if we studied
about the Holocaust,

think about all of the things
we could learn.''

We could surely learn about
evil.

And we would definitely
learn about a culture

that was totally different
from our own.

And so l went
and asked Sandra Roberts,

who is the 8th grade
Language Arts teacher,

if she would like to help.

When l heard about the project,
l was so excited.

l couldn't say yes quick enough.

We sat down and we decided
that our goal was

to teach children what happens

when intolerance reigns
and when prejudice goes
unchecked.

So that's what we set out to
do--

to teach our children that not
everybody
is white and Protestant

and doesn't live in a rural
community

where they are very protected
and loved and cared for.

That's all we wanted to do,
just a nice, simple thing.

The important thing is the
lessons

that you're going to learn
from this project.

How important it is to treat
everybody exactly like you want
to be treated.

Let's talk a little bit about
what's going to happen today.

The first year,
which was in '98, l believe,

there was just the Holocaust
project.

The teachers didn't know a lot,

but they were trying to teach
the kids
what they did know.

They read books, and they
watched
video clips, saw pictures.

And they just tried their best
to do what they can.

But l want to remind you
before we start

that what we're going to cover
in this project is very, very
graphic...

Of course, one of the first
things
that the kids had to learn

and one of the hardest things
for them to comprehend

was that Hitler murdered
6 million Jewish people.

The idea for the paper clips
came
when a student said,

''What is 6 million?
l've never seen 6 million.''

Miss Hooper's like,
''Well, neither have l.

lf you can find something
to collect, we'll try it.''

So the students began doing
some research on the lnternet...

and they discovered that the
paper clip
was invented in Norway.

l never knew that.

And they also learned that the
Norwegians used the paper clip

as a symbol during the
Holocaust.

Back in the 1940s, Norwegians
wore paper clips on their collar

to represent the people
who were in the Holocaust at
that time.

The Jews had to wear stars
telling people that they were
Jews,

so the Norwegians wore the paper
clip
to represent what the wrongdoing
was.

Because if they spoke out about
it,

they would probably get killed
or put in a concentration camp.

And they came, and they said,

''Can we write some letters
to some people we know

''and to some other schools
and to some famous people,

and see if they'll send us
some paper clips?''

Miss Hooper said, ''Sure.''

So, we began sending letters
out.

We have some from Tom Hanks
and from Bill Cosby

and from former President Bush

and former President Clinton
and President Bush.

''Dear Students: Celebrities
don't always read their fan
mail,

''as they think it's
time-consuming.

''And though l, too, am guilty of
not reading everything that
crosses my desk,

''l was certainly glad that l
read yours.

''l have a very difficult time
explaining
to any of my seven grandchildren

''what the Holocaust was all
about.

''l am a Jew.

''The whole depravity of what
happened
in the concentration camps

''really struck home
when l saw pictures

''of the atrocities perpetrated
on the Jewish people.

''Those pictures are still very
much alive
in my memories.

''l'm sending you one paper clip.

''lt is my paper clip.

''ln the future,
l will remember your project

''with every paper clip
l come in contact with,

''as it will be a symbol of what
you students are trying to
accomplish.

''l am moved by your endeavors.
Bless You.

Tom Bosley.''

l mean, if this is a middle
school,
we're talking about 8th graders,
l guess.

''Propaganda has absolutely
nothing to do with the truth.''

And the stimulation that they're
getting from their teachers is
really--

everyone there should be
commended
for what they've done.

When l came in here,
l didn't really know a lot about
it,

so it just felt good
to be a part of something big

and learn more about the
Holocaust.

Every year, the incoming 8th
graders
pick up where last year's left
off.

One of the really motivating
things
for David and me

is seeing the thoughtfulness
each new group brings to the
project.

Terri Lynn, sitting there
all nice and still.

Why did you want to be a part of
this?

Because l know that your
afternoons
are very full with cheerleading

and other things
that you do in your life,

and this is going to take
a huge commitment.

l wanted to do this because l
think that this would help
everybody

stop and make sure
that they know somebody

before they start thinking and
saying,

and l know that l do that, and l
think
this group would really help me.

Very good...

When l started this project,

the person l was
is not the person l am now.

lt's what you do with that
charisma.

l was a new teacher,
still trying to further her
career

and figure out my teaching
styles
and what worked best for me,

not necessarily what worked best
for the children.

l think you get so engrossed in
what can you do to further your
career,

and it becomes about you.

Rumors. We all know what they
are.

We all probably have been
subject
to one or two in our life.

Does that make a difference
in they way people think about
you

and think about me?

Oh, yeah, it does.

When the project first began,
l was very prejudiced in many
areas

and was very quick to judge all
races.

l was the typical Southern
person,
quick to judge and quick to
stereotype.

As a teacher, l guess l'd
listened
to what everyone had said

about kids that age
and pretty much had stereotyped

children, you know, in my
classes.

l wouldn't take input from them.

l would tell them what l wanted
them
to know, and that was it.

You're going to come up with
some really cool posters.

These children really wanted to
understand the magnitude of the
Holocaust.

That's why the second group
in the Fall of 1999

added the Paper Clip project
to their weekly meetings.

And with letters and paper clips
coming in, it seemed to be
catching on.

We first got a shipment
of 100,000 paper clips.

They were very excited, and they
thought they were off to a
booming start.

We received that
in one large shipment

from a gentleman in California,
a jewelry designer.

And he called and he was all
excited,
so, for a couple of weeks there

we were real excited: ''Oh, we
got 100,000, this is going very
quickly.''

8,830.

And then we got into a huge lull

where we would go weeks
and receive two letters.

And it's really hard
to keep your optimism up,

your enthusiasm up, and to keep
up
the enthusiasm of 27 kids.

And we were just fiddling
with some numbers, trying to
determine

how long it was going to take us
to get to 6 million at the
current rate.

And it was gonna take us 10
years,
and we just both shook our
heads.

We knew we didn't have
that much in us.

Sandy and l sat and looked at
each other, and we said, ''Well,
if we can collect

''1 .5 million for the children
that were killed, that,'' you
know,

''we'll probably be doing pretty
good.''

Towards the end of 1999, l guess
the project could have gone
either way.

But no one was ready
to give up on it just yet.

Fortunately, that's when
Peter and Dagmar Schroeder came
in.

Alcohol, how is it called?

Oh, moonshining.
Moonshining. Yeah.

Oh, gosh. How do you describe
Peter and Dagmar Schroeder?

lt's only a beginning now.

They contacted us in October of
'99.

And the letter read, their
friend,

who was a 94-year-old Holocaust
survivor named Lena Gitter,

had found our project on the
lnternet,

and she said,
''This is your assignment.''

We both are journalists, and we
are here
in the United States for 20
years.

We are White House
correspondents.

Yes, Whitwell High.

And on the side we try to get
a feel for this country.

ls this where they have
the football game?

Yeah, there.

''Go, Tigers.'' ''Go, Tigers.''

As journalists, you always have
this negative stuff you write
about.

And then if you're getting
older, like us, then it's the
danger that you get cynical.

And that you don't believe
in good stuff anymore.

ln the beginning,
there was not much of paper
clips.

They just have started to
collect them.

We saw then, OK, we have to help
the kids, and that we can do
that.

And the Germans
should be involved.

And we were talking to some
people
at the school,

and we asked, ''Can we come over?
Can we visit you?''

So, and they said, ''Sure.''

Maybe it was not only
an experience for us,

it was an experience
for the children, too.

Because the children obviously
had
no idea what Germans looked
like.

They asked their teacher,
''How do Germans look like?

Are they different from us?''

And then we came over,

and later they told us,
''You look quite normal.''

We lost our professionality
right away when we saw the kids.

How can you be--
be professional,

when strange kids
of 13 or 14 or 15 years old,

you have never seen in your
life,

hug you
and greet you like an old
friend?

You can't.

Little Tiger.

You are number one. Give me
five.
Could you do that?

That's a little bit hard.

They came...

they saw...

they wrote.

They went back to Washington.

They sent Dita Smith
with theiWashington Post[/l] to our
school.

l did a little research on the
town
and the area

and realized that Dayton,
Tennessee
is only about 30 or 40 miles to
the north,

where the famous Monkey Trial
took place, otherwise known as
the Scopes Trial,

where a teacher was tried
for teaching Darwinian theories

rather than Christian theory
of Creationism.

The other historical fact that l
discovered when l was in
Whitwell

was that the Ku Klux Klan was
founded only about 100 miles
away, in Pulaski.

Maybe when l got to Whitwell,
l was a little bit prejudiced
myself.

l expected a town that was
close-minded, very Christian,
very fundamentalist,

but l realized that, that in
itself
was my prejudice, not their
prejudice.

After l went to Whitwell,
l wrote my story...

and it appeared on Passover Day.

From NBC News World Headquarters
in New York,

this is NBC Nightly News
with Tom Brokaw.

The Holocaust.

The cold, calculated
extermination
of millions of Jews.

A great evil that must
never be forgotten.

From a corner of Tennessee
tonight, perhaps this generation
is teaching us.

Well, it really started getting
big

whenever, like, theiWashington
iPost
came down, and then NBC came,

and then people just started--

the paper clips just started
coming in by the millions.

1 1 ,390.

Before theiWashington Post[/l] came,
we probably had 150,000 paper
clips.

Thirty.

Thirty-one.

Thirty-two.

Over a period of six weeks, we
ended up with 24 million paper
clips.

And we counted them all.

The grannies counted them.

The aunts counted them.

lt's heavy, so be careful.

Everybody was counting.

We checked in
over 24 million paper clips...

and about 25,000 pieces of mail.

At first, when it went
from maybe a tub or so,

which our regular mail carrier
would take in his car every day,

it got to the point
where we had hampers full,

and he couldn't load those
hampers
with the rest of his mail.

So, we had to call the middle
school
and inform them,

''Something's going on over here.

lnstead of us delivering your
mail,
you have to come to us to pick
it up.''

Got something for you here from
Germany, this suitcase right
here.

That came in this morning.

- Looks old, too.
- Yeah, it does looks vintage,
doesn't it?

l see a paper clip hanging out
the back.

There it is, right there.

That's wonderful,
l can't wait to get in that.

Thanks. l appreciate it.

Alright, man, we'll see you
later.
Have a good day.

- You, too.
- OK.

lt's sorted in two different
crates:

Alabama through Montana
and then Nebraska through
Wyoming.

Foreign mail is all held
in a separate crate.

They take every letter out.

They empty the paper clips out.

Once you get it sorted, then you
sort it again by individual
states.

And then they will grab a
bundle,

go pull the log where they
hand-record every address.

And they love the stamps.

They'll scrape the stamps
off the envelopes and keep them,

because they come from Spain and
Germany and New Zealand and
England.

Every piece of paper,
regardless of size, is kept.

lt is put in a plastic sleeve
and stored in a notebook.

We are averaging filling up
a three-inch binder every two
days.

There was a time when we were
just flooded with paper clips,

and l began l to think, ''My
word,
what have l unleashed here?'' You
know?

lt's like you're in a flood
and you're trying to stop it,

and yet you don't want it to
stop,
because coming with the flood

are all these important lessons.

lt's in German.

They're all addressed to ''Anne.''

This is Anne Frank.

This is awesome.

They've written little things
to Anne Frank.

Somebody is interested enough
in what we're doing

to take this kind of time.

l think it's amazing enough
that they even know about it.
You know?

There are people
in Chattanooga, Tennessee

who don't know
where Whitwell, Tennessee is.

- That's absolutely true.
- That's true!

Most people are good, you know,
like Anne Frank said in her
diary.

You know, people at heart are
good.

And when they see something like
this happening that is good,

they want to be a part of it.

You know, the majority of people
want to see things get better

and they want to see children
in a good light instead of in a
bad light.

This class in Germany
has gotten a suitcase,

and they have packed it
with messages.

Basically, they're all kind of
asking
for forgiveness from Anne Frank.

Now, l think everybody in here
has either seen or readiThe
iDiary of Anne Frank.

The gist of most of the messages
is what this translation says:

''Dear Anne: You were brave
and courageous.

''l think it is not good
what Hitler did to the Jews.

Regardless of who we are or what
we are, people are people.''

l believe people from the North
and the West,

l believe when they look at
children in the South,

they think,
''Dumb little redneck children.''

They're stereotyped, and that's
what
we're trying to teach in this
project.

You can't stereotype anyone,
because you yourself are
stereotyped.

l am stereotyped,
because l live in the South.

And, you know, l look at people
that live in the North,

and l have a bad habit of doing
it,
l stereotype them...

and that's what we're trying to
do,
is break those stereotypes.

Listen to this letter.

''Shalom. l read on the lnternet
about your assignment

''and was very moved by the idea
of collecting 6 million paper
clips

''in the memory of the 6 million.

''l look forward to seeing
pictures
of the completed project.

''The attached paper clip is in
memory
of a friend of my grandfather

whose name is forgotten
and grave unknown.''

l think that it's beautiful
that they don't know his name

and they don't know
where his grave is,

and--but l think it's good
that they're sending a paper
clip

in remembrance of him.

Reading the letters, it's like
you get to know people that
aren't here anymore.

And l'm thinking about
all the people, one by one,

that they each had families

and they each were brothers or
sisters,

and they were daughters and
sons.

l think for our children it was
like
an ice water bath

when the letters began to come.

As one of the kids said to me,

''Do you realize that there are
people
in this world

who never knew their
grandparents?''

l don't think it had ever
occurred to them that there were
people in this world

who had nobody to care about
them
and who didn't have families.

''Dear Students: l am a daughter
of two Holocaust survivors.

''l am so proud of what you're
doing

''in memory of all who perished
during the Holocaust.

''My parents, Kalmon and Louisa
Gluck, survived many horrors

''during their internment
under the Nazi regime.

''Many members of both my
mother's
and father's families died at
the camps.

''l have enclosed 14 paper clips
for four grandparents, a
brother,

''seven aunts and uncles,
and two cousins.

''l wish you the best of luck
on your wonderful project.

Sincerely, Mrs. Sheila Gluck
Levine.''

l grew up a child

who had no grandparents
when others had them.

All l wanted was people.

l wanted them,
and l never had them.

ln front of me, l have a prayer
book

that my father took
through the camps with him.

lt was given to him by a man
who was being gassed,

and the man asked him,
if he survived the camps,

that he should take it with him.

And this is something that has
survived since my father was
liberated in 1945

and has been in our family.

When my father passed away,

everyone got to feel
where my father held this prayer
book

and how tightly
it must have been held.

l thank you so much for giving
another way to say,

''l remember him,
l remember my mother,

''the times in the camps,

and l also remember those we
lost.''

Thank you.

Comes along the Spring of 2001 ,

the ''Greater Five Towns''
Holocaust
Survivor Group in New York
called us

and it seems that somehow
they'd heard about the project.

And they wanted to know
if they could come to Whitwell

and share their survivor stories
with our children.

And the evening before they
spoke
to the children at the school,

they were invited to
the First United Methodist
Church

for the whole town to meet them.

They don't know what Whitwell
is,
and, you know,

they're coming from
this huge urban area

and they're a little
self-conscious
or nervous about it.

You don't need to be nervous
here.
We're just home folk.

And we're just glad to have them
here.

My name is Joe.

l'm a survivor.

l was in Auschwitz for three
years.

l've got a number,
the number is 1 -24-105.

And l'm glad that l can come
and talk to you nice people.

Thank you.

l want to remind our members
here

that our guests should be the
first
ones to go through the line
tonight,

and let's have a moment
of blessing together.

Our Father, we thank you
especially
for our guests this evening.

We ask your special special
blessings
on this food...

Good evening.

Wherever hatred and prejudice
will,

it will find a wedge and a way
into our lives.

But because of what
these young people are doing,

we are understanding
that there is another way,

and that is the way of love,

and we can reach out
and embrace all people.

First thing l want to say,
l wish the whole world was like
you are.

l was born in Poland.
My name is Bernard lgielski.

When the first survivor came, l
think,

is when it really hit home
what we were teaching.

We as Jews were singled out,
put in a ghetto, had to wear a
star...

And they spoke and gave us
a real-life face to a story.

l said when l stood in Auschwitz

and l've seen that big chimney
smoking day and night...

And we didn't really understand
until that point

that what we were teaching, you
know, wasn't just book learning.

lt was-- this had actually
happened,
and this person lived through
it.

And instead of being afraid,
shielding your children,

prepare, prepare them
for the real world.

Yes, there are not nice things
out there, but if they will be
prepared,

they will be able
to do the right thing.

Thank you.

Future generations will have to
learn about the Holocaust

from the textbooks.

We are the eye witnesses that
can,
to a certain degree,

tell you what took place.

l was born in a small town in
Poland.

The one who stood out for me
was Sam.

He was like a grandfather,
a great-grandfather.

He just, when he-- he'd look at
you,

and he'd just make you feel all
warm
and loving inside toward him.

l was with my brother.

My brother was
three years older than l am.

But l had no idea...

When they first arrived to
Auschwitz,

Sam and his brother and his
mother
and his little brother

met up with the Doctor Mengele.

He was the one
who chose left or right.

And he sent his mother
and little brother left,

and he sent Sam and his brother
right.

And so Sam did not know
what had happened.

And after they had went through
the showers,

Sam found a guard and asked him.

And l asked him, l said, ''Please
tell me. We arrived last night,

''and l arrived with my mother
and my brother.

''Where are they?

What happened to them?''

And that man shows me smoke
coming out from a chimney.

l did not understand
what that means...

until l found out that that
chimney's
from a crematorium.

l was thinking what it would
have been like if that was me in
his place

and my family and my brothers
and my mom,

and l was just thinking
how horrible that would have
been.

And l'll never know
what he went through.

And l only pray to God

that my brother should not
have been sent to such a place,

because he would not survive.

To actually see someone who had
been through the things that l
read about,

that was really hard.

But-- l just, as a mother, l
kept trying to imagine what that
would be like,

to have my kids taken away from
me
like that or, l mean,

just not to know where they
were.

l think that struck me
about as hard as anything.

l will tell you one thing.

Everyone survivor got a story.

There's not enough paper
in the whole world,

and not enough pens to write
down
what these survivors went
through.

Thank you.

This is a loving community.

And l look at it as, l mean,
there's no place in the world

that this would have been
any more appropriate to start...

because this Holocaust project
is a project about love...

and tolerance...

and what better place to start
than Whitwell, Tennessee?

Please stand for the National
Anthem.

l pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America

and to the Republic for which it
stands, one nation under God,
indivisible,

with liberty and justice for
all.

This is our monument of shoes.

lt commemorates the Jews
that are in some of the death
camps.

The morning after the survivors
spoke
at the First United Methodist
Church,

they came to our school because
they wanted to see first-hand

what the children were doing
with this project

and have a special time
with these students.

lt is important to me
to tell these stories,

because there are people in the
world which are denying that it
ever took place.

ln order to annihilate us and
erase
any trace of whatever happened,

at least that was their
intentions,

we were put on a dead march

and usually we marched
during the night, mostly,

so we wouldn't be visible
to the general public.

Most of us didn't make it.

The Americans, they showed
themselves on the horizon,

and l ran out of camp, and l was
hiding,
so l spent the night over there

and l wouldn't dare go out,
and l waited until the next day.

l had to risk it, and l went
out.
The Americans were there.

And l was a free person to do
what l...

But l'm still here.

That's the main thing.

l want you all to know, l came
here
to the United States in 1948,

and l've been the happiest ever.

l want you to know happiness
makes me cry more than anything
else.

l never have thought about it
this way before,

but after l heard his speech
and how emotional he got,

it really touched me.

l just can't imagine
just one day being at home

and the next day being shipped
off
to a concentration camp

and being tortured like that.

lt just makes no sense why
people
in the world let that happen.

lt made me realize, the next
time l say
the Pledge of Allegiance,

l'm going to think of how glad l
am
that it's a free country

and l had the right to do what l
feel
and say what l say and l just--

being much more respectful to
it.

When l was finished, l was--

they embraced me and hugged me
and kissed me.

They couldn't-- and they never
heard these, so some of them
cried, even.

Because they never heard stories
like this here,

and they were never in contact
with people that experienced it.

To me, they're my heroes,
because
they've been through everything.

l'm going to take what they've
told me
and pass it down with my kids

to their grandchildren and so
on,
and to my friends and my family,

where they will always remember
that this horrible thing
happened,

and hopefully they can prevent
it
from ever happening again.

They're learning from what we're
teaching, and they're teaching
others.

And that's the whole point of
this project, to teach their
children

and their grandchildren
and their great-grandchildren.

Growing up in the South, growing
up
in rural Tennessee, as l have,

l've been exposed to
a lot of racial remarks.

You know, my dad is
the greatest man on earth.

And l have no doubt of that.

But he has a bias,

and he can make racial slurs,

and it's not anything against
him.

Going into college, l had
an African-American roommate

and loved him like a brother
and still do.

But it was nothing for me to--
even sometimes in his presence,

say racial slurs or--
and l look back now, and l--

l hope that it didn't, l guess--

l hope it didn't hurt him.

This is one of your favorites,
isn't it, Cody?

lt's your favorite, too.

Yeah, it is, and it was one of
my favorites when l was little.

And now, this project,
l see things like that.

''Hit the ball,'' said Danny.

''Hit a homerun,'' said the
dinosaur.

lt makes me, you know, very
aware.

And l make sure, with two small
sons,
that l don't say it.

l don't want them to grow up and
say that, and say, ''Well, my
father said this,''

because that would...

that would be the worst thing
they could say.

Good night.

See you boys in the morning, OK?

Say your prayers
before you go to sleep.

By the time the survivors
visited us,

we had more than four times
the number of paper clips

that we originally set out to
collect.

There was not a place in this
school,
not even the broom closet,

that wasn't just flooded
with paper clips.

And we were at dinner one night
with the Schroeders,

and conversation was just
flowing,
and Linda, just in between
bites, said...

''You know what l really wish
we could have?

''l wish that we could have an
authentic German railcar of the
period

to house our paper clips
as a permanent memorial.''

And conversation just stopped.

And we all kind of looked at
each other
and thought, ''Oh, a railcar.

Oh, we have to have a railcar.''

And the Schroeders
were like, ''This is the idea.

''We will find a railcar.

We promise you,
we will find a railcar.''

l think when the decision was
made
to get the railcar

and the Schroeders jumped in
and volunteered to find one,

l really don't think they knew
what they were getting into.

Oh my God, we wrote to everyone
and his brother and asked him,

''Do you know where a cattle car
like this is?''

And everyone and his brother
wrote us back,

''There are no such things.''

And then we decided
to look for it ourselves.

And we went on a detective tour.

We drove 3,000 miles criss-cross
through Germany

and went to every railyard
we can imagine.

And, kaboom, we found one.

This car has a long history.

lt was built in 191 7...

then, in 1933, Nazism came...

and then it transported victims
to concentration camps...

and then it went on another
journey...

and the journey was from north
of Berlin, from the railroad
museum,

to the German port of Cuxhaven.

Well, the Schroeders called us
one day at school

and said that they were
successful
in finding a car.

And they said it would be a
short time
that they would ship the car

from Germany to the United
States,
to the port of Baltimore.

Come on in, we've got chairs.

At 10:00 a.m. on November the
9th,
we hope to dedicate this
railcar.

When we got to a certain point
in establishing this memorial,

we realized we needed
lots and lots of help,

so we said, ''OK, we're going to
have
a community meeting.''

Right now we have on this
property
27 plus million paper clips.

We've got to have help.

We've got to have
a parking committee.

We have to have
a landscaping committee.

lt's got to look pretty around
it now.

We also have to figure out
how to get the paper clips in
there.

You know, you're talking about
22 metric tons, you know.

l have a hard time visualizing
my fat self, much less 22 metric
tons. OK.

Now, we'll type these committees
up.

We'll send all of you darlings a
copy,

so don't you leave here
until we get your address.

lf you want to see where it's
going,
come out here and l'll show you.

We had children
from all the previous groups
show up

and they brought
their parents with them,

and they saw that other people
in the community came,

people they knew would be
working
to get this thing going.

This community is going to have
a piece of living history

like no other communities have.

No large urban areas,

nobody else has a piece of
history
like we're going to have here.

The car will sit approximately
halfway between this point...

Sometimes when l think
about this project,

l think, ''Who is really
in charge of this project?''

...cannot be closer
than 20 feet to that wall.

People who are interested
in this project

will call me up and say,
''What's your plan?''

Well, l've never had a plan.

What do we know
about building a memorial?

What do l know about getting
a railcar from Germany?

l think that there's a far
greater power
than the people at Whitwell
Middle School

in charge of this project.

And, if not, you tell me
how we got this far.

l said, ''God created the world
in less than seven days,''

and someone said, ''Yes, and he
didn't have Linda Hooper helping
him.''

You have certain feelings
when you see a car like this,

and you can't help but remember
what happened in this car

Our work is done, l think.

We brought the car over,
and that's it.

You think so? l don't think so.

- l hope so.
- l don't think so.

lt will stay with us forever.

That's possible.

We thought, ''We have seen this
cattle car now numerous times.

''We know this cattle car.

lt can't do anything to us.''

Then you realize
what this car actually means.

This car transported people
to concentration camps.

They put in 80, 90, 1 10 people.

They suffocated in these cattle
cars,
and one quarter of every
victim--

of all the victims were
children.

Now it is here in Baltimore,
and then it goes down to
Chattanooga

and to Whitwell...

but this will be
the end of this car's journey.

This car will not transport
people anymore.

This car will be a symbol.

Symbols make us think.

Symbols can change the world.

And sometimes symbols are all we
have
to help us maintain our
resolve...

even on our darkest
and our most tragic days.

The sun came up on Monday morn

The world was all in flames

lt's all a mortal man can do

To make it right again

Swing and turn, Jubilee

Live and learn, Jubilee

The time has come to travel on

l made my way alone

Souls will mend at journey's end

This road will take me home

Swing and turn, Jubilee

Live and learn, Jubilee

Swing and turn, Jubilee

Live and learn, Jubilee

When l first saw the car,
it moved me almost to tears.

That's the reason l went up
and laid my hands on the car to
start with.

To sort of, you know, in my mind
go over
what's happened with this car

and what it's meant to history,

and what it means to me
personally.

And then when it came here
and l got to look inside it, it
just--

you know, it killed me.

lt's unbelievable the thoughts
that go through your head.

l was one of the first
to actually stand in the
railcar.

The floor was sort of rotten,
and you had to watch where you
stepped.

But just the thought of 100
people
fitting in that small area is
just,

it's heartbreaking.

And Miss Hooper got up there
with me,
and she just burst into tears.

When people began to climb
into the railcar,

l just-- l couldn't handle
that...

because to me it had a life of
its own,
and l have never been in that
car yet

that l don't hear those
voices...

and feel that pain.

lt survived in the face
of overwhelming odds,

and now it's come home.

Cassie and l were standing
in the car today,

and we kind of had our hands
on the car.

And she said, ''What would it
tell us
if it could talk?''

l said, ''Cassie, it would tell
us
you're paying homage to people

''who suffered simply because of
the way they believed,

and because of hatred
and ignorance.''

This is all about not only
mourning their loss,

but celebrating their life.

What l did think that day is,

''From now on, you will not be
an instrument of pain.

''Your history as a death car
is erased...

''and now you are a car of new
life...

''and you're going to stand here,
and you're going to say,

'Thereiis[/l] good in this world.'''

From now until November 9th,
it will be a work in progress.

lt's hard for me to understand
the enormity of this project,

of how many people know about
it,

you know, how far this project
has reached.

Behind each side there will be
5 � million paper clips.

And l look at these people
that are right here today,

and they're as excited
about this as l am.

We're doing it on
a volunteer basis and...

just for the town and for the
people.

The whole community is involved
in it,

and what little bit we can
contribute,
why, l'm glad to do so.

The idea for the butterfly came
when Miss Hooper told me

that a young person from Poland
had written a poem

and he lived in a ghetto.

And he said in the poem, ''l may
never live to see another
butterfly.''

Butterflies are a symbol of
freedom...

and they are a symbol of this
project.

When you think about
all the people that died,

l'm honoring those people
with these butterflies...

more or less honoring them
with wings...

so they can fly.

Once we received all of the
paper clips

or the paper clips slowed
to a very manageable amount,

we were well over
29 million paper clips.

So, when it came time to load
the railcar with the paper
clips,

the children were extremely
selective.

We'll just start here.
Alison, 4500...

They wanted to be sure that
gifts
from as many people as possible

would go into the memorial.

So they took paper clips
from lots of different
donations.

We decided that we should put a
total of
1 1 million paper clips into the
car...

That's good.

...six million to represent
the Jewish people who were
murdered

and five million representing
the homosexuals, the gypsies,

and the Jehovah's Witnesses
and all the other people

known to have been killed
by Hitler's regime.

This project had been
the focus of my life for four
years.

l was Miss Roberts,
the Paper Clip Lady.

But l can look at this child
or this child,

and if that one child's life was
changed, then it was worth it.

l think when you look at
these paper clips,

the purpose of it is to remember

those lives that were
exterminated
during the Holocaust.

lt just overwhelms you.

What if those people
had not been exterminated?

Who was destroyed there?

Was it another wonderful
teacher?

Was it an artist?

And l think of all the
grandchildren
that never came to be,

all the children that never came
to be.

''What a wonderful way to
remember
the 6 million souls that
perished

''in Nazi death camps
during World War ll.

''This especially touches me,
because 51 years ago,

''about two weeks after
the war in Europe ended,

''l flew in as part of a rescue
team

''to bring food, medicine,
medical assistance

to the then recently-liberated
Mauthausen death camp near
Lintz, Austria.''

As we went by the medical
center,
l believe that this young lady

saw the mezuzah l was wearing.

She was very emaciated.

l would say she was probably
20 years old, my age at the
time,

but l do remember to this day
her very, very large, beautiful
brown eyes

who looked probably more
beautiful because her face was
so thin,

and she said to me in Yiddish...

...which means 'Are you Jewish?'
which l am, and she took my
hands,

clasped them and kissed them.

As weak as she was holding my
hand,

l felt that it became weaker,
and then we had to move on.

And then it was time to leave.

And l went by the medical
building,
and l asked how the young lady
was.

That's when they told me
her name was Malka, and they
said,

''She died shortly after you
left.''

And l had not mentioned this
to anyone,

even my wife and my children
didn't know that story.

l had great difficulty.

l actually broke down and cried,
and l don't cry easily,

but that was the first time
since it happened

that l let it out of me.

The letter was so much of
a closure for me.

Because Malka has found a
resting place,
a final resting place,

not in Austria, not in Germany,
not in Poland,

but Appalachia Tennessee.

And l can't get over that.

lt's giving her a resting place
among young people who love her

and have compassion for her...

and you couldn't ask for a
better
resting place than that.

And...

this one represents Malka,
the lady at Mauthausen.

And we're going to treat these
paper clips like the children
have said--

one of them said to me,
''Ms. Hooper, when you touch
these...

...can you feel the souls?''

Well, yes, you can feel the
souls,
because most of them came with a
letter

that told you about the soul
that paper clip represented.

And, you know,
if we accomplish nothing else,

we have helped these people
find a resting place

for something
that was important to them.

So she had never displayed,
never done any sculpture before.

They're great.
They are great.

Oh, my God.

My God.

lt's good. lt's really good.

lt's really good.

Now that l've had these kids
and spent all these hours with
them,

l see that they have
a lot of input to give,

and that l was
very, very quick to judge.

l listen to what they say,
and l value their input.

lt's a gift to me.
lt's a gift to my children.

Because it's made me a better
dad,
better father, better teacher,
better man.

Good morning.

l am so grateful to live
in the United States of America.

l have such joy for all the love
and the work that has gone into
this project,

and l have such pride
that l live in a community

where a group of very ordinary
people

could bring to reality
such an extraordinary event.

My heart is absolutely filled
and overflowing with joy and
pride.

l love this community,
and l love these children in
this school.

There are so many people here
today
that deserve a hug.

To each one of you, we say thank
you
for giving your time and your
talents.

l also would like to recognize
David Smith and Sandra Roberts.

Get up, guys.

l have learned more from this
project
than l ever could have taught.

lt has very slowly become
not about me.

And our Holocaust students.

Stand up.

lt's about, what will the
students
gain from this, what will they
learn,

and what will they take from
this
into their future lives?

You will come at one time in
your life,
and believe me, this point will
come.

You come to a point where you
think everything goes wrong,

nothing-- nobody loves you, you
are lost
or you might be a failure,

and then please come back
to your memorial.

This is what you did
and accomplished.

Come to this place,
and it will uplift you,

and l hope then you will try
again.

And l'm pretty sure
that you will succeed again.

Whitwell is a place that brings
out
the best of all of us.

Thank you for that,
and we love you.

''When the living say this
prayer,
they remember the dead.

''ln remembering the dead,

''we remember the values
that they have taught us.

''The students from the Davis
Academy
in Atlanta, Georgia,

will now lead us in the
Kaddish.''

We will not forget you

Don't let the memory disappear

Don't let the memory disappear

The job of collecting
paper clips is over,

but the job of educating others
will never be over.

And l think our job now is
to give tours of the railcar

and to branch off into other
schools

and teach our lessons
of the Holocaust.

They would stand at roll call
between 5 and 6 hours

to count how many people were
there.

When we have field trips and the
teachers say, ''What do we need
to do?''

and l say, ''Nothing.''

You might want
to take your group out to the
railcar

and walk them out there.

And l say, ''You're not a teacher
today, you're just an observer.

These children will teach.''

And they teach.

How many people was actually
here
during the Holocaust?

80 to 100 people.

The Norwegians wore paper clips
like we're doing now?

On their collars.

''My dear friends from Whitwell:
words can only inadequately
describe

''what your extraordinary project
means to me,

''a Holocaust survivor and
teacher.

''l witnessed what intolerance
and indifference can lead to.

''ln a short while,
l will be 95 years of age.

''l am thankful that late in life

''l can see and hear
that the teaching of tolerance

''is still alive and well and
bears fruit.

''When l heard about your
project,
l cried.

''l cried because you are the
testament
that a new age has dawned,

''the age of responsibility

''and the age of kindness of the
heart.

''You are living proof
that each and every one of us

''can make a difference and do
his part
to shape a better world.

''When you ask the young and
innocent, they will do the right
thing.

''With tears in my eyes,
l bow my head before you.

''Shalom.

Lena L. Gitter.''

l just can't wait until l get to
college

and they ask me if you've ever
had
a life-changing moment.

The first thing that's going to
come
out of my mouth is going to be

the Whitwell Middle School
Holocaust project.

l just cannot wait
until that moment happens.

ln the future,
when l do come back and see it,

knowing that l was here to do
this,
it will be like, not just a
memory,

but kind of in your heart to
know

that you've changed the way
people think about other people.

To think that us,
people from Whitwell, Tennessee,

if we have made such a big
difference,

think what the rest of the world
could do if they tried.

Not only did we educate other
people about the Holocaust,

but we educated ourselves.

We'll never look at a paper clip
the same way again.