Paper Clips by Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Epiphany library section 15: adult media. This DVD documentary for middle school age and up discusses how middle school students in a small rural school in Tennessee had a dilemma while studying the Holocaust. The white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant students, while studying WW2 history, could not quite wrap their minds around the Holocaust. What kind of culture could condone killing six million people? “Are Germans like us?” they asked. “What is a Jew?” “What did the Germans have against Jews?” “Why was there such hatred?” “Just how many is 6 million?” “Is there a way we could show that to make it easier to grasp such a huge number?”
The students, their two history teachers, and their school principal found themselves amid a school-wide project to find the answers to these questions. I will not give you a spoiler here. All I can say about this fine documentary is that the school project these kids undertook with their teachers and principal changed the way the entire community felt about themselves, prejudice, and justice. And that is saying a great, great deal for a community 100 miles away from where the KKK was founded, and just 30 miles from where the Scopes trial took place.
This fascinating look at what small town kids can feel, dream of, and bring to fruition gives us great hope for the future of humankind. If you ever watch only one documentary, this is the one to watch. It is fascinating and life-changing. These homogeneous kids went from being students to documentarians, to teachers, to memorialists, to keepers of the flame of peace and justice. It is excellent. We watched it during the final session of our Intro to Judaism for Lutherans course in Epiphany’s bible study. It is based on the book, Six Million Paper Clips, by Peter Schroeder. ( )