In the summer of 1998, students at Whitwell Middle School in rural eastern Tennessee began collecting paper clips — one for every life lost in the Holocaust. Their goal was to gather six million, each clip a small act of remembrance and a lesson in tolerance and education.

Associate Principal David Smith explained the purpose: to teach “what happens when people are not tolerant and allow power and charisma to rule our thinking.” The project drew inspiration from Europeans who quietly wore paper clips on their lapels during World War II as a silent protest against Nazism and antisemitism.

By August 2001, the Whitwell community had received paper clips from all 50 states and dozens of countries — ultimately far surpassing their original goal. Notes of support arrived from leaders and artists, including former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Tom Hanks, and filmmaker Steven Spielberg, whose film Schindler’s List helped awaken new generations to memory and moral courage.

That same year, the students created a permanent home for the clips and letters: the Children’s Holocaust Memorial, built inside a restored German railroad car once used to transport Jews to concentration camps. The space was transformed into a place of remembrance and resolve — linking grief to hope and witness to perseverance.

The Paper Clips Project soon drew international attention, inspiring the award-winning 2004 documentary Paper Clips. Today the memorial continues to welcome visitors, preserving letters, artifacts, and over 30 million paper clips. What began as a small classroom effort now endures as a lasting symbol of remembrance, hope, and the power of students to change the world.