What Does Six Million Look Like?
by Lisa Davidson

How can an eighth grader comprehend a figure like six million?  Indeed, how can anyone comprehend such a vast number?

It was this problematic question of: “What does 6 million look like?” raised by the participants of the after-school Holocaust Project at Whitwell Middle School in Tennessee, that set the participants on a special commemorative mission. This mission would inadvertently capture international media attention and bring the principal of the school, Linda Hooper, to Yad Vashem.

The Holocaust Project—initiated in 1998 by the school’s Deputy Principal, David Smith—was created in order to overcome the lack of ethnic diversity in the small, predominantly white Protestant community of Whitwell. As well, the Project aimed “to teach tomorrow’s leaders the value of remembering yesterday’s mistakes, to ensure that the future is brighter for everyone.” At the time of the program’s inception, the only ethnic minorities in Whitwell—a former mining town with a population of 1,600—were five African-American students and one of Hispanic origin.  It was thus felt that such a course would introduce the students, none of whom had ever met a Jew, to a subject which had never before been delved into in such depth.

Linda Hooper (right) at the International School for Holocaust Studies' Summer Seminar

As the Holocaust Project progressed and the students’ became increasingly aware of the enormity of the Holocaust, they began to look for a means by which to commemorate the Holocaust victims, and in some way, make the number of those killed—six million—more tangible. It was the story of the Norwegian people who during the Holocaust period affixed paperclips to their lapels to protest against Nazi policies, which captured the imagination of the students and which resulted in the students’ mission to dedicate themselves to collecting six million paperclips.

By the end of the first year of the extracurricular program, the students had learned much about the Holocaust, but had collected only 10,000 paperclips. Not long after, though, the school and its mission came to the attention of two US-based German journalists. The journalists had been informed about the project from Lena Glitter (z’’l), a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor (who herself  had come upon the school’s website and had donated the very first paperclip). The journalists were drawn to the important cause of the school, and published several articles as well as a book on Whitwell Middle School’s Holocaust Project and the students’ mission to collect six million paperclips. 

Following these publications, Whitwell Middle School was thrust into the limelight and paperclips began to come in from around the world.  Ninety-nine percent of the paperclips were attached to papers containing personal stories, many of which served as a form of personal therapy for the senders.  

Paperclips were received from all over the world including personalities such as: former US President, Bill Clinton; actor, Henry Winkler; and Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize Laureate, Elie Wiesel. To date, the school has received some 21 million paperclips, far surpassing its original target.

When staff at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies learned about Whitwell Middle School’s mission to teach the importance of “compassion, love, and tolerance,” it became clear that a Whitwell staff member would greatly benefit from participating in the International School’s annual Summer Seminar for English-Speaking Educators (which took place this year from the end of June until mid-July).

Paperclips collected by Whitwell Middle School students

Yad Vashem, in conjunction with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sent the school’s Principal, Linda Hooper, an all-expense-paid invitation, offering one of the teachers instrumental in the Project, the opportunity to come to Jerusalem and participate in the Summer Seminar.

Since prior commitments prevented any of the teachers involved in the Holocaust Project from coming to Jerusalem, Linda Hooper attended the seminar herself.  Despite misgivings about leaving her family and close-knit community, Hooper’s church group convinced her otherwise, insisting, “It’s your duty to go…. You have been brought here for a purpose.”

For Linda Hooper, attending Yad Vashem’s Summer Seminar along with 35 other educators from around the world, participating in pedagogical workshops, listening to lectures and Holocaust survivors’ testimonies, and touring Israel was an intense experience: “What I have been exposed to has given me brain overload…I don’t sleep at night… all the ideas I have for how to introduce what I have learned into the Project… ” she explained. “After coming to Yad Vashem I feel that despite the never ending questions on the subject of the Holocaust I am able to return home with so much to share with my community and to involve them in.”