Six Million Paper Clips

I don't know if many of you know this story, but it is simply amazing. Back in 1998 the small town of Whitwell, Tennessee began a project which included the collection of six million paper clips-- each one representing each Jew that was killed during the Holocaust. Whitwell is a very homogenous town consisting of an exclusively white an Christian population. The students at Whitwell Middle School had never really been exposed to the concept of diverstity and massacre. The school principal then decided that the students needed to learn about different experiences outside their sheltered town. Once two of the teachers started teaching about the Holocaust, the students were shocked and they wanted to know more. They wanted to know what the number six million actually means.To commemorate every killed Jew during the Holocaust, the school decided to embark on a project which entailed collecting six million paper clips. These students became so dedicated to the project, but it took so long that it spanned over many years. In the end, their project became known all around the world, even internationally. They collected a total of 29 milllion paperclips from people all around the world. Their project was so inspiring that they had thousands of people sending paperclips daily. The school was able to then track down a railcar that was used in the Holocaust. Eleven milllion paperclips (6 million for the Jews, 5 million for the gypsies, homosexuas, and other victims that were targeted) now rest in the this railcar outside Whitwell Middle School. This project changed the lives of many individuals and it shows how a simple idea, like collecting 6 million paperclips, can actually be carried out. Many participants claimed that this project changed their lives.

Here are some questions I have for you:
-First, how many of you knew about this?
-Does it surprise you that such a small community could make a project like this internationally known? What does this say about the power of the individual?
-Why are homogenous communities not always taught about a diversity of issues in school? How important is location to education?
-How is this project an example of memory and legacy?
-How do you think Holocaust survivors reacted to this project? Deniers?

I saw this movie about a week ago and it really helped me understand that many communities don't teach about global events such as the Holocaust. Since this population was all white Christian, they may not have felt the need to inform their kids about events such as the Holocaust that may have no personal relevance. Here in San Francisco and as a student at Lick, I have been exposed to the many world problems. Growing up in a city and having the ability to take a class like Genocide has really changed my world perspective. I encourage everyone to see this movie because it was really moving and made me think about my role as a student studying the Holocaust.

Here is the trailer:

The Nazi Hunter

A week ago, in the class on transitional justice, Ms. Finn mentioned in passing Simon Wiesenthal (AKA the Nazi Hunter). Wiesenthal was an Austrian-Jewish architectural engineer and author. He died at the age of 96 in 2005.

After surviving the Holocaust, he dedicated his life to capturing fugitive Nazis so that they could be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity. His goal, he said, was not vengeance but ensuring that Nazi crimes "are brought to light so the new generation knows about them, so it should not happen again."

Among his most famous captures is that of Karl Silberbauer, the Gestapo officer who arrested Anne Frank. Silberbauer's testimony discredited revisionist claims that The Diary of Anne Frank was a forgery.

Wiesenthal claims to have been instrumental in the capture of Adolf Eichmann, however, the Israeli Mossad (who actually captured Eichmann) say that Wiesenthal was not. Former Mossad chief Iser Harel said that Wiesenthal, "not only 'had no role whatsoever' in Eichmann's apprehension, but in fact had endangered the entire Eichmann operation and aborted the planned capture of Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele."

Wiesenthal was certainly an upstander. Bringing perpetrators to justice in itself is amazing and his reasons for doing so is especially noble. He helped keep the spotlight on a hideous past he said too much of the world was disposed to forget.

"To young people here, I am the last," he once said, "I'm the one who can still speak. After me, it's history."

Despite suffering through the Holocaust, he emphasized that he did his work for "justice, not vengeance." How do you interpret this?

He also states that he is "not a hater." What do you think he means by this? Do you see any similarities between this statement and that of Marian Marzynski (who does not hate Germany because hate is the belief that something can't change; that progress doesn't exist)?

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(I found this quote by Wiesenthal particularly funny. Once in Germany, someone accused him of dining on Nazis for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Wiesenthal replied, "You are mistaken. I don't eat pork.")

Summary: Second to last Rotation (11/27 - 12/3)

This rotation, we continued exploring the themes of justice and remembrance in the aftermath of genocide.

11/27: This class focused on the Nuremburg trials held after WWII. Some of the topics we discussed included Hannah Arendt’s reporting on Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem and her thoughts on the “banality of evil.” We also talked about other ways of judging genocide, such as the Gacca in Rwanda and the TRC in South Africa, both of which force victims and perpetrators to interact. (The picture is Eichmann on trial)

11/29: We saw a video about a survivor of Dr. Mengele’s twin experiments who chose to forgive him. Check out Gaby’s post below for discussion about forgiveness.

12/3: First we discussed our homework readings and questions. Some ideas that came up: what a doctor should do if their oath to Hitler goes against their Hippocratic Oath, how much blame industrialists who used slave labor should have, and why some of those who worked in or with the Nazi regime were tried in domestic court systems and others were tried in international tribunals.

We then saw the video “A Jew Among Germans,” about Marian Marzynski’s journey back to Germany after surviving in the Warsaw ghettos, examining modern Germans attitudes towards the Holocaust. We’ll be watching more of it next class.

Patriotism Post-Genocide

Citizens in countries where genocide has occurred are often conflicted about showing patriotism due to the events that have happened in their country. An example of this is Germany, where it took over 60 years and a hosting a huge international event, the 2006 World Cup last summer, for many Germans to feel comfortable showing pride about being German. Most applauded this development, seeing it as a symbol of recovery for Germany.
Article link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/07/12/EDGOBIPUQ21.DTL
Discussion questions and ideas:

Do you think it is appropriate now for Germans to show patriotism? How much time has to pass after genocide for people to start feeling proud of their country again? Does any time have to pass?

Do you think people would be as willing to use Germany’s flag as a patriotic symbol today if the modern German flag were still the symbol of the Nazi party, or if the Nazis had kept and marched under the modern German flag?

Do you personally ever feel reluctant about showing patriotism because of the United States’ actions? Why or why not?

What do you think Marian Marzynski, the Holocaust survivor in the film today, would think about Germans displaying patriotism in daily life? During the World Cup?

The Holocaust Memorial in Berlin

Today we watched the movie, "A Jew Among the Germans," in which Marian Marzynski, a Holocaust survivor travels back to Germany. At the time the were searching for a design for a Holocauast Memorial in Berlin, they held contests more than once beofore they could find a winning design that they felt was appropriate.

Why do you think the first winning design, in which the names of the 6 million Jewish people who were killed in the Holocaust would be carved in granite, caused controversy, and was ultimately not used?

This is a quote from a site that presents great pictures of the memorial:

"The 19,000 square-meter Memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe, which was opened to the public on May 12, 2005, consists of 2711 stones placed on sloping, uneven ground in an undulating wave-like pattern, giving visitors the feeling of insecurity as though the stones were on unstable ground.

Visitors can enter from all four sides, day or night, and wander on their own through the maze of stones, as though visiting a graveyard with nameless tombstones. The columns are sunk into the ground to various depths and at some places, they are higher than the heads of the visitors. There are no set paths or sign posts to guide viewers. The memorial was designed by architect Peter Eisenman to deliberately disorient visitors by having all the stones tilted slightly and paths that are not level."

--> What was the point, do you think, of giving the visitors a feeling of insecurity while viewing the memorial?

I was also interesting to know if anyone has been to the memorial in Berlin, and how the experience was.

Link: http://www.scrapbookpages.com/Berlin2002/JewishMemorial/index.html

Argentina and the CIA helping the Nazis?

After World War II, many Nazi leaders were brought to trial and punished for their crimes in war or crimes against humanity. Others, Joesf Mengele and Adolf Eichmann to name a few, escaped from persecution amidst the chaos in Europe during World War II’s conclusion. A popular destination for these fugitives was Argentina, were President Juan Perón, a pro-Axis Powers leader, and his government abided and protected the escaped Nazis. In 1958, the CIA learned the whereabouts of Adolf Eichmann, the Gestapo officer who oversaw the Final Solution, but decided not to pursue his arrest to protect important West German officials from possible revelations about their Nazi pasts. Not only did the CIA not pursue Eichmann’s arrest, they attempted to suppress the intelligence altogether. The CIA was determined to make sure Eichmann would not humiliate the West German government in the thick of the Cold War. Despite the CIA’s efforts, Israeli officials kidnapped, tried, and hanged Eichmann in 1962. Many other Nazi personal that fled to Argentina were found much later or even never found.

Should Argentinean government officials who protected and abided the Nazis escape trial be tried themselves in front of a world court? How severely should they be punished? What actual law did they break? How guilty is the CIA for suppressing the whereabouts of Eichmann to protect West Germany?

Link: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/06/07/cia_hid_top_nazis_location/