Keep Learning

All right, I admit I didn't watch a documentary in May... not unless I can count all the hours of HGTV I watched! Technically those shows are documenting stories of people looking for houses and whatnot. I think it should count... besides, I did a LOT of house-hunting in May.

Anyway, in the last couple of days I've watched 2 pretty awesome documentaries. I really didn't plan it that way, but when I got my new Netflix, it turned out to be a documentary. So, maybe I didn't watch one in May, but I suppose this makes up for it.

First, Paper Clips. This film is about a group of kids and teachers at a Whitwell Middle School in rural Tennessee. The teachers wanted students to learn about about diversity and tolerance, so they decided to do a unit on the Holocaust. The students had an idea to collect paper clips so that they could envision what 6 million actually looked like. What started out as one unit turned into a 4+ year project that was known around the world.

This story was inspiring and truly touched my heart. These kids and teachers took learning to another level. People from around the world sent letters filled with stories and paper clips in remembrance of people that had perished during the Holocaust, survivors came to the school to tell their stories and to see what the children had done. Their stories made me cry. Many people in this little rural town challenged themselves to examine their own beliefs and biases about people who were "different" and they spoke about how this project had changed them for the better.

What really struck me, as it always does when I hear survivors' stories, is that soon these people will no longer be around. People who were alive when all of this happened will not be here on this earth to tell their stories. That scares me. What scares me even more, and angers me, is that there are still people out there that deny the Holocaust ever happened.

Yet, I'm heartened by the fact that these children have collected, catalogued, and preserved numerous stories, that they have listened to and been touched by survivors' stories. Many of the children in the documentary said that they were changed by their experiences and want to pass on the stories they heard so that others will learn about and never forget what happened. To me that is absurd! How can someone deny that this has happened? Look at the photos, listen to the interviews, read a book! It happened! Hatred like that is still happening!

There are organizations out there dedicated to preserving these stories, preserving history for future generations. For more information, check out Holocaust Survivors. Also check out the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. They have a great page entitled, Life After the Holocaust.