6,000,000 represented in paper clips
Students at an Auckland school are collecting paper clips to use to form a “6,000,000” sign on their school fence to represent the number of Jews who lost their lives during the Holocaust.
Olivia Davies and Emily Jones
Olivia Davies and Emily Jones are two of the Years 7 and 8 primary students at Auckland’s St Helier schools who are behind the project.
The told J-Wire: The topic for the Room 30 students this term is Responsible Citizenship. We think this means that even though we are primary school students, we believe our actions can make a difference.
We have been researching about the Holocaust, prejudice and intolerance. We were shocked at what we found and we now know that there is a lot of prejudice and intolerance still in New Zealand. For example – two young men spray painted swastikas and offensive sentences on the Jewish graves in Central Auckland. We need to change that!
Our goal is to remember the 6 million plus, who died in the holocaust during World War 2 and show that our community is against prejudice and intolerance.
In autumn 1940 students of Oslo University began to wear paperclips on their collars to show they were against the German Nazis.
The paper clip was a symbol to show fellowship and union in their country during World War 2. The paper clip was invented in Norway 1899. To represent this, Norway has a giant paper clip located in Sandvika.
We have been thinking of ways to show respect for the 6,000,000 who died and to tell people about prejudice and intolerance. We came up with a plan. This was to collect paperclips from the community, to write 6,000,000 on our school fence with them, to represent the 6 million lives lost.
Groups in our class have been contacting local businesses for support; we will present our idea to the school community and hope to spread the word. Any help from you, would be greatly appreciated.
If you can donate any paper clips they will be much appreciated. “
