Paper Clip Memorial Honors Holocaust

A Paperclip monument, one of only three in the world, was constructed on the front lawn of Congregation Beth El–Ner Tamid in Broomall about a year ago. 

The 11-foot monument, which is large stainless steel in the shape of a paper clip, sits on Jerusalem stone and there is a bench next to it to sit and reflect.

The paper clip is a reminder of World War II, according to Congregation Beth El–Ner Tamid Rabbi Barry Blum, when many of the Norwegians wore a paper clip on their lapel as a symbol of spiritual resistance against the Nazi regime between 1940 and 1945.

The first paperclip monument stands in Norway, where it is believed that the clip was first fashioned, according to Blum. 

The second Paperclip Memorial is in Whitwell, Tenn. where middle school students were studying the Holocaust in 1998 and in subsequent years, captured world attention as 11 million paper clips were collected to fill a WWII German railcar as a memorial.

Another 11 million paperclips were collected and placed in a paperclip monument at the school. Each of the paperclips collected symbolized a story and the soul of a victim whose memory is perpetuated forever, according to Blum. 

Congregation Beth El–Ner Tamid's Paperclip Memorial is the third living monument of tolerance, in a world of diversity, according to Blum, and Harold Sampson was its visionary.

Paper clips today are colorful, manufactured in all sizes and used everyday to fasten papers together. They can remind us that in a world so fragmented, each of us has the capacity to make a difference, according to Blum.

Stop by the Broomall Paperclip Monument and reflect, remember and recognize how you can make a difference.  

On Nov. 10, at 10 a.m. Dr. Marcia Sachs Littell, an internationally recognized Holocaust scholar and educator, will speak at Congregation Beth El–Ner Tamid on the importance of teaching tolerance throughout a world of diversity to kick off a Paperclip dedication ceremony. A documentary called Paper Clips, about the Whitwell, Tenn. middle school students Paperclip project experience, will follow Littell and then the Paperclip will be dedicated. 

The public is welcome to attend.

The dedication of the Paperclip Monument is really the beginning of the work to educate the public, Ellen Glassman, of Congregation Beth El–Ner Tamid, tells Patch.

Glassman said they are attempting to get a bill passed through Congress to make Holocaust education mandatory in all Pennsylvania public schools. 

"We're lucky here in Marple that the middle schoolers do learn about the Holocaust but some rural and city schools don't even touch upon it," she said. "They've never heard of the Holocaust." 

The Paperclip is really the beginning of an educational opportunity, Glassman said, to teach tolerance and empower people to do better. 

In the photo above, students from both Congregation Beth El - Ner Tamid and St. Mary Magdalen Church's CCD stand with Sampson and Blum as the two congregations often gather to learn about the other's religious traditions. 

Glassman said the students do a Hanukkah and Christmas and Easter and Passover exchange where they learn about the different religious traditions and talk about religious freedom and the need for understanding, tolerance and respect.