Film Reflections – Paperclips

Film Reflections – Paperclips

The film “Paperclips,” like other films touching on this topic (Schindler’s List, The Pianist) leave me with a profound sadness regarding the evil that humans do to each other. While I know the concept has been researched by Psychologists and Sociologists, I find it spiritually incomprehensible that people can dehumanize “others” based upon their religion (or race, or ethnicity or gender). I was encouraged by the life the Paperclip project took on, beginning with its simple but profound concept through the national attention it gained and the response of people touched by this educational initiative. The actions of the two German journalists to bring to the world knowledge of what these students were undertaking were inspiring.

While this film didn’t directly ‘change’ my understanding of the topic, as I am aware of the Holocaust from an historical perspective, it did cause me to think about where the Holocaust sits in education today. Is it a focus on the evil that men do, or is it a footnote in history texts in the chapters on World War II? It also made me think back to how poorly this topic was covered in my primary education. Though it was quite a while ago, I have vivid memories of aspects of my high school education that were made impactful for me. The fact that I have no vivid memories of discussions of the Holocaust saddens me, as this says to me this tragic event in human history was not given nearly the weight it deserved.

The most memorable scenes within the film for me were the scenes where the Holocaust survivors were telling the students and community about their experiences. The most heart wrenching one was of the man who was brought into the camp with his mother and two brothers, with one brother and him being sent right, while his mother and other brother were sent left. When he later asked a German soldier what had happened