"Eleven Million Paperclips...Make the side trip to see" Topic

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has directions. It isn't far from Chattanooga, TN.

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My wife and I visited the site. It was a school holiday, so the gates were locked. A small sign said for after hours entry, contact the Police Station. I called them and they said to come down and get the key. In the small building that was apparently the town hall, police station, and who knows what else, they gave us the key without us signing for it or showing ID. They just wanted to know what state we were from. Also gave us a small portable tape recorder that explains parts of the exhibit while you are there.
Went back to the schoolyard, and spent time looking at the area and small monuments outside the train car. It was December, and quite cold that year, with a biting wind. You could imagine what it was like for the folks who actually rode in that car. There are little plaques with comments about things related to the car and the riders. The paperclips are stunning. It is hard to absorb that which you are seeing and realize there is a life taken for each one of those you see – filling up the areas at each end of the car behind plexiglass.

While we were there, a woman came by and asked us if we'd like to visit the library room related to the display. Turns out she was one of the teachers who had been involved in the project. The library is full of reference books, and items related to the history. There are also 3 ring notebooks. Multiple shelves on multiple walls hold them and the letters, emails, messages, etc. sent regarding how moving the experience was, or thanking them for what they did. There is also one 3 ring for the hate mail received. The teacher told us of the discussion as to whether to include it or not – they decided it was a necessary piece of the display as a reminder that despite all of the folks touched in a positive manner by what the children had done, there were still folks in the world full of the same hate that allowed and caused the Holocaust in the first place even today. Evil lives.

So, although not a wargaming related site, I found it to be well worth the trip, much like visiting a veterans cemetery.

Regards,

JJ

Wow thanks for that. Very nicely done.

Great project, commendable.

It is weird, isn't it, that this could generate hate mail ?