Paper clips attach meaning to Holocaust .
Menu Help Tips . Each paperclip represents a person killed in the Holocaust. Kelman, who is Jewish, heard about the project from his fiance and decided it would serve as a history lesson as well as a hands-on contribution to the southern school's endeavor. The project started as a lesson in diversity for David Smith, history teacher and assistant principal at Whitwell Middle School in Whitwell, Tenn., a school of 425 students, mostly white and Christian. Only about five children in the school are black, and none is Jewish.