CowPi Journal

Paperclip Campaign

1 May 2005, 8 pm | Historical

This week is the national week for the Days of Remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust. As a way to remember them, and to remember all victims of terrorism and hate crimes, wear a paperclip on your collar this week!

A few years ago, a grass roots campaign was started by Sharyn Markus, a media specialist at Mountain Ridge Middle School in Colorado Springs. The symbol for the Paperclip Campaign came from the Norwegians during World War II. They wore paperclips on their collars to protest the invasion of their country by the Nazis. It was fitting for the Norwegians to pick the paperclip as their symbol of unity because it was a Norwegian, Johan Vaaler, who had invented it.

So, by their lead, let’s wear paperclips on our collars during this week of the Days of Remembrance to take a stand against prejudice and discrimination, and remember the victims of hate, like the Holocaust, terrorism, Sept. 11, and other hate crimes.