With its lessons often forgotten -- witness the genocide in Darfur, Sudan -- the Holocaust is as relevant today as ever.

"Every time you study some aspect, it opens up ten more questions," said Sandra Roberts, Holocaust studies teacher and co-director of the Paper Clips project, begun in 1998, during which students collected 11 million paper clips to represent the victims of the Nazis.

The clips fill a memorial railcar on permanent display at Whitwell Middle School in Whitwell, Tenn.

On Sept. 8-9, Pittsburghers will be offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the project, beginning with the showing of the 2004 Miramax documentary, "Paper Clips," at 10 p.m. Sept. 8 at Beth El Congregation of the South Hills in Scott.

On Sept. 9, Ms. Roberts and students Brittany Crowe and Brooke Rollins, both 14, will speak on the project at two locations.

The first talk will be from 10 a.m. to noon at Beth El Congregation, 1900 Cochran Road.

The second will follow from 1 to 3 p.m. at McConomy Auditorium at Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

The programs are presented by the Henry J. Goldstein B'nai B'rith Speaker Series. The morning program is co-sponsored by Beth El Congregation, while the afternoon program is co-sponsored by the Hillel Jewish University Center.

Both events are free and open to the public.

The students chose paper clips because Norwegians wore them in their lapels to protest the Nazi occupation during World War II.

While paper clips are no longer sought, said Ms. Roberts, donations are being accepted for the maintenance and upkeep of the memorial, and for scholarships for qualified high school seniors involved in the project.

Preceding the talks by Ms. Roberts, Joel Kaplan, honorary president of B'nai B'rith International, will speak about BBI programs regarding tolerance and diversity.

The Children's Holocaust Memorial on the school grounds consists of a German rail car that was used by Germany's Third Reich to transport prisoners. Its 11 million paper clips can be viewed at the two ends of the glass-encased structure.

The site also includes a monument honoring the children of a concentration camp in Terezin, Czech Republic. Of the 15,000 youngsters who were held there, less than 150 are known to have survived.

Its metal sculpture, containing another 11 million paper clips, is shaped like a pyramid, and is topped with two children chasing a butterfly.

Eighteen butterfly sculptures representing the Hebrew word for life and the Christian symbol of resurrection are in a small park surrounding the site.

Ms. Roberts receives no pay for the volunteer program, and the students receive no academic credit.

They are responsible for the memorial maintenance, conducting tours, and speaking publicly about the project.

While all grades five to eight study the Holocaust, by the time they enter the after school program "they know just enough to know they know nothing," said Ms. Roberts -- which is par for the course.

"It is the only thing I have ever studied that the more I study the less I know," she said.

Those who want to attend the programs should register by Tuesday by calling 412-521-2390 or e-mailing nkaplan@bnaibrith.org.

For more, visit www.marionschools.org/holocaust.