Students mark Holocaust Memorial Day at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum

This year's HMD marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, a complex of Nazi slave labour, concentration and extermination camps in Poland where approximately one million Jews were murdered during the Second World War.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has chosen 'For a better future' as the theme for this year's HMD, encouraging people to come together and learn about - and from - the history of the Holocaust and the genocides which followed.

To mark next Monday's (27 January) HMD, secondary school students from Harris, Houlton and Lawrence Sheriff have created a display for Rugby Art Gallery and Museum's community space in the venue's foyer.

The national curriculum-based history project saw students from each school decorating the capital letters H, M and D.

The letter H, by Harris School students, has been inspired by Pavel Friedmann's poem, The Butterfly, written while he was held at the Theresienstadt concentration camp before he was deported to Auschwitz, where he was murdered on 29 September 1944.

Lawrence Sheriff students created the letter M, which features the infamous striped prison uniforms worn at Nazi death and concentration camps, while Houlton School's monochrome letter D reflects the foreboding atmosphere of Auschwitz and the stark, concrete stelas which feature in Berlin's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. 

Cllr Maggie O'Rourke, Rugby Borough Council portfolio holder for partnerships and wellbeing, said: "We must never forget the horrors of the Holocaust and the paths which led us to one of the darkest chapters in our history.

"The Holocaust is the only historic event which must be taught in schools as part of the national history curriculum and we're pleased Rugby Art Gallery and Museum has been able to work with local secondary schools to inspire learning and create a display to mark Holocaust Memorial Day."

The students' work remains on display in the community space until Sunday 2 February.

Cllr Neil Sandison, Rugby Borough Council's Liberal Democrat spokesperson for partnerships and wellbeing, said: "The Holocaust is a stark reminder of man's inhumanity to man.

"By producing art to mark HMD, the students have gained a greater understanding of the Holocaust and also the knowledge our young people can be guardians of a better future." 

For more information about exhibitions and events at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, visit www.ragm.co.uk