7:50am Friday 27th January 2012
PUPILS from Lowton C of E High School are preparing to 'Speak Up and Speak Out' about one of the darkest periods in history with a dramatic performance aimed at illustrating the horrors of the Holocaust.
As part of the international Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations today, a 20-strong group of 14 and 15 year olds will be heading for the Derby Room at Leigh Turnpike Gallery to take part in a special ceremony.
Nationally, Holocaust Memorial Day is commemorated every January to mark the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Aushwitz-Birkenau in 1945.
This year's theme asks everyone to consider the rights and responsibilities they have to say something about injustice and wrong-doing.
Lowton’s Head of Expressive Arts, Paula Radford has been helping the pupils prepare for the performance.
She said: “The students have taken this work very seriously and have been working on the dramatic piece since before Christmas. We have taken the idea that often atrocities such as this start in a very small way and left without anyone to challenge them they grow into something uncontrollable. The children have brought this up to date by applying it to situations and circumstances in their own lives.”
Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations have been organised by Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust and Wigan Council.
The Derby Room event will take place at 1.30pm and everyone is invited to attend.
Lowton C of E High head teacher John Shanahan said: “The saying is that the only thing evil needs to flourish is for good men to do nothing. At Lowton, through events such as this, we instil the ethos that when faced with injustice, doing nothing is not an option.
"We take an active part in Holocaust Memorial Day each year because we believe it is important that each new generation gains an understanding not just of the events of World War 2 but the other atrocities that have happened since.”
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.leighjournal.co.uk/trade_directory/
