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Design chosen for Scunthorpe’s Holocaust memorial

Tourism, Museums and The Arts
14:21, Wednesday, 30th October 2019

A design has been chosen for a new Holocaust memorial in Scunthorpe from proposals submitted by local secondary school pupils.

The chosen design – called ‘Lay Bare’, by Rigitas Sinkonis of Outwood Academy Foxhills – depicts a pile of thousands of shoes, surrounded by a barbed-wired fence, with a concentration camp prisoner’s uniform caught on it.

During the Holocaust of the Second World War, the Nazis systematically murdered six million Jews – and millions more from other groups based on their ethnicity, religion, ability and orientation – between 1941 and 1945.

In concentration camps, shoes were collected from prisoners and many were given distinctive striped overalls to wear – the kind depicted in the memorial’s design.

In the description of the design, Year 10 pupil Rigitas said: “The pile of shoes is a mixture of old-style shoes and modern shoes, to represent the discrimination and victimisation faced both then and now.”

North Lincolnshire Council has committed to site the memorial somewhere within the town centre.

The Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, Cllr Rob Waltham; Chief Executive, Denise Hyde; Michaela Vyse, External Affairs Manager from the Jewish Leadership Council (Yorkshire, East Coast & East); Crosby and Park ward member, Cllr Christine O’Sullivan, and; Head of Participation and Achievement, Sandra Simmons, formed the panel which judged the memorial designs.

Cllr Rob Waltham said:

“We launched this search for a design for a prominent memorial in Scunthorpe to bring our communities together an honour the millions of victims of Nazi persecution.

“The designs submitted by local young people were so thought provoking and it was clear that each had put a lot of research into their proposal. Each pupil should be incredibly proud of the work they have done in putting together a design for the memorial.

“After much discussion, Rigitas’ design was chosen for demonstrating the millions of victims with the pile of shoes, and the barbed wire fence with the shirt caught on it showing their isolation and entrapment.

“We will now look for a suitable site in the town centre for the memorial.”

The chosen design for Scunthorpe's Holocaust memorial