Leeds remembers victims of Holocaust

Young people from the Carriageworks Theatre Academy performed a piece of dramatic theatre at the Leeds Civic Holocaust Memorial Day event.

Using a book of pictures and poems drawn by children who lived in Terezin ghetto and concentration camp as inspiration, the Leeds youngsters created the performance inspired by this year's Holocaust theme, The Legacy of Hope.

The performance showed both the grim reality of the children's experience in Terezin and their dreams and hopes for a better life.

Jordan, 13, from Carriageworks Theatre Academy, said: "We've been learning about Terezin and how people suffered. It was Jewish people and others who went to the concentration camps. They worked every day and every night. They were making coffins, sewing uniforms and cleaning and having a really hard time."

Dylan, 12, also from Carriageworks, said: "I played one of the boys who had to work and had to do all of the horrible stuff that they had to experience.

"I've been learning about Terezin and how the experience was for the survivors, and how horrible it must have been not knowing if you were going to die or live."

The performance formed part of a programme of live music, theatre, song, artwork and discussions at Leeds Town Hall.

Holocaust survivor Iby Knill, 86, has been sharing her experiences with the young people at Carriageworks and read one of her own poems at the event.

Iby, who now lives in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, was captured in Hungary and sent to Auschwitz in 1942.

She said: "It is quite essential that young people learn that they must not be judgmental of people because they are of different race, different colour or different beliefs.

"We need to teach children this when they are at the impressionable age of between 12 and 14, because by the time they are older their ideas have already been reinforced.

"The hope is that you have to learn to understand each other and understand that things such as making people feel inhuman, bullying, attacking people without reason, are just not acceptable in cultured human society."

The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Judith Elliott, who led the event, said: "The past can teach us many lessons, including the importance of tolerance, respect and freedom for all.

"The messages of Holocaust Memorial Day are relevant to us all, regardless of our background, religion, race or community.

"The words and experiences of victims and survivors can help us to think about our own attitudes, behaviour and choices and the way we interact with others.

"We can use Holocaust Memorial Day to respect and celebrate the differences between us and create a safer, better future for us all."

The Leeds Holocaust Memorial Day event was organised by Leeds City Council's Arts and Regeneration team.