A design by a student from Outwood Academy Foxhills has been chosen by a panel for a new Holocaust memorial in Scunthorpe.

The winning design by Rigitas Sinkonis, a student from the Foxhills Road secondary academy, was chosen from proposals submitted by local secondary school pupils across the area, and is entitled ‘Lay Bare.’

The emotive design depicts a pile of thousands of shoes, surrounded by barbed-wire fence and a concentration camp prisoner’s uniform caught on it.

After being selected, North Lincolnshire Council has committed to site the memorial somewhere within Scunthorpe town centre, although the precise location is yet to be chosen.

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.”

Darren Smith, Principal of Outwood Academy Foxhills, said: “We are so proud of Rigitas for this fantastic achievement. His design is very emotive and poignant, and is very fitting for the forthcoming new Holocaust memorial in Scunthorpe.”  

The Holocaust took place during the Second World War, when Nazis systematically murdered six million Jews, alongside millions more from other groups based on their ethnicity, religion, ability and orientation.

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.

According to the North Lincolnshire website, the panel was made up of 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.