Schools and libraries will help local children and residents to remember the Holocaust and more recent acts of genocide, including atrocities in Rwanda.

Special assemblies, readings, artwork and classes are taking place in schools throughout the borough, while Hammersmith Library and Barons Court Library will be putting on Holocaust displays.

The theme for the fourth annual Holocaust Memorial Day, which takes place on Tuesday (27 January), is: 'From the Holocaust to Rwanda: lessons learned, lessons still to learn'.

Among the local events taking place are:
" Special assembly on Monday (26 January) at New King's Primary School led by headteacher David Block, who will talk about his grandfather's death in the Auschwitz concentration camp as well as his father's experience of growing up in the UK as a refugee. He will relate his father's successful integration into UK society to current debates about the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees

" Children at St Mary's RC Primary School will design posters and cards for peace to promote respect for all. Special Holocaust assembly and follow-up classwork also planned

" Seder meal (traditional Jewish ritual to mark Feast of Passover) taking place at Holy Cross RC Primary School, where children will also learn about the diary of Anne Frank

" Lady Margaret School pupils who visited the Auschwitz concentration camp will give a presentation at assembly. Poetry and drawings on Holocaust and more recent genocide also going on display

" Henry Compton School's head of history, Dan Lyndon, is leading an assembly on Rwanda using images from a recent exhibition in Bristol and readings from his mother's play about the Rwanda genocide

" Special assemblies also taking place at Gibbs Green School and Sacred Heart RC High School, while the London Oratory School's history department has already hosted a visit by a speaker who experienced the Kindertransport evacuation of children from Nazi Germany to Britain.

" The Holocaust displays at Hammersmith Library, in Shepherds Bush Road, W6, and Barons Court Library, in North End Crescent, W14, run during library opening hours from Saturday (24 January) until 7 February.

Dan Lyndon, head of history at Henry Compton School, said: "Holocaust Memorial Day is an opportunity for students to look at various aspects of the persecution of different groups of people. Our school has a diverse student body, which includes refugees and asylum seekers from all over the world. We think it is really important for all of the students to understand why looking at the genocide in Rwanda, which happened only ten years ago, is relevant for all of us."

Cllr David Williams, deputy for education, said: "The persecution and massacres in Nazi Germany and Rwanda have a particular resonance for schools in this borough, where many pupils have themselves fled persecution or conflict abroad. Holocaust Memorial Day is an excellent opportunity to make one of history's most shameful chapters relevant to today's children and residents."

Cllr Williams continued: "The schools have worked very hard on these projects over and above all their other hard work - the result is not only educational but contributes to a fair and tolerant society."

Holocaust Memorial Day Web site