By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED:07:56 EST, 25  September 2012| UPDATED:08:12 EST, 25 September 2012

A Pennsylvania high school marching band has  caused outrage by commemorating the Russian Revolution in a halftime performance  – brandishing red flags, military  uniforms, hammers and sickles.

Historians and parents of students at New Oxford High School have lambasted the choice of entertainment which remembers an event that gave way to  Communism and the deaths of millions.

Even though the school’s colours are red,  white and blue, they have adopted the theme of ‘St Petersburg: 1917’ for their  halftime shows, including one last Friday, Fox  News reported.

Shocking: A photo from a Pennsylvania high school’s  website shows the marching band holding a hammer and sickle in military uniforms  as they commemorate the Russian revolution

‘It was Glee meets the Russian  Revolution,’  a concerned parent told Fox. ‘They had giant  hammers and sickles and they were  waving them around.

‘There is no reason for Americans to  celebrate the Russian revolution. I am sure the millions who died under  Communism would not see the joy of celebrating the Russian revolution by a  school 10 miles from Gettysburg.’

Paul Kengor, the executive director for the  Center for Vision & Values at Pennsylvania’s Grove City College, added that  he originally thought the performance was a joke.

‘This is surreal,’ he said. ‘The Bolshevik  Revolution launched a  global Communist revolution that from 1917 through the  1990s was  responsible for the deaths of over a hundred million  people.

Scene: The marching band has been carrying out  performances during half time at New Oxford High School

‘What the Russian revolution unleashed was a  nightmare – a historical  human catastrophe. This is something that should be  condemned and not in any way commemorated or laughed at.’

Gerson Moreno-Riano, dean of Regent  University’s College of Arts & Sciences, added that there is little to  celebrate about one of the most violent periods in history that saw power  snatched from the monarchy and seized by the revolutionaries.

‘It’s full of violence, terror,  destruction  and in some weeks thousands of people were executed – some  thrown with rocks  around their necks into the river to drown,’ he said.

‘It’s quite frankly horrific that a high  school would be celebrating that at a football game.  To raise the emblems of the hammer  and sickle – the emblems of so much  violence, destruction and terror – is a lack of knowledge of  history.’

Rebecca Harbaugh, the superintendent for the  Conewago Valley School District, insisted that the performance had not been an  endorsement of the regime.

Odd choice: Parents and historians agreed it was  shocking to commemorate an event that led to Communism and the deaths of  millions. Pictured, soldiers march in 1917

‘Educational’: The school argued it was simply giving a  history lesson and wanted the audience to hear the music. A Soviet propaganda  poster celebrates the 15th anniversary of the 1917 Revolution

‘It’s a representation of the time period in  history called St. Petersburg 1917,’ she said. ‘I am truly sorry that somebody  took the performance in that manner. I  am.’

She added that it was the music that was  being celebrated and was sorry it was not viewed as a history lesson.

And while some were upset by the performance,  the Evening Sun reported that the show didn’t seem to offend the judges of the  Cavalcade of Bands Association Inc. show at Manheim Township High School on  Saturday, where the band won first place, according to the band’s  website.

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Categories: Hmmm?, Societal

Tags: Communism, Grove City College, High school, Marching band, Paul Kengor, Pennsylvania, Russian Revolution, Saint Petersburg