Nearly two-thirds of young Americans do not know that six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. And almost a quarter said they believed the Holocaust was a myth or exaggerated, according to a new survey.
More than one in 10 people aged 18-39 made the offensive claim that Jews themselves caused the holocaust, and almost half could not name a single concentration camp or ghetto, the survey said.
It was conducted by Claims Conference, whose president Gideon Taylor called the findings troubling.
‘The results are both shocking and saddening,’ he said. ‘They underscore why we must act now while Holocaust survivors are still with us to voice their stories.’
The study also showed that almost half of millennial and Generation Z adults aged between 18 and 39 could not name any concentration camps or ghettos used to exterminate millions during the Holocaust.
Twelve percent said they had not heard about the Holocaust, while almost half had seen Holocaust denial posts on social media. More than half had seen Nazi symbols such as swastikas on social media and in their communities.
The Holocaust is known as the greatest crime of the 20th century, where six million Jews were murdered in concentration camps and ghettos.
Taylor said this study shows that the education of the Holocaust is not enough and there is more work that needs to be done.
‘We need to understand why we aren’t doing better in educating a younger generation about the Holocaust and the lessons of the past,’ he said. ‘This needs to serve as a wake-up call to us all, and as a road map of where government officials need to act.’
Across the nation, 63 percent of participants did not know that six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, yet almost two-thirds of American millennial and Gen Z adults believe Holocaust education should be taught in schools.
The Holocaust was a mass genocide of European Jews, which took place in Germany from 1941 – 1945. Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, Jews were led to extermination camps such as Auschwitz, Dachau and many more, where men, women and children were brutally murdered ways that included gassing, mutilation, poisoning, shooting.
Dutch teenager Anne Frank was one of the most prominent victims of the Holocaust. The young diarist’s journal of life in hiding in Amsterdam was published after she was discovered and sent to her death in a concentration camp aged just 14.
The Claims Conference set up a taskforce which included Holocaust survivors, historians and experts from notable Holocaust museums to oversee the survey.
They held 1,000 interviews nationwide, with 200 interviews in each state where the young adults were selected at random.
Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, while a the death toll of other groups including Poles, Soviet prisoners, gay men, disabled people, gypsies and others is thought to be over 11 million.
