An Astonishing 2/3 of Young Americans Know Nothing About the Holocaust
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Shockingly, nearly two-thirds of young adults in America don’t know about and haven’t heard of the Holocaust, the greatest crime of the last century, which some fear could be repeated.
That’s according to a survey of 11,000 adults ages 18 to 39. Some 23% said they believed the Holocaust was exaggerated, a myth, or they weren’t sure, while 12% couldn’t recall hearing of the event, reports the Guardian. Some 48% couldn’t name a concentration camp or ghetto, though there were more than 40,000, per NBC News.
A greater percentage said they’d seen Nazi symbols in person or on social media (56%) and viewed denials or distortions online (49%). “The results are both shocking and saddening,” says Gideon Taylor, president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which commissioned the survey and has been pushing Facebook to consider Holocaust denial as hate speech.
The survey was given to a random, demographically representative sample of 200 young adults in each state, as well as 1,000 nationwide. Respondents in Wisconsin showed the most knowledge, with 42% familiar with the Holocaust, being able to name a camp or ghetto, and acknowledging the deaths of 6 million Jews. Just 20% of respondents in Florida could do the same, per the Guardian. Overall, 63% of respondents were unaware 6 million Jews were murdered.
An alarming 15% thought it was acceptable to hold neo-Nazi views, per USA Today. Some 11% said they believed Jews caused the Holocaust; in New York, that figure was 19%. That’s an “astounding” revelation for Holocaust survivor and Claims Conference board member Stefanie Seltzer, who ties “the rise of antisemitism, the resurgence of hate crimes and racism, and a new generation of neo-Nazis” to the waning of “basic historical facts” at the Daily Beast.
This article was edited via Newser.
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It just makes me ill to know that Americans are that bloody stupid.
I am shocked about this, no joke I really am. I know I learned about it in elementary school just due to a friend having grandparents that were survivors. One of my neighbors was also. Ignorance is truly bliss for a whole lotta ignant folks.
I have to see some of this as the result of 75 years of denialism in the teaching of history, some of it as unwillingness to give up on a 2000 year tradition, but really, if they don’t know about Nixon, the Vietnam war and can’t even remember W, what can we expect. They’re drowning in popular culture and they don’t know anything about anything else.
I’ve been teaching at university for many years now, and I’m often reluctant to bring up a subject that speaks to history because I don’t want to have to be shocked that so many know so little. It really is depressing.