In yet another dismal reflection of our public education system, a new survey released this week shows just how little many young Americans know about the Holocaust.
The study, commissioned by the Claims Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, is the first-ever “holocaust Knowledge” survey conducted over all 50 states, found that that a full 11 percent of millennials and Gen Zers – including 20 percent of those in New York – actually believe Jews caused the Holocaust, the Claims Conference said in a statement.
The survey also found that 48 percent of respondents could not name a single one of the literally tens of thousands of German concentration and extermination camps, including Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Dachau. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they didn’t know 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. Another 34 percent either said they thought the number of Jews killed has been greatly exaggerated, or that the Holocaust is a myth entirely.
“The results are both shocking and saddening and they underscore why we must act now while Holocaust survivors are still with us to voice their stories,” said Claims Conference President Gideon Taylor. “We need to understand why we aren’t doing better in educating a younger generation about the Holocaust and the lessons of the past. This needs to serve as a wake-up call to us all, and as a road map of where government officials need to act.”