[ad_1]
More than two-thirds of young Americans are unaware that six million Jews died in the Holocaust, according to a survey.
The US-wide study found that one in 10 adults under the age of 40 did not believe the atrocity occurred.
It also showed that 11% of those surveyed believe that Jews caused the Holocaust.
Greg Schneider, Executive Vice President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, who commissioned the study, described the findings as “shocking and saddening.”
He said: “The most important lesson is that we cannot waste any more time.
“If we let these trends continue for another generation, the crucial lessons of this terrible part of history could be lost.”
The survey saw 1,000 people between the ages of 18 and 39 interviewed, 200 from every US state, by phone and online.
It is believed to be the first nationwide study on awareness of the Holocaust among millennials and ‘Generation Z’.
New York, which has the highest Jewish population in the country, was the most likely to believe that the Holocaust was a myth, along with the states of Indiana and California.
:: Subscribe to the daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
By contrast, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Massachusetts ranked highest in knowledge of the Holocaust.
Some states make knowledge of genocide mandatory, but there were no correlations between the states that did so and the respondents who knew the most about it, Schneider said.
Other key findings include that more than half of those surveyed were unable to name a single Nazi concentration camp, even though there were 17.
The survey also revealed that around 50% of those under 40 have seen Holocaust denial or distortion posts online.
In Germany, Poland and France, it is a crime to deny that the Holocaust occurred.
Records show that around 17 million people, six million of them Jews, were killed by the Nazis as part of a state-sponsored genocide.
Mr. Schneider called for further education in response to the findings.
He said, “We have seen it over and over again. Education is the best way to prevent ignorance and hatred.”
[ad_2]