For years, there has been talking and concern about the lack of factual Holocaust knowledge and education in the United States and around the world. Education systems dominated by leftist teachers often antagonistic towards Israel are sometimes loathing to bring up the subject. It’s possible to also blame an easily accessible Internet that leads users down dark rabbit holes of Holocaust conspiracy theories.
In “The Failure of Holocaust Education in Britain,” Rosie Whitehouse writes:
The current debate over anti-Semitism in Britain’s opposition Labour Party and the views of its leader Jeremy Corbyn have also had a negative impact on Holocaust education in the classroom and made better teacher training even more imperative. Wetherall’s students now ask about Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. “Two to three years ago I would not have had pupils who would have heard the terms,” she said, adding that “the guidelines have not kept up with these changes, leaving teachers ill-equipped to deal with the issue.”
It’s certainly not easy to find out how it got this bad and certainly will be even harder to fix.
The Azrieli Foundation and Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany just released a report on the lack of Holocaust education in Canada.
Among the findings:
An alarming 52% of millennials cannot name even one concentration camp or ghetto and 62% of millennials did not know that six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.22% of millennials haven’t heard or are not sure if they have heard of the Holocaust.Nearly one-quarter of all Canadians (23 percent) believe that substantially less than six million Jews were killed (two million or fewer) during the Holocaust, while another near-quarter (24 percent) were unsure of how many were killed.Nearly six out of ten Canadians (57 percent) say fewer people seem to care about the Holocaust than they used to.
1100 Canadians aged 18 and over were surveyed in September 2018. The report, which has a margin of error +/- 3%, also found that:
Findings show a substantial lack of personal connections to theHolocaust – as most Canadians have never visited a Holocaust museum, nor dothey know someone else who has, and they don’t know or know of a survivor.
These are worrisome facts that must be addressed as quickly as possible. This must be addressed in the United States as well. The same group issued a report in April 2018 which held similar results:
Seven out of ten Americans (70 percent) say fewer people seem to care about the Holocaust than they used toA majority of Americans (58 percent) believe something like the Holocaust could happen againNearly one-third of all Americans (31 percent) and more than 4-in-10 Millennials (41 percent) believe that substantially less than 6 million Jews were killed (two million or fewer) during the HolocaustWhile there were over 40,000 concentration camps and ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust, almost half of Americans (45 percent) cannot name a single one – and this percentage is even higher amongst Millennials
Sadly, this problem extends well past North America. Jerusalem Post reporter Ilanit Chernick tweeted an article today:
In “EU survey finds the majority of Europeans see no rise in antisemitism,” Chernick notes that:
In a shocking revelation, only one-third of Europeans believe that antisemitism has increased over the last five years.“The Eurobarometer results shows that there is clear perception gap of the problem of antisemitism,” a European Commission wrote in a report, which accompanied the survey. “Only around a third of Europeans (36%) believe that antisemitism has increased in their country over the past five years. This is the majority view in six EU Member States” which includes France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Austria.
From far-right groups in Germany to BDS-supporting new members of the United States House of Representatives to the Israel-bashing United Nations, the world is seeing a rapidly rising level of anti-Semitism and hatred of the Jewish State. This lack of knowledge and education will continue to exacerbate the problem. If people don’t address the trend and start to reverse it, “Never Forget!” will become “Forget What?”
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