Nearly Two-Thirds of US Young Adults Unaware 6m Jews Killed in the Holocaust
Source: The Guardian
By Harriet Sherwood.
According to survey of adults 18-39, 23% said they believed the Holocaust was a myth, had been exaggerated or they weren't sure. Almost two-thirds of young American adults do not know that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust, and more than one in 10 believe Jews caused the Holocaust, a new survey has found, revealing shocking levels of ignorance about the greatest crime of the 20th century.
According to the study of millennial and Gen Z adults aged between 18 and 39, almost half (48%) could not name a single concentration camp or ghetto established during the second world war. One in eight (12%) said they had definitely not heard, or didn't think they had heard, about the Holocaust.
More than half (56%) said they had seen Nazi symbols on their social media platforms and/or in their communities, and almost half (49%) had seen Holocaust denial or distortion posts on social media or elsewhere online.
"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 Gideon Taylor, president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) which commissioned the survey...
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/16/holocaust-us-adults-study
The survey is the first to focus on state level in the US and ranks states with a score based on 3 criteria: whether young people have definitely heard about the Holocaust; whether they can name one concentration camp, death camp or ghetto; and whether they know 6 million Jews were killed.
Top-scoring states: Wisconsin, where 42% of millennial and Gen Z adults met all 3 criteria, followed by Minnesota at 37% and Massachusetts at 35%. The lowest-scoring states were Florida at 20%, Mississippi at 18% and Arkansas at 17%.
On a national level, 63% of respondents did not know 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, and 36% thought 2 million or fewer had been killed.
Ignorance of the Holocaust is also high among similar demograhics in Canada and Europe based on reports in the last few years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v8faLqc8dcoU
- The phrase "Arbeit Macht Frei" ('Work Makes You Free') is displayed at the entrances of several former concentration camps throughout post-Holocaust Europe. The words are still disturbing to read after over 80 years, and the meaning is still debated today by educators, survivors and the families of survivors. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum/USHMM.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)I think that in part is the reason for a resurgence.
jorgevlorgan
(8,276 posts)Hopefully we give a strong boost to our education system as soon as the leverages of federal government are back in competent hands.
lark
(23,059 posts)Isn't this covered everywhere now? My kids know about, were taught this in school and they are in their early 30's and grew up in Jacksonville, FL. Are red states now not including this, or do they just conveniently forget because nazis were white and so ok? WTF?
bucolic_frolic
(43,022 posts)it was inevitable. I didn't really know until college, despite World at War series on TV, which was never explained at home. It was just viewed as horrible, a matter of history, you could do nothing about it, so you went on and hoped for the better.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,262 posts)25,000 5%
100,000 6%
1 million 10%
2 million 15%
6 million 37%
20 million 10%
Not sure 17%
http://www.claimscon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Millennial-Holocaust-Survey-TOPLINE.pdf
So 6 million was the most common answer, at least; but 36% said something smaller.
You can find state-level results here: http://www.claimscon.org/millennial-study/
appalachiablue
(41,102 posts)beachbumbob
(9,263 posts)generations of ignorant americans. Its been working.
not_the_one
(2,227 posts)There is a reason why the repubs are big on charter schools, religious schools, and now HOME schooling.
Shit in, shit out. MUCH easier to control a willingly compliant populace.
The republicans have been working toward this goal for decades.
beachbumbob
(9,263 posts)than democrats. If all democrats voted we would win redstate elections easy too
EllieBC
(2,988 posts)There are only a handful of states that mandate holocaust education. And thats for public schools.
lonely bird
(1,675 posts)School is now about getting a job to be a drone.
PatSeg
(47,225 posts)because though I learned about the Holocaust in school, I've learned far more in countless movies, TV programs, and books. What cave have these people been living in? It is truly scary how ignorant a vast portion of our population is. It is like people starving to death who are surrounded by an abundance of food their entire lives.
This kind of ignorance in the 21st century is inexcusable.
betsuni
(25,367 posts)With the vast amount of information out there, it is inexcusable.
PatSeg
(47,225 posts)just walking across a room. And its not just the boring stuff, like names and dates. History is fascinating and compelling, and anyone can access it these days. If a history class in school is boring, then there is probably a bad teacher and/or textbook involved.
I've always loved history and the available information seems endless. It helps us to see our place in the world and how we got here.
Ingersollman
(204 posts)think large amounts of the American people only see the Nazis as being bad because the USA fought against them. Not for what they espoused, and not for what they did, not for what they were (fascists). It is a massive failure of our education system, brought on by the right wing in our country, and it might very well lead to our downfall. So many of our "fellow Americans" are so ignorant that it will lead to repeating the atrocities of the past.
melm00se
(4,984 posts)as it relates to complaints in regards to content.
Math? 2+2=4. No argument. No interpretation. No bias.
Chemistry? Other than not teaching kids how to make meth, it is a safe subject.
Physics? Same
Biology? other than the "evils" of evolution, the same.
History? English? My god man...there are levels of interpretation. The "wrong" (in an ideological sense) interpretation or misstep can cost someone their job.
And it is not a "red" vs. "blue" thing.
If a history teacher got up and said how great a president Reagan was, there are people on this very site who would be out with torches, pitchforks, tar brushes and feathers at the ready.
Or if a civics teacher discussed the sanctity of the 2nd Amendment as an individual freedom and/or discussed that certain Constitutional schools of intepretation would find that Roe v. Wade was a bad ruling. OMFG!!!! - get the rail set up, that teacher must absolutely be run out of town.
Disagree with the 1619 Project? Firing? Not good enough...banish them to the farthest and most desolate island where the only job is cleaning bird guano off the rocks with their personal toothbrush.
English? Reading select passages of Huck Finn out loud? They said that word!!!!!!!!! Out, damned spot! Out, I say!
Evolve Dammit
(16,689 posts)redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)this is how they are educated now. It has gotten much worse in the past 10 years. Before that the students seemed better educated and more engaged, not now.
Igel
(35,268 posts)I found out the following "facts":
Hitler killed only 6 million Jews; only Jews died in the camps.
Stalin might have killed a few hundred thousand political prisoners. Maybe. Probably less. Some, often gay or with gay friends or family, knew that gays had also been targeted.
Like the US Constitution, the USSR constitution guaranteed freedom of religion, of the press, of speech, and in addition health care--so it must have been a better country, and probably better off.
The war in US history with the most dead US soldiers was clearly Vietnam.
Hotler
(11,392 posts)COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)U.S. High Schools to at least give students that age an idea of the horrors and brutality of the Holocaust. They are a visual generation. Approach it visually.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)That is the worst film to suggest for viewing: it's all about the White Savior syndrome. The victims are mere background shadows in that film, with no identities or agency. I have never hated a film so much (despite its formal merits). It made me understand the intense reactions of Black Americans who have criticized movies like Green Book. And that's mild, in comparison.
No! Watch Alain Resnais' Night and Fog, or almost anything else.
Javaman
(62,497 posts)of the liberation of the concentration camps in Europe. I think we all know that footage well.
I recall at the time some parent was upset that such images weren't for children and the school district responded by saying, "many of the dead were the same age as the children watching". aka fuck you, they need to see what real monsters do to people.
qwlauren35
(6,145 posts)that few Americans know that 10-15 million slaves were brought to America, and at least 2 million died during the trip.
HOWEVER, that was over a 400 year period, not a 10 year period.
I am disgusted that students do not know either fact.
Moreover, I know that *I* was not taught about the number of slaves transported or dying 40 years ago when I was in school, taking US history, but I *was* taught about the Holocaust.
Just another example of how selectively US and World History were taught.
Igel
(35,268 posts)Lest they think that it was about 12.5 million that came to the territory that later became the 50 states + DC. The vast majority went elsewhere.
CountAllVotes
(20,863 posts)The form stated that the parent(s) would allow their child to learn about the Holocaust. Both parents had to sign the form and agree to the lessons about it which included a film. This was in the 6th grade.
It was shocking to me but I never questioned the reality of it.
I asked my father if he knew this was going on while he was in WWII. He told me they they knew that something wrong was going on but he did not have specific information at that time.
The film stuck in my mind forever.
Anyone that denies that the Holocaust occurred is
& recommend.
ancianita
(35,925 posts)Last edited Wed Sep 16, 2020, 08:47 PM - Edit history (2)
The other 41 only prohibit Holocaust denial, and leave it up to state districts to use their own judgment. That makes a huge ignorance gap in the U.S.
I can't believe I'm seeing these numbers. But it does explain how easily people can be duped into lumping BLM and protestors in with right wing extremists. It's because fascist leadership has intended to muddle history in order to muddle the present. In order to confound the populace and control the future.
Given that only 20% (correction) of America have four year college degrees, and within that 48.2 million, another 20% go on to advanced degrees, and 36 million more have some college exposure, the breadth of ignorance across America is explained.
And historically guaranteed by design, starting with the Founders who refused to make education a fundamental Constitutional right.
The class hierarchy began in all the early religion-based colonies (Harvard being among the first to exclude), and has continued, but for the influence of the professional teacher class, land grant universities and HBCU's.
melm00se
(4,984 posts)ancianita
(35,925 posts)melm00se
(4,984 posts)Table 1. Educational Attainment of the Population 18 Years and Over, by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 2019
Total population, 18+ (in thousands) = 250,563
Population with bachelors (in thousands) = 53,312
Population with professional degrees (in thousands) = 3,150
Master's degrees (in thousands) = 22,459 (which includes me)
Doctoral degree (in thousands) = 4,557
Total with bachelors degrees or higher(in thousands): 83,478
83,478/250,563 = 33%
Not quite 34% but nowhere near 80%.
even if the data set is widened to include some college up thru doctoral degrees (amounting to 61%) still not 80%
If we add in high school graduate we overshoot 80% (89.4%).
ancianita
(35,925 posts)It covers numbers for that year alone, which can't be the full national picture.
When I look at numbers I don't look at the one-year great news of a nation, but the trend over time, which I posted to llmart below.
The 2010 Census for populations, the full one that includes everyone, and the over 18 population is figured there.
Either way, why should we even want the most optimist percentage you can come up with here?
Instead of picking away at precision, which is fine, we should also be looking at WHY the Guardian, right NOW, wants to post its study.
melm00se
(4,984 posts)1. Like you, my data source is the US Census.
2. Your are referencing the 2010 US Census. Are you saying that you didn't download it?
3. I just downloaded 2010 Census data (from here) and those numbers (at 27% of the US population has a bachelors or higher degree) make your assertion even more off base.
4. I challenged your assertion that 80% of the US population has a college degree. I am as much as optimist as most people but frankly claiming an 80% number not even in the same galaxy as optimism.
5. I may have my own opinion as to why the Guardian posted this but the source for the article (First-ever 50-state Survey on Holocaust Knowledge...) is dated 15 September 2020 and The Guardian's article is within 24 hours so IMO, the article is timely vis a vis the underlying reason.
ancianita
(35,925 posts)I'm not arguing. Nor would I ever block someone over a difference in numbers. Just saying that the actual numbers aren't updated since 2010, and so it's possible the percents have gone up. Which I do account for. I assert that 80% of the US DON'T have a college degree. And that, at best, 26% DO have college degrees. So I think we agree.
Let's take another look, once the 2020 Census is out. My issue is not with you, or even the fact of The Guardian's article, just why I don't find it helpful given the history of how education has been designed to maintain class and economic hierarchy.
ancianita
(35,925 posts)meant, bolding it. I now see what you're responding to. So sorry that my brain misfired at the keyboard. Of course I can see now what you were correcting.
ancianita
(35,925 posts)Percentages are always murky, and sound like significant, even big numbers.
llmart
(15,530 posts)For most of my life, the figure was 25%.
ancianita
(35,925 posts)That's when you divide 48.2 million degrees with the total population (330,000, 000) and you get only 25%. But since these college degree figures are from the last Census (2010), I'd conservatively throw in a 5% increase if I exclude the US's 74 million under age 18.
Granted, (since new Census figures aren't out yet) that makes an estimated 50.6 million Americans with 4-year degrees or higher, which is 15% of the full population.
Figuring in another 36 million have some college, we could liberally say that 86.6 million Americans are "college educated," which dilutes the quality but increases the number of Americans with college "exposure." Which then is 26% of the full population (300,000,000 est).
Not good. Not good by design. We've been fucked from the founding.
Which is one of the reasons I don't hold those ignorant of the Holocaust fully responsible, since we were all born into these systems of exclusion at all levels, and have had to both figure them out and cope with them.
Fascists won't ever help the immiserated poor get ahead, or know their systems, but will just beat Americans down, then point to some individuals for them to blame.
Who are the fascists in control of higher education? We can dig into that. I bet Bernie's people have a whole long list.
sinkingfeeling
(51,434 posts)Buckeye_Democrat
(14,852 posts)... at a previous job were dumber than 99% of the population.
There was a young coworker who didn't know that this country fought Germany during WW2. When I mentioned Hitler and the Nazis to her, she replied, "Oh, I've heard about them! I thought they only went to war against the Jews."
JI7
(89,237 posts)Behind the Aegis
(53,915 posts)An Instagram account calls on followers to identify Jewish high school students in Northern Californias Marin County.
The account is associated with the Redwood High School in the city of Larkspur, 13 miles north of San Francisco. It named Jewish students in the county and called on followers to contribute the names of other Jewish students there.
Redwood students organized in antisemitism, read the message on redwoodhs_soas, which has since been removed, the Mercury News reported. We currently composing a google doc of Jews in the district. Hit us up if you want to help.
Redwood Principal David Sondheim told parents in a letter that the school is treating this incident as hate-motivated behavior and will discipline any student found to be responsible to the full extent possible, up to and including expulsion.
more...
demigoddess
(6,640 posts)had a lot of war movies on tv that covered the subject as well. then you also had news people interviewing survivors so their stories would go down in history. I think we have now an on-purpose ignorance going on.
Behind the Aegis
(53,915 posts)History is not respected, which is why we see its reflections so often. Furthermore, the fact that the primary victims were Jews makes many gloss over it or ignore it outright. Holocaust revisionism is becoming more and more mainstream, while blatant Holocaust denial is still in the fringes...for now. What was asked in the survey were basic items of knowledge, so the fact that the Holocaust is so much more complex as was its aftermath, it is not surprising to see the rise in antisemitism now, as well. When it comes to Jews, peoples' knowledge is limited to two things, the Holocaust and Israel, and, as we see from this, even the first is fading into obscurity.
So, no, I don't find this surprising, I find it sad and I find it freighting. Which is why this article is also not all that surprising:
Instagram account organized in antisemitism lists Jewish high school students in Northern California county
An Instagram account calls on followers to identify Jewish high school students in Northern Californias Marin County.
The account is associated with the Redwood High School in the city of Larkspur, 13 miles north of San Francisco. It named Jewish students in the county and called on followers to contribute the names of other Jewish students there.
Redwood students organized in antisemitism, read the message on redwoodhs_soas, which has since been removed, the Mercury News reported. We currently composing a google doc of Jews in the district. Hit us up if you want to help.
Redwood Principal David Sondheim told parents in a letter that the school is treating this incident as hate-motivated behavior and will discipline any student found to be responsible to the full extent possible, up to and including expulsion.
more...
appalachiablue
(41,102 posts)a separate news post. I can do it if you prefer, either the Telegraphic or Mercury article, noting both.
Just sickening, and it's being promoted and supported by the most vile, power mad in this country and Europe.
Holocaust ignorance among younger adults is present in Canada and Europe as well. You know this, and I posted several articles on the subject a couple years ago with findings from major surveys.
It's a disgrace and highly dangerous to democracy, human rights and freedom.
I strongly sensed the rise of fascism here several yrs ago here but never believed it could take hold and progress so fast. We must fight this with all we have.
Behind the Aegis
(53,915 posts)I don't know the numbers off the top on my head, but it would interesting to see this information compared with the rise of antisemitism, which the ADL has done a number of surveys.
appalachiablue
(41,102 posts)also covered rising antisemitism and attacks here and in Europe, but I can't recall specifics right now.
Thanks for keeping us well informed, it's really important in these times.
PS Another horror and related- Eugenics is back; it never really left in many aspects.
ancianita
(35,925 posts)right now, unless it wants Americans to dig into the European roots of America's enforced ignorance.
The Guardian blames the victims. No history. No analysis. Just a factoid headline about their study, along with implied judgment.
Yes, it's true that only 9 states require Holocaust instruction by law. And that only 5 of the 9 include "shall" in their law. It's true that the other 41 only prohibit Holocaust denial, and leave it up to state districts to use their own judgment.
While it shows a comparatively huge ignorance gap in the U.S. on a subject of international import,
neither the Guardian's report nor 50 states' related education laws explain why, or how this came to be. So we should, in my view, get a larger view of its context.
It seems shocking, but it also implies how easily Americans can be duped into lumping Black Lives Matter and protestors in with right wing extremists.
It's because fascist leadership has intended to muddle history in order to muddle the present. In order to confound the populace and control the future. And it isn't just Russia who doesn't mind muddling Americans right now.
Given that only 20% of Americans DO HAVE four year college degrees, and within that 48.2 million, another 20% go on to advanced degrees, and 36 million more have some college exposure, the breadth of ignorance across America can situate the Guardian's number contextually.
Just average historical digging can reveal the fact that 80% of Americans who DO NOT HAVE a four year college degree has been historically guaranteed by design.
It starts with the Founders, most from England, themselves university educated undocumented immigrants and land grabbers, who refused to make education a fundamental Constitutional right.
And it continues with a European-born capitalist class who has historically guaranteed exclusionary obstacles for 85% of the Americans' efforts toward upward mobility, excellent education being only one of them. But the main one.
The class hierarchy began in all the early religion-based colonies (Harvard and Yale, of course, being among the first to exclude) and with slavery, of course; and it has continued, but for the mitigating influences of the professional teacher class, land grant universities, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Once again:
When you divide 48.2 million degrees with the total population (330,000, 000), you get only 25%. But since these college degree figures are from the last Census (2010), I'd conservatively throw in a 5% increase if I exclude the US's 74 million under age 18.
Granted, (since new Census figures aren't out yet) that makes an estimated 50.6 million Americans with 4-year degrees or higher, which is 15% of the full population, or 20% of the population over age 18.
Figuring into that number another 36 million have SOME college, we could liberally say that 86.6 million Americans are "college educated," which dilutes the quality but increases the number of Americans with college "exposure." Which then is 26% of the full population (300,000,000 est), or 34% who can claim "college educated." About 20% of those go on to higher degrees.
Not good. Not good by design. We've been fucked from the founding.
Which is one of the reasons I don't hold those ignorant of the Holocaust FULLY responsible, since we were ALL born into these systems of exclusion at all levels, and have had to both figure them out and cope with them.
Which is why some of us Americans are poor and know it, and other of us Americans are poor and don't know it. Not poor in spirit, just poor.
Fascists won't ever help America's imiserated poor get ahead, or know their systems; just beat Americans down, then point to some other Americans for them to blame.
Fascists will never point to the European influence of austerity economics that guided America's monetary policy largely since Thatcher and Reagan. That's only one of the more recent reasons why college education is made unattainable, the trickle down effects largely unknown in K-12 public education systems.
So, in my view, we need to ask just who are the fascists in control of higher education's cost and access.
We can dig into that.
I bet Bernie Sanders' people have a whole long list of names.
Perhaps the Guardian would like to help Americans with that.
But without the whole story, The Guardian's report doesn't do much else but lead Americans to think that what bad news they get about themselves is their own doing, their own fault. It is NOT.
We Americans can fix our education shortcomings.
And this election is about to show us whether or not we'll get that chance.
appalachiablue
(41,102 posts)to teach Holocaust studies, some schools lack funding and teachers for the subject, the influence of hateful, white supremacist and anti semitic information on social media was only mentioned in several reports, the passage of time and the loss of living survivors, and other reasons are referenced as factors in the growth of ignorance about the Holocaust from articles over the last 2 years that I just searched. Several mentioned an increase in Holocaust revisionism and denialism; many experts acknowledged the need for instruction and strengthening the study of the Holocaust.
The lack of knowledge about the Holocaust is tragic and dangerous, shouldn't be happening but it's no secret that the importance of teaching history and the arts and humanities has declined dramatically in the last 30-40 years. We're in the age of hyper market- driven capitalism with finance, business and tech the gods of higher education. It's aligned with growing far right wing political ideology and dominance of the free enterprise system above all else. The lack of Holocaust awareness is even more inexcusable given the many movies and documentaries covering the topic and testimonials by survivors that are available online.
In a recent post here a member enumerated the subjects and instructors to be eliminated soon at an Ill. university I believe- languages, social sciences, art and more. All in favor of more technical studies, computer graphics, business courses, etc.
___________
- Chicago Sun Times, '15% of young adults believe the Holocaust is a myth and did not happen- or are unsure, survey finds.' A lack of knowledge about the Holocaust in Illinois and the U.S. among millennials and Generation Z is a key finding in the first-ever state-by-state survey by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. By Lynn Sweet Sep 16, 2020.
Excerpts:
..HOLOCAUST EDUCATION: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Director of Education Initiatives Gretchen Skidmore said in an interview when it comes to Holocaust education, We are in a situation thats constantly changing, and we have the opportunity here to certainly, always be thinking about new strategies.
This is a new generation; theyre getting knowledge in new ways theyre communicating in new ways.
With fewer survivors and eyewitnesses remaining nothing can replace a survivor talking about the Holocaust in-person newer technology and digitalized artifacts can be effective, Skidmore said.
Kelley Szany, the vice president of education and exhibitions at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie, said in an interview the survey shows that even with a mandate in Illinois, more education resources, teacher training and funding is needed. What I do take away from (the survey) is, I think definitely disturbing, the percentage of millennials and Gen Zs in Illinois who have witnessed Holocaust denial and distortion via social media. I think that is showing us - kind of hand-in-hand - the alarming rise of hate speech, white nationalism, white supremacy and anti-Semitism that were seeing.
Szany said, What I was positively encouraged by was that 80% of the millennials and Gen Zs believe that Holocaust education is important.
GOV. PRITZKER, SEN. FEIGENHOLZ: The time seems ripe to bolster Holocaust education in Illinois. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his foundation have donated millions of dollars to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center; its a subject of great importance to him...
More, https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/9/16/21438915/holocaust-illinois-survey-millennials-generation-z-conference-jewish-germany
ancianita
(35,925 posts)This stood out to me as an indicator that there's no democratic commitment to developing experts in these areas.
What's the point of technical skills without quality content? Without improved education, on one will eventually know what a technocracy is FOR.
Politicub
(12,165 posts)Im in my late forties, and dont recall much attention being paid to WWII in school. But then again, I didnt really start to become awakened to history until I went to college. Thats when the pieces started coming together and in a broader context.
Every child and adult needs to visit the Holocaust Memorial in D.C. It would be worth it for the government to pay for the class trips to Washington. It is an experience that would be never be forgotten.
Steelrolled
(2,022 posts)using the link provided above http://www.claimscon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Millennial-Holocaust-Survey-TOPLINE.pdf
I think the results were not that bad. Try asking Americans about how many people died due to the Second Congo War.
CTyankee
(63,882 posts)It should be shown in every high school as part of the curriculum on 20th century world history.