Holocaust knowledge among Millennials and Gen Z
As I am beginning my time in college, I have worried about Holocaust denial. This is a visual representation of the worrying lack of Holocaust knowledge among millennials and Gen Z sourced from a 2020 survey from the Claims Conference.
Here is a quote from Deborah Lipstadt, former professor of modern Jewish history and Holocaust studies at Emory University, where I attend, and current Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism:
"There is no doubt that Holocaust denial is a form of anti-Semitism, and when we fail to actively remember the facts of what happened, we risk a situation where prejudice and anti-Semitism will encroach on those facts."
63% of people surveyed did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, and over 50% of those thought the death toll was fewer than 2 million.
There were over 40,000 concentration camps and ghettos that were established during WWII, but 50% of respondents from the US could not name a single one.
11% of the respondents believed that Jews caused the Holocaust. In New York, the American state with the highest Jewish population, it is 19%.
About 50% of millennial and Gen Z respondents reported having seen Holocaust denial posts online and 56% reported having seen Nazi symbols on social media or in their communities within the past five years.