A third of young adults in the UK are unable to name Auschwitz or any of the other concentration camps and ghettoes where the crimes of the Holocaust were committed, according to a study.
Other growing gaps in knowledge – especially among those aged 18-29 – were also identified, as part of a major international survey in countries including the US and UK.
The findings have been released before the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust and the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation on Monday. It comes amid fears of a resurgent far right and alarm over rising antisemitism.
More than a quarter of people surveyed in the UK were unable to name a single camp or ghetto established by the Nazis during the second world war.
King Charles will travel to Auschwitz on Monday to mark the liberation, joining survivors and other dignitaries as well as meeting Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda.
It comes as the prime minister pledged to make Holocaust education in the UK “a truly national endeavour”, saying his government would “ensure all schools teach it”.
Keir Starmer said: “We must start by remembering the 6 million Jewish victims and by defending the truth against anyone who would deny it.
“But as we remember, we must also act. Because we say ‘never again’ – but where was ‘never again’ in the genocides of Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur – and where is ‘never again’ as antisemitism kills Jewish people still?
“Today, we have to make those words mean more. We will make Holocaust education a truly national endeavour. We will ensure all schools teach it and seek to give every young person the opportunity to hear a recorded survivor testimony, because by learning from survivors we can develop that empathy for others and that appreciation of our common humanity, which is the ultimate way to defeat the hatred of difference.
“It happened, it can happen again: that is the warning of the Holocaust to us all. And it’s why it is a duty for all of us to make ‘never again’ finally mean what it says: never again.”
In answer to being asked to name the concentration camps, death camps, killing sites, transit camps or ghettoes they had heard of, 26% of those surveyed in the UK said they did not know any of their names. The proportion was 33% among those aged 18-29 in the UK, although the figure was as high as 48% among those surveyed in the US.
Auschwitz-Birkenau was the most well-known camp, mentioned by 69% of those surveyed in the UK as part of the research by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Those involved in the research said some of the findings showed that Holocaust education in the UK was having a meaningful impact. However, there was particular concern about the apparent spread of Holocaust denial and distortion on social media platforms such as X and Facebook.
When asked if they had encountered Holocaust denial or distortion while on social media, 23% of those surveyed in the UK said “yes”. Nearly half (47%) of Polish adults answered in the affirmative, while in Austria and Hungary this number was 38%. In Germany it was 37%, in the US 33%, in Romania 25%, and in France 20%.
Prof Stuart Foster, the director of the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education, said: “This study starkly reveals significant and problematic levels of knowledge and understanding about the Holocaust among adults in Europe and North America.
“Particularly troubling are the reported high levels of Holocaust denial and distortion, seemingly fuelled by misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms. It is, however, some comfort that respondents overwhelmingly support Holocaust education in schools.”
Among people in Britain who had encountered Holocaust denial and distortion, X and Facebook emerged as the most common social media platforms where they had experienced this. X was cited by 42%.
Among those aged 18-29 in that group, however, TikTok was cited by 42% as the social media platform where they recalled seeing the denial and distortion.
Across all the eight countries surveyed, large swathes of the population did not know that 6 million Jewish people were killed during the Holocaust, while notable subsets of the populations believed 2 million or fewer Jews were killed.
Those who believed that 2 million or fewer Jews were killed included 28% in Romania, 27% in Hungary, 24% in Poland, 21% in France, the US and Austria, and 20% in the UK – and 18% in Germany.
A stark proportion of young adults aged 18-29 had not heard of the Holocaust in France (46%), Romania (15%), Austria (14%) and Germany (12%). The figure was 2% in the UK.
Gideon Taylor, the president of the Claims Conference, said: “The alarming gaps in knowledge, particularly among younger generations, highlight an urgent need for more effective Holocaust education. The fact that a significant number of adults cannot identify basic facts – such as the 6 million Jews who perished – is deeply concerning.”
The taskforce that oversaw the survey comprised historians and experts from museums, educational institutions and leading nonprofits in the field of Holocaust education. These included the Yad Vashem remembrance centre in Jerusalem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Claims Conference.
English (US)