A new survey shows a troubling number of young people asked have either never heard of, or are unsure if they have heard of, the Holocaust.
More than six million Jews were exterminated during World War II in one of the most shocking and profound instances of genocide in world history.
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and this year marks the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp when the full horror of Nazi Germany’s WW II efforts to eliminate the Jews came to the world’s attention.
Richard Marceau Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs
A new Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey conducted by the Claims Conference shows that more than 20 per cent of Canadian millennials have little, to no knowledge of the Holocaust.
Richard Marceau, the Vice-President of External Affairs and General Counsel with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs calls that “worrisome” and “shows that the work of educating our young people needs to be stepped up.”
He calls it one of the most important events in world history, and carries lessons for all people. The Holocaust led to a range of important changes following the war, including the creation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the UN Declaration of Human Rights among others.
“As a country,” Marceau says, “we need to do better to educate our young people.”
