Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

Survey Results Highlight a Worrying Lack of Basic Holocaust Knowledge

Thursday, September 17, 2020, By News Staff
Share

According to the U.S. Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey, the first-ever 50-state survey on Holocaust knowledge among millennials and Generation 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.

Almost a quarter of respondents (23%) said they believed the Holocaust was a myth, or had been exaggerated, or they weren’t sure. One in eight (12%) said they had definitely not heard, or didn’t think they had heard, about the Holocaust. Nationally, 63% of respondents did not know six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, and more than one in three (36%) thought two million or fewer had been killed.

Professor Zachary Braiterman portrait

Zachary Braiterman

Syracuse University’s Zachary Braiterman, professor of religion in the College of Arts and Sciences, works in the field of modern Judaism. His research and teaching explore shifting aesthetic canons as they shape Jewish thought and culture from the 17th century until the present. Research and teaching interests touch upon the impact of enlightenment, modernity, modernism,and postmodernism upon Jewish ideas about God, ritual, text-interpretation and community life—with special emphasis on Jewish philosophy, theoretical aesthetics and classical Jewish sources.

Braiterman offers this perspective:

“Reports about young American adults not knowing anything about the Holocaust or having weird ideas about the Holocaust are not surprising. Each passing decade puts more and more cognitive distance between people today and the historical past about which they know only through platforms like Hollywood movies and social media, now including TikTok. The Holocaust becomes more and more unreal, especially in a culture like ours that seems untethered from reality. Educators can only do so much in this current context.”

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Matt Cufari Named as a 2022-23 Astronaut Scholar
    Wednesday, May 25, 2022, By Kelly Homan Rodoski
  • Syracuse University Libraries’ New Website Improves User Experience, Accessibility
    Wednesday, May 25, 2022, By Cristina Hatem
  • University Hosts Syracuse Fire Department Graduation Ceremony
    Tuesday, May 24, 2022, By News Staff
  • Architecture Student Named Honors Thesis Prize Award Recipient
    Tuesday, May 24, 2022, By Julie Sharkey
  • Vice Admiral responds to Biden’s trip to Asia
    Tuesday, May 24, 2022, By Vanessa Marquette

More In Media, Law & Policy

Rockell Brown Burton Joins Newhouse School as Associate Dean of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility

Rockell Brown Burton, an experienced academic leader and accomplished researcher with a passion for cultivating impactful, mutually beneficial relationships, has been named associate dean of inclusivity, diversity, equity and accessibility at the Newhouse School. After a national search, she was…

Funding Expands for Newhouse Professors’ Work on Technology to Combat Fake News

Two professors from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications who are working on the development of technology to detect manipulated media and combat the spread of fake news are supported by a subcontract that now tops $1.1 million, thanks…

As the School of Education’s Italy Program Returns, Sara Jo Soldovieri ’18, G’19 Reflects on Its Influence

Now a doctoral student researching inclusive education, Sara Jo Soldovieri ’18, G’19 was a sophomore when she took Literacy, Inclusion and Diversity in Italy, a study abroad short course offered by the School of Education and Syracuse Abroad. Soldovieri matriculated…

New Law Scholarship Honors the Ongoing Legacy of the Hon. Theodore A. McKee L’75

Syracuse University College of Law is pleased to announce the establishment of the Hon. Theodore A. McKee L’75 Endowed Law Scholarship with a generous gift from Syracuse University Trustee and College of Law Board of Advisors Member Richard M. Alexander…

College of Law Holds Commencement for Class of 2022

On Friday, May 6, the College of Law held Commencement for its 199 J.D. and 33 LL.M. graduates. The event, the first in-person Commencement since 2019, featured the first cohort of graduating online J.D. students. Luke Cooper L’01, CEO of…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Youtube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2022 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.