Two-thirds of millennials don't know what Auschwitz is, Holocaust study says

Credit: Handout

Credit: Handout

According to a study released on Holocaust Memorial Day, approximately two-thirds of American millennials do not know what Auschwitz is, The Washington Post reported.

As memories of World War II continue to fade, researchers at the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany found that knowledge about the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis is also fading, particularly among adults ages 18 to 34.

Twenty-two percent of millennials said they have not heard of the Holocaust or are unsure if they have heard about it.

The study relied on answers from 1,350 American adults in February, the Post reported. According to the study, 41 percent of the American adults and 66 percent of millennials were unable to correctly answer that Auschwitz was a concentration camp or a place where prisoners were exterminated, the Post reported.

According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, at least 1.3 million people were deported to the camp in Poland from 1940 to 1945. More than 1.1 million people were killed, museum officials said.

Ninety-three percent of the respondents said they wanted more education about the Holocaust, the Post reported.

The poll has a margin of error of three percentage points, the newspaper reported.

About the Author