A survey released Wednesday found what organisers say is a lack of awareness in Britain about the Holocaust and a major episode in the country’s rescue of Jews ahead of World War II.
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, a New York-based group that negotiates restitution for Holocaust victims, said that 52 per cent of respondents surveyed in the UK did not know that six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis. Over one in five, or 22 per cent, thought two million or fewer Jews were killed.
“We are very concerned to see the profound gaps in knowledge of the Holocaust in this and previous studies, including about events connected to the UK,” said Gideon Taylor, president of the group, which is commonly known as the Claims Conference.
He said it nonetheless was “very powerful” to see overwhelming support for Holocaust education. “Eighty-eight per cent believe that it is important to continue to teach the Holocaust, in part, so it does not happen again,” he said.
The survey was released to coincide with the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, or “Night of Broken Glass,” when Nazis terrorised Jews in a series of pogroms throughout Germany and Austria.
The Claims Conference has conducted similar surveys in several countries, including the US, France, Austria and Canada.
Read the article by Josef Federman (Jerusalem) in Sight Magazine.