England – Some schoolchildren believe Auschwitz is the name of a type of beer or a religious festival, rather than the notorious concentration camp, new research has revealed.
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Around 1.3 million people perished in the Nazi death camp during the Second World War, but a survey of more than 1,000 secondary school children aged 11-16 revealed that a quarter still did not know its purpose.
Of those, about 10% were not sure what it was, 8% thought it was a country bordering Germany, 2% thought it was a beer, the same proportion said it was a religious festival and a further 1% said it was a type of bread.
Miramax and the London Jewish Cultural Centre, which commissioned the survey, said that, as there are around 4.5 million 11 to 16-year-olds in the UK, this is the equivalent of 90,000 youngsters wrongly identifying Auschwitz as a drink and 45,000 mistaking it for bread.
The poll found that six in 10 youngsters did not know what the Final Solution was, with a fifth claiming it was the name of peace talks held to end the war.
And it revealed that, despite the Holocaust being specified on the secondary National Curriculum as a subject that pupils must be taught, only just over a third (37%) knew that the Holocaust claimed the lives of six million Jews, with many drastically under-estimating the death toll.
While 97% of those questioned could identify Adolf Hitler from a photograph, those who could not mistook famous figures such as Winston Churchill, Salvador Dali and Albert Einstein for the dictator.
I have a relative who attends a Yeshiva High School in Brooklyn. We were discussing history with him, and my wife asked him if he learned anything about the Shoah. His response was “why do I have to know about things that happened hundreds of years ago?” Most “frum” kids grow up learning very little about history, what they get about Jewish history is (at best) revisionist and inaccurate Bubba Ma’asis, published by pseudo intellectuals. More than likely, your typical Yeshiva student will place Auschwitz in Germany, and at best, will p[lace the Shoah in the 20th century. (I’ve been teaching history for some 30 years). What can you expect from Gentile kids, if our own know so little?
people forget that is the nature of people. I hope we remeber the past to live in the present and change the furture
In response to #1 , while you make a good point, and it is true that most Yeshiva’s don’t make a point in teaching history of the Holocaust, don’t forget that there is much to talk about in the PRESENT. Our brethren in Israel are suffering every day, and antisemitism is rampant throughout the world.
People all over the world are constantly validating “historical antisemitism” such as the holocaust (A bishop was recently expelled, and may even be arrested for denying it), while at the same time are barking at Israel for defending itself. Why not talk about present antisemitism?
True, these kids should know what their grandparents did to the Jews, they should know how sadistic and cruel a person can be when they lose their respect for a fellow human being, but they should also know how to respect Jews IN THE PRESENT. Teach them the truth about what is happening in Israel! Teach them how to have unconditional respect for all walks of life.
For even yoth frum, jewishish, goyish its hard for them to interperate what 60years ago unless you have relatives who were there are discuss these issues many how ever do not divulge this information to there grand children.
my children will finaly know about the wwll . because our grandfather is b”h still allive & keeps on telling evry time how he was a soldior & lot of times was ready to be shot to death. “but hashem helped him all the times” (& like he allway’s finishing) & HERE I AM B”H.
but b”h & hopfuly they will not know what’s shoah. rather WWll. also they would know whom to blaim on it ….
I did not refer to the word Shoah, we spoke to the teenager using the term Holocaust. He was clueless! He could not place World War II in the correct century. Shoah is merely a word I am using in this post out of convenience. The shameful truth is that most Yeshiva boys cannot identify most of Jewish History. You cannot discuss the Crusades with them, the period of the Gaonim, etc. Even the history (plus much more) that is contained in the Nach is a blur. Do you think they know who Y’hoash was? Zerubavel? Nechemia? Shamgar ben Anat?
My use of the “modern” terminology is irrelevant. Furthermore, while having a zaydie or bubbie who were survivors (ad mea v’esrim) gives you anecdotal information. Bubby and zaydie were not privy to procedings at the Wannsee conference. If they lived in Poland, they were not affected by the Nuremberg Laws, nor even Kristallnacht. Jewish History is an integral part of our experience. How many kids know that we say Av Harachaminm in Nissan because of the Chmielnicki massacres? How many know the meaning behind the Kinot? Varmazia? Magentza? I am not a secular Jew. I am someone who has been involved in Torah education since the ’70’s. Our children’s knowledge of their heritage is pathetic!
It’s very difficult to concentrate when you post items on this blog. The box is large enough for only a few words. At any rate, the Av Harachamim bit refers to saying it throughout the S’fira period, even when we bentch Rosh Chodesh. That being said, my concern is that Orthodox kids are growing up with little or no knowledge of important events and personalities in Jewish history. As a previous poster commented, there is little Nach taught beyond Nevi’im Rishonim, certainly in boys schools. Many years ago, I circulated a questionairre in a prominent Beth Medrash, asking young men to identify three Shoftim. Guys who could cite Rishonim and Acharonim, couldn’t identify Shimshon as a Shofet (or D’vora, Gid’on, or Sh’muel Hanavi!). The same poster mentioned that Yeshivot no longer stressed Dikduk. No it’s not the end of the world, but I hear people davening and worse LAYNING in the most awful Hebrew imaginable. Correct reading is not a “modern” shtick, it’s Halacha. Knowledge of Navi is not “modern”. Yirmiahu was at least as “ehrlich” as the Ba’alei Tosafot were. If you cannot recite tosafot, people think you’re an Am Ha’arets, but if you don’t know Tanach, big deal!
I pointed out, to a group of not yet frum high schoolers, that most Jewish teens know the name of the Christian “savior”s mother, but cannot identify Moses’s mother, King David’s father or even Avraham’s father! While the “frum” world is light years ahead of that group, ther’s still a lot missing.Chag Sameach!