80 years on from Auschwitz liberation, Holocaust is fading from memory

One in nine young Germans is unaware of the Holocaust and a quarter cannot name a single concentration camp, death camp or ghetto, according to a survey.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reminded Germans of their responsibility for the ‘civilisational rupture’ of the Holocaust. Above, he speaks after a meeting with France's President in Paris this week. Picture: Mohammed BADRA / POOL / AFP

One in nine young Germans is unaware of the Holocaust and a quarter cannot name a single concentration camp, death camp or ghetto, according to a survey.

The study in eight countries also found that nearly half of American adults could not identify any killing sites of the Holocaust and that just over half of Romanians believed the death toll had been “greatly” exaggerated.

The report by the Claims Conference, which represents Jewish victims of Nazi German persecution and their descendants, entrenches concerns that knowledge of the atrocities and their power to influence the present are declining as the events recede from living memory.

Greg Schneider, its executive vice-president, described the findings as a “stark warning that without urgent and sustained action the history and lessons of the Holocaust risk slipping into obscurity”.

“With the Holocaust survivor population rapidly declining, we are at a critical and irreversible crossroads. This is our final chance, our last moment in history, to honour their legacy by ensuring that our commitment to remembering their experiences is unshakeable and unwavering.”

The figures from Germany, while broadly in line with those from other European countries such as France and Britain, are striking because it has invested so much effort into educating young people about the crimes of the Third Reich. Since 1992 all secondary schools have been obliged to teach classes on the Holocaust and in some states, such as Bavaria, pupils are compelled to visit concentration camp memorials.

Despite these lessons, only 73 per cent of Germans under the age of 30 said they had “definitely” heard of the Holocaust, while 11 per cent thought or were certain they had not, compared with 5 per cent of German adults overall.

The study, which had about 1000 respondents from each country, also found that 50 per cent of Germans believed the largest number of Jews had been killed in Germany, while only 25 per cent correctly answered that it had been in Poland. When asked to name the killing sites, 18 per cent of adults in Germany could not think of one. Among the under-30s, the figure was 26 per cent.

The survey coincided with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reminded Germans of their responsibility for the “civilisational rupture” of the Holocaust.

“Every single person in our country bears responsibility, regardless of their own family history, regardless of the religion or birthplace of their parents or grandparents,” he said.

“We must not and will not accept any relativisation. And we will also remind each new generation of its ongoing responsibility.”

Mr Scholz said this remained an ongoing challenge in schools and universities, in migrant integration courses and in everyday life.

Monday marks 80 years since the World War II liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in what was Nazi-occupied Poland. Auschwitz has become a symbol of the Holocaust murders of six million European Jews, one million of whom died at the site between 1940 and 1945, along with more than 100,000 non-Jews.

Mr Scholz also honoured other victims, including Sinti and Roma, political opponents of the Nazi regime, homosexuals, the sick and people with disabilities.

THE TIMES

additional reporting: AFP